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.
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★★ Do Dashes in Domain Names Really Affect SEO?
Having one or more dashes in a domain name does not impact SEO. No Google algorithm specifically targets dashes. Adding keywords in the domain is overrated - the overall quality of the site matters mu...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is it true that Core Updates are actually independent of Core Web Vitals?
Google's Core Update is not related to Core Web Vitals despite the similarity in name. The Core Update focuses on the relevance and quality of content, while Core Web Vitals solely concerns speed and ...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ How does Google My Business enhance your local SEO efforts?
For local services or businesses, having a strong and complete Google My Business profile is crucial. It facilitates visibility in local results and 'near me' queries, often more effectively than trad...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ How does placing key text at the top of HTML enhance your SEO?
When Google generates its own description, it often focuses on the first text found in the HTML. Placing a clear heading at the top of the HTML (which can be styled with CSS for display elsewhere) hel...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you automate meta descriptions for SEO on a large scale?
For large scale SEO (especially e-commerce), using automatically generated meta descriptions based on the page content is acceptable. The key is that they should not be identical across the entire sit...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ How can you prevent your pages from being classified as soft 404?
To prevent a page from being classified as a soft 404, make sure it does not contain text indicating a lack of content ('no products in this category', 'no results'). Instead, display descriptive text...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you really worry about localized URLs for SEO?
Translating URL slugs into the local language (for example, /produit/ vs /product/) has no significant impact on search engine optimization. Some sites utilize localized URLs, while others stick to gl...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is it true that migrating your domain for keywords could backfire on your SEO efforts?
Migrating to a new domain just for the sake of adding keywords generally creates more problems (migration complexity) than potential benefits. The domain name is not a strong ranking factor....
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is selective internal linking more effective than a massive approach for SEO?
Linking from a strong page to too many products dilutes value ('everything is somewhat relevant, but nothing is truly relevant'). It's better to create targeted internal links to a few key products to...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is it true that Google overlooks suspicious links without penalizing SEO?
If no issues are reported in Search Console and no manual actions have been applied, negative SEO is likely not the cause of a traffic drop. Google simply ignores suspicious links instead of penalizin...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why is active promotion essential for new websites in SEO?
For a new website, simply submitting a sitemap is not sufficient. Google must understand how the site fits into the broader context of the web. Actively promoting the site through advertising, social ...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Why does Google recommend a gradual approach for local pages?
Rather than creating 20 local pages at once, start with a single page and analyze the queries it attracts. Then gradually develop based on actual needs instead of automatically generating millions of ...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Do multilingual backlinks really build themselves?
Backlinks to different language versions of a site develop naturally over time. Users from a linguistic region will naturally link to the version in their own language. There is no need to manually bu...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does translated content really count as unique by Google?
Even if the source content is identical, once translated into another language, Google considers it as unique content. Therefore, each language version must have its own canonical....
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ How does Google tailor your meta descriptions for every search query?
Google adjusts the displayed meta description according to the user's query. If part of the query is clearly stated in the meta description, Google will use it. If not, it may extract content from the...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ How can you leverage free Google Shopping to boost your product visibility?
Setting up the free Google Shopping feed (Merchant Center) allows products to be displayed in Shopping results and sometimes in regular search results, providing additional visibility beyond tradition...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ What’s the relationship between Core Web Vitals and soft 404 errors in SEO?
Failures in Core Web Vitals (notably Cumulative Layout Shift) have no connection to the classification of a page as a soft 404. They are two entirely distinct systems....
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Why is submitting entire domains for disavowal more effective?
If you are using the disavow file, submit entire domains rather than thousands of individual URLs. Extract the domains from Search Console and submit them at the domain level to be more effective than...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ How does hreflang really affect your SEO strategy?
Hreflang helps Google choose the right URL to display based on the user's region, but it does not change the ranking itself. The ranking remains the same; only the displayed URL (local version) change...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ How should you configure canonical tags for multilingual websites?
For international sites with different language versions, each version constitutes unique content. Each page should have its own canonical tag pointing to itself, even if the content is translated. Th...
Jul 23, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
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