Martin Splitt

★★ Should you be concerned about 'other' errors in the URL Inspection Tool?

The 'other' errors in the URL Inspection Tool are generally temporary and unimportant, particularly for images and non-essential resources such as tracking pixels or advertisements. Google does not ne...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really overlook your images during web search rendering?

Google does not necessarily fetch images during the rendering for main web search. Images are retrieved by Google Images, which has its own system. Google recognizes the existence of the image, its al...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ User agent or viewport: Does Google really differentiate for mobile indexing?

Serving different mobile/desktop versions based on the user agent rather than the viewport should not cause major problems for Google, as long as the content is present and equivalent. The user agent ...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do JavaScript-generated links truly pass ranking signals like traditional HTML links?

Links generated by JavaScript after the raw HTML pose no issues for signal transmission. The only impact is a slight delay in link discovery, not in their processing for SEO....

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can an empty HTML canonical tag mistakenly force Google to auto-canonicalize your page?

An empty canonical tag in the initial HTML that is later filled by JavaScript can potentially cause unwanted auto-canonicalization. It's preferable to have no canonical tag at all than an empty one, o...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can the Mobile-Friendly Test really substitute the URL Inspection Tool for auditing mobile crawling?

The Mobile-Friendly Test always uses the mobile crawler and can serve as an alternative to test what the mobile Googlebot sees, especially for sites not yet migrated to mobile-first indexing where the...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does Google ignore your desktop structured data after switching to mobile-first indexing?

Once a site is migrated to mobile-first indexing, Google uses the structured data from the mobile version, even for the rich snippets displayed on desktop. During the transition period, both crawlers ...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really experience delays in discovering JavaScript links?

Links added via JavaScript after the HTML rendering are discovered a few hours later than those present in the raw HTML. Google first examines the raw HTML to discover links, and then after rendering....

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google ignore your canonical tags when the raw HTML contradicts the rendered output?

Having a different canonical URL in the raw HTML and in the rendered HTML creates mixed signals for Google. This may lead Google to choose a completely different canonical or to alternate between the ...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does a raw HTML noindex really prevent JavaScript rendering by Google?

If the raw HTML contains a noindex meta robots tag, Google will not render the page. Therefore, if JavaScript later removes this noindex in the rendered HTML, Google will never see it. The reverse wor...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can you really modify title, meta, and links on the client side with JavaScript without risks?

Modifying title tags, meta descriptions, adding, deleting or changing links via JavaScript is generally acceptable for Google. There is no strict rule prohibiting these client-side modifications. Java...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is client-side JavaScript really holding back your SEO performance?

While Google handles JavaScript well, using client-side JavaScript generally has a negative impact on performance and is less predictable. It is advised to avoid client-side JavaScript when it is not ...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Raw HTML vs Rendered: Does Google really not care?

The data from the Web Almanac showing differences between raw HTML and rendered HTML are factual observations, not value judgments. These differences do not pose an issue in and of themselves for Goog...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google AdSense really penalize your site's speed like any other third-party script?

Google products like AdSense receive no preferential treatment concerning SEO or performance guidelines. If a Google product does not adhere to best practices (like speed), it is assessed in the same ...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you be worried about 'other error' issues with images in the Search Console?

In the URL inspection tool, 'other error' issues for images or resources like tracking pixels are normal. Google Search does not directly extract images (that's Google Images' job) and does not need t...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you prioritize user agent or viewport detection for your separate mobile versions?

To serve separate mobile and desktop versions, the user agent is sufficient for Google. However, generally, it is preferable to use viewport detection rather than user agent for a better user experien...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do JavaScript navigation links really affect your site's SEO?

Main navigation links added via JavaScript pose no issues in terms of transmitting ranking signals. The only difference is a slight delay in discovering these links, but their SEO value remains the sa...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Can you really lose control of your canonical by leaving the href attribute empty at load time?

An empty canonical tag in the initial HTML that is then filled by JavaScript can cause involuntary auto-canonicalization of the page. It is better to either not include the tag at all or to create it ...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really use different crawlers for its SEO testing tools?

The Mobile-Friendly Test systematically uses the mobile crawler by definition. The URL Inspection Tool uses the corresponding crawler (mobile or desktop) based on the site's mobile-first status. The R...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are the structured data from your mobile version also applicable to desktop?

Once a site has migrated to mobile-first indexing, Google uses the structured data from the mobile version for all rich results, including those displayed on desktop. Before migration, the data from e...

Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available