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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🕒 ~1 min 🎯 5 questions
★★ Why does Google sometimes show content in a different language?
Google weighs the language and relevance of content in search results. If little relevant content exists in one language, Google may display content from another language. It's a balance between vario...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is duplicate content on category pages really a non-issue for Google?
Having the same content on multiple pages (like article snippets on category pages) is not necessarily an issue. Google simply chooses one of the pages to display in the results for that common conten...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does the meta description really influence your SEO rankings?
The meta description tag can appear as a snippet in search results but is not used for ranking. It remains important because it influences what is shown to users....
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ How does the title tag really affect your SEO ranking?
The title of a page is very important for Google because it is used as the basis for the title displayed in search results and also for ranking. It is a fundamental element of SEO....
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you really focus on new meta tags?
Google is reluctant to create new meta tags for new features because the ecosystem takes 2-4 years to adopt them, during which time Google may lose interest or change its technological direction....
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Do domain extensions really influence SEO?
Google does not differentiate between various generic domain extensions (.com, .net, .club, etc.) for SEO purposes. The only distinction taken into account for geographic targeting is between country-...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ How can integrating sitemaps boost your SEO tracking efforts?
<p>Although sitemaps are not mandatory, they are considered a best practice because they facilitate performance tracking in Google Search Console, particularly for multilingual or multi-regional sites...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why doesn't the cached page reflect the actual indexing?
The cached page displayed by Google is not representative of what is used for indexing. It’s a parallel system updated at its own pace. It should not be used to diagnose indexing issues....
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really worry about characters in URLs for SEO?
Google doesn't care much about the characters and words in URLs from an SEO perspective. URLs should be optimized primarily for users rather than for search engines. Google can process any technically...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ How does Google decide between recent and old content?
The priority between new and old content depends on the audience and the type of content. For current events, Google temporarily favors recent content. For permanent services like construction, evergr...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why is localized content essential for international SEO?
It is advisable to localize content as much as possible according to the targeted language and country. Even if Google can display a page in the search results, users will leave the site if they reali...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why do SEO improvements take so long to show results?
Improvements made to a website (UX, content, external presence) take a long time to be reflected in search results. One should not expect immediate changes....
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Why do soft 404 errors fluctuate in your SEO reports?
Google uses a machine learning system to detect soft 404 pages. These systems may require adjustments over time, which can result in fluctuations in the detection of these errors....
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does a partially translated site really affect its SEO performance?
There is no obligation to translate the entire website to make it multilingual. You can translate as much or as little content as you wish. Google will independently index the available content in eac...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Can Google really mix up a query's intent?
Google's systems can be uncertain about a query's intent (informational vs transactional) and may shift between different pages over time. It is crucial to properly link these pages together to guide ...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why is aiming for a server response time under 300ms crucial for your SEO?
For a large website, it's recommended to aim for an average server response time of under 200-300 milliseconds (different from page load time) to allow for effective crawling by Google....
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ How does Google manage independent franchises without specific tags?
There is no meta tag or technical method to indicate to Google that independent franchise sites are linked to a corporate site. Google attempts to algorithmically determine which parts of a site belon...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why Doesn't Google Index All the Pages It Crawls?
It's common for almost all websites to have a large number of URLs that are crawled but not indexed. Google does not guarantee the indexing of all the pages it crawls....
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is it true that changing your internal links won't harm your SEO?
Google uses internal links to understand how pages fit within a site, but these links can be altered. It's normal for sites to restructure over time and change their internal linking....
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Do links from low-visibility pages really affect SEO?
<p>Links from pages that don't receive much visibility in search results and that search engines don’t regard highly will, in any case, not matter for SEO.</p>...
Jun 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
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