What does Google say about SEO? /
Martin Splitt is a Developer Advocate at Google, specializing in JavaScript rendering and modern web application indexing. He created the 'SEO Mythbusting' video series and regularly explains how Googlebot handles JavaScript frameworks. His statements are essential for developers looking to optimize the SEO of their applications.
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🕒 ~1 min 🎯 5 questions
★★★ Does the canonical tag really prevent your pages from being indexed?
Canonicalization examines the website owner's recommendation via the canonical tag and how the URL is linked elsewhere on the web. Shorter URLs are preferable but not mandatory. There is no difference...
Jul 11, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Why does Google treat hreflang and canonical tags as two completely separate mechanisms?
With hreflang, you tell Google that pages are identical but in different languages or regions. Canonicalization then selects the main URL in the index. Other URLs can appear in search results dependin...
Jul 11, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ How can you create unique content for identical products without falling into duplicate content traps?
To make a product page unique when sold by multiple vendors, you need to offer your own perspective: a genuine review, a product test, or useful information beyond the manufacturer's text and specific...
Jul 11, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Do Google's quality raters really affect your site's search rankings?
Quality raters examine individual sites but do not modify rankings in real-time. Google regularly uses their responses to evaluate changes, but they do not directly impact search result rankings....
Jul 11, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Are your JavaScript library vulnerabilities causing your Google rankings to plummet?
JavaScript security warnings detected by Lighthouse for libraries with known vulnerabilities have no influence on page ranking. However, it is still highly recommended to fix these security issues....
Jun 07, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Why isn't schema.org compliance enough to guarantee Google rich results?
Schema.org defines data types and attributes in an open and vendor-independent manner. Google, like other vendors, may have stricter specific requirements for certain attributes in order to use struct...
Jun 07, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Do numbers in your URLs really hurt your search rankings?
Numbers in URLs are not bad for SEO. You can use numbers, letters, non-Latin characters, or Unicode symbols. Only avoid temporary identifiers that change with each visit, as this complicates crawling....
Jun 07, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Does Google really issue official SEO certifications?
There is no official SEO certification or badge approved by Google. Certifications exist for certain products like Google Ads, but not for SEO in general. Always verify the official source for any pur...
Jun 07, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is your client-side rendering (CSR) sabotaging your Google indexation chances?
With client-side rendering, the base HTML is empty and all content is generated by JavaScript through API requests. Google must fully render these pages with no possibility of falling back to existing...
May 30, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Can a single JavaScript rendering failure cost you weeks of lost search visibility?
If JavaScript rendering fails during a crawl with client-side rendered content, Google will have nothing to index because the HTML is empty. You'll have to wait for the next crawl, which can delay ind...
May 30, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is JavaScript really indexed by Google, or should you still be cautious about it?
Google is capable of rendering JavaScript and indexing client-side generated content. The claim that JavaScript content is not indexed by Google is false, as long as there are no technical problems....
May 30, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Does client-side rendering create a structural bottleneck for Google's crawling process?
Client-side rendering involves additional requests: the initial HTML, the JavaScript file, then API calls to fetch content in JSON before generating the final HTML. This adds complexity and potential ...
May 30, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Can server-side rendering really fail just like client-side rendering does?
Server-side rendering solutions can also fail and produce incomplete HTML, for example if the database connection fails. The problem is not exclusive to client-side rendering, even though the latter i...
May 30, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you ditch client-side rendering to boost your SEO rankings?
Client-side rendering has value for interactive applications, but it's not the best strategy for informational websites where content indexability is the priority....
May 30, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really prioritize the 410 code over 404 to signal a deleted page?
Google treats HTTP 404 (Not Found) and 410 (Gone) status codes the same way internally. Search Console displays them identically as well, which reflects the actual processing performed by Google's cra...
May 30, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does your choice of CMS and programming language really impact your SEO?
The CMS used (WordPress or other) and the programming language have no impact on ranking. Only server performance and behavior can have an effect, particularly if the server is especially slow....
May 04, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Does image URL depth really prevent Googlebot from crawling your images?
The number of levels in an image URL does not prevent Googlebot from crawling and indexing that image. Path complexity is not a problem for Google....
May 04, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you abandon dynamic rendering for SEO?
Dynamic rendering (full HTML via SSR for bots, CSR for users) works but adds complexity to configuration and maintenance. Google does not encourage it for new projects....
May 04, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does Google really render EVERY successfully crawled page with JavaScript?
All pages that are correctly crawled are rendered by Googlebot. Only pages that generate errors like 404s are not rendered. JavaScript rendering is part of the normal indexation process....
May 04, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is Google's modern Chromium engine finally making JavaScript SEO-friendly?
Google now uses a modern Chromium rendering engine to process JavaScript, which represents a major improvement over the past. This allows for better support of sites using JavaScript intensively....
Mar 23, 2023 ⚡ Analysis available
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