John Mueller

★★ Does using display:none really affect your SEO?

Using display:none in CSS on internal links in the footer is not a best practice, but the Webspam team will not take manual action against it. This is different from hidden purchased links, which woul...

Oct 01, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does simply deleting content actually enhance your site's SEO quality?

Removing low-quality content doesn't automatically make a site of higher overall quality. It's necessary to improve the rest of the content as well, not just eliminate the bad parts. The overarching f...

Oct 01, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google's quality evaluation take so long?

Google's quality evaluations take a considerable amount of time. If you deindex 10% of your site, it won't be reevaluated the following week, but rather over several months....

Oct 01, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does a temporary noindex really affect Google's recrawl?

Adding and then removing a noindex tag will not have a negative long-term effect. Google will continue to crawl the URL normally, especially if you add internal links to those pages. The crawl rate ma...

Oct 01, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How do noindex tags affect the de-indexing timeline for large websites?

For a large website, processing noindex tags can take up to a month. De-indexing usually happens in a gradual and progressive manner, not all at once....

Oct 01, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do Pages Blocked by robots.txt Really Affect Your SEO?

Pages blocked by robots.txt that show up as indexed in Search Console do not count against site quality. It is mainly a warning to inform owners. If you do not care about these pages, just leave them ...

Oct 01, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Do relative URLs really influence your internal SEO?

Relative URLs are perfectly acceptable for internal links, much like the combination of relative and absolute URLs. Google has no issue processing this type of configuration....

Oct 01, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really worry about case sensitivity in URLs for SEO?

Case sensitivity (uppercase/lowercase) does matter for URLs. It's a good practice to be consistent in their usage, even though it's generally not critical for a website. Issues related to this are rar...

Sep 28, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does the canonical tag really impact your SEO?

Adding a link rel="canonical" element helps to confirm your preferred URL and encourages search engines to focus on this specific version....

Sep 28, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ How can internal linking shape your SEO strategy?

Using internal linking to create links to a consistent version of your URLs helps clarify your preferences to search engines....

Sep 28, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does the robots.txt file require exact URLs?

The robots.txt file uses exact URLs. If you have entries that refer to a specific version of a URL, they will not apply to other versions of that URL....

Sep 28, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How does duplicate URL canonicalization affect your SEO?

When search engines encounter multiple distinct URLs showing the same content, they must decide which one to keep. This process is called canonicalization. It doesn't change rankings, but systems may ...

Sep 28, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you worry about URL variations when it comes to crawling?

When a website displays the same content across different URL variations, search engines will attempt to crawl all the variations they find. This can slow down the discovery of other useful content on...

Sep 28, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why are URLs case-sensitive, and why does it matter for SEO?

<p>By definition, URLs are case-sensitive (uppercase and lowercase letters). Elements like final slashes also matter. Technically, these differences make URLs distinct from one another.</p>...

Sep 28, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do Mobile Interstitials Actually Block Your Pages from Being Indexed?

John Mueller explained on Twitter that mobile interstitials (which Google has condemned since 2017) generally don't cause indexing issues, but can instead trigger ranking position losses in the search...

Sep 27, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should You Really Add Descriptive Text to Your Category Pages?

A few days ago, John Mueller indicated that it was important for a category page to have explanatory text about the list of products it offered. And so, as usual it must be said, he explained more or ...

Sep 27, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How Does Google Really Evaluate Category, Filter, and Tag Pages?

John Mueller explained during a webmaster hangout that Google doesn't specifically differentiate or treat category pages, filter pages (facets), internal search engine results pages, or tag pages diff...

Sep 27, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you focus on building a strong site instead of several micro-niche sites?

It is recommended to create fewer websites but to make them stronger. Small sites on very specific topics do not develop strong value over time, unlike a solid site that is regularly enriched with con...

Sep 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does frequent manual submission indicate quality issues for your SEO site?

If you have to manually submit each article for it to be indexed, it's a sign that Google is unsure about the overall quality of the site. With truly excellent content, Google crawls regularly without...

Sep 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it true that Googlebot skips CAPTCHAs?

Googlebot does not complete any CAPTCHAs, even those from Google. If the content requires completing a CAPTCHA to be visible, it will not be accessible to Googlebot. Serving the full content to Google...

Sep 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available