What does Google say about SEO? /
John Mueller is one of Google's most active spokespeople on search engine optimization topics. As a Search Advocate, he regularly answers the SEO community's questions during Google Search Central sessions and on social media. His statements are a prime source of information for understanding how Google Search works and the best practices to follow.
Quick SEO Quiz

Test your SEO knowledge in 5 questions

Less than a minute. Find out how much you really know about Google search.

🕒 ~1 min 🎯 5 questions
How does using absolute URLs impact your SEO?
An absolute URL includes all the elements needed to access a page: protocol, domain, and full path. It's the equivalent of a complete address....
Oct 12, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
Should you be using relative URLs to boost your SEO?
A relative URL is defined in relation to the current location on the site. It functions correctly as long as it is implemented appropriately....
Oct 12, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is it really beneficial to mix absolute and relative URLs for SEO optimization?
It is entirely possible to use both absolute URLs and relative URLs within the same website. This combination has no negative impact on organic search ranking....
Oct 12, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Do sitemaps really influence your SEO ranking?
There is nothing in the sitemap system that influences the quality of a site. Sitemaps have no effect on the site's ranking....
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ How do Google's core updates influence your site's overall relevance?
Core updates do not focus on individual issues but on the overall relevance of the site. This includes usability, advertisements, but also content, its presentation, and the transparency of sources. F...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is Using the Right Anchor Text Really the Key to Avoiding Over-Optimization?
There's no need to worry too much about using a good anchor text. Use descriptive anchors that provide context about the linked page, including for internal linking. Users want to know what the link c...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ What Could Happen If You Move Your URLs Between Sitemap Files?
Google recommends keeping the same URL in the same sitemap file. If a URL moves to a different sitemap file, Google may have that URL recorded in its systems from multiple files with differing informa...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really worry about the number of indexed pages for SEO?
It is absolutely not the case that having more indexed pages means that Google considers your site better. For sites with 1,000 to 5,000 pages, Google views them all as small sites. The number of inde...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really use nofollow links in guest posts?
Google's recommendations for links in guest posts are that they should be nofollow. If you're writing guest posts to build awareness, the links should be nofollow as they essentially serve as advertis...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ How can you effectively optimize multi-regional content with canonical URLs?
For identical content published in multiple regions with the same language, it is essential to use canonical URLs to avoid self-competition. Choose a preferred version for each article to concentrate ...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Are gradual improvements truly visible between Google’s core updates?
If you make significant changes to a website, you should expect to see subtle improvements over time as Google recrawls the pages, even outside of core updates. If a core update had a major impact, yo...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is it true that Google alters your SEO titles just to frustrate you?
Google isn't trying to frustrate SEOs by rewriting title tags. The goal is to improve the quality of search results so that people search more and visit more websites. HTML elements and their usage ev...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why is Google's process for removing noindex pages taking so long?
When Google crawls pages marked as noindex, they slowly vanish from the index. This process can take several months for around 100,000 pages. Google does not crawl these pages more frequently due to t...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why are redirects to parent pages considered soft 404s?
When Google sees large-scale redirects from subcategories to parent categories, it treats this as soft 404s. There's little SEO difference between redirecting or returning a true 404. The choice betwe...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is it true that there's no sandbox effect when migrating a site?
There is no such thing as a sandbox effect during a site migration. When Google detects that a site is redirecting all its pages to a new domain, the systems try to process this faster to expedite the...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you worry about price impacting your SEO strategy?
From a web search perspective, Google does not recognize the price of a product and does not use it as a ranking factor. A cheaper product will not rank better. However, in product results (Google Sho...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is a sitemap really enough to boost your crawling efforts?
A sitemap alone is probably not sufficient to signal Google to recrawl a URL. It is essential to ensure that the internal linking is also clear and points to these pages....
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is it true that recovery after an update isn’t just rolling back for your SEO?
With core updates, it’s not about fixing something to revert to a previous state. When you enhance a site's relevance, Google sees a better site, not just the same site fixed. It’s not a recovery but ...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Do cached pages really influence your SEO?
Cached pages are completely separate from indexing and ranking. Whether a cached page exists or not has no bearing on ranking or indexing. The cache is just a copy of the HTML file, not the rendered v...
Oct 08, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Could the combination of HTTP/HTTPS actually stem from Google My Business?
If a homepage appears in HTTP but the sitelinks are in HTTPS despite correct canonicalization and 301 redirects in place for a long time, it may stem from an outdated URL in the Google My Business pro...
Oct 07, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
🔔

Get real-time analysis of the latest Google SEO declarations

Be the first to know every time a new official Google statement drops — with full expert analysis.

No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.