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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★★★ Should you really stop fearing JavaScript for SEO?
There is no strong reason to avoid creating, adding, inserting, removing, or changing content with JavaScript in the rendered HTML. It is perfectly acceptable, and this is precisely why Google renders...
Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Do JavaScript links really slow down Google's discovery process?
Links present only after JavaScript rendering can cause a delay of a few hours in their discovery by Google. Google first examines the raw HTML to discover links, then does so again after rendering. F...
Apr 26, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Has Google truly made JavaScript rendering reliable for indexing?
Google continuously enhances its JavaScript rendering system and receives fewer JavaScript errors than before in rendering. The most common errors include resources blocked by robots.txt or inaccessib...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Does Google really log all your JavaScript console messages for SEO?
Google collects JavaScript console logs from every website during rendering, exactly as you would see in the JavaScript console. This information is displayed in Search Console during a live test....
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is it true that CSS layout information is really useless for SEO?
The absence of layout information (render tree, element positions) is not a major issue for Google. If the content is present, Google can at least understand what is on the page. Additional semantic i...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really block CSS in robots.txt to speed up crawling?
Excluding CSS resources to simplify rendering is a bad idea. It does not simplify things; on the contrary, it complicates them and reduces the information available to Google, particularly for signals...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does a rendering error prevent an entire domain from being indexed?
A page with a rendering error does not block other pages within the same domain. There are different queues with different priorities. Pages with errors are simply retried without holding back other p...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Could the inconsistency between your mobile and desktop link structure hinder your mobile-first indexing?
It is important to maintain a consistent link structure between the mobile (m-dot) and desktop versions. Significant differences can cause misunderstandings of the site's structure by Google, especial...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Does Google really favor any prerendering services for crawling?
Google has no special treatment for prerendering services. Google crawls normally without keeping connections open unusually long. 500 errors should be investigated server-side....
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you still rely on Google Cache to verify JavaScript rendering?
Google's cache is an old, unmaintained feature. The version displayed is random: it may be from a previous crawl, before or after JavaScript rendering. Do not use the text cache to check if JavaScript...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Are Search Console tools truly enough to audit your pages' JavaScript rendering?
To check JavaScript rendering, use the live test from Search Console, the mobile compatibility test, or the rich results test. These tools utilize the same pipeline as Googlebot and display the render...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does Google really render EVERY page using JavaScript before indexing?
Google renders every page and indexes based on the rendered version, except for very rare exceptional cases. All pages go through the JavaScript rendering process....
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is Tree Shaking for JavaScript Really Essential for SEO?
Tree shaking (via webpack or other bundlers) is highly recommended to eliminate unused JavaScript code. This allows for a reduction in bundle size by automatically removing unused functions and depend...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should you really load analytics trackers last to enhance your SEO?
Trackers, analytics solutions, and anything that is not essential to the primary user experience should be loaded as late as possible in the process. Only the absolutely necessary code for the main co...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Does Google truly rely on the stable version of Chrome for rendering, and what does it mean for your technical SEO?
Google's web rendering service uses the current stable version of Chrome (Chrome 89 at the time of recording). Every improvement in stable Chrome automatically benefits Google's rendering. There is no...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is it true that we should abandon domain sharding for HTTP/2 crawling?
Google is gradually rolling out HTTP/2 crawling to a small percentage of sites (10-20%). The main advantage is multiplexing over a single connection. Domain sharding is no longer necessary with HTTP/2...
Apr 09, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Should you really give up dynamic rendering for SSR?
Google stopped recommending dynamic rendering following the launch of Evergreen Googlebot in May 2019. Although it is not deprecated, it is more complex than expected. Google now recommends investing ...
Mar 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Is server-side rendering really essential for your SEO?
Server-side rendering typically makes websites more robust and faster for users. However, it's not a silver bullet. If your client-side site performs well for indexing and users, there's no need to ch...
Mar 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★★ Is JavaScript truly the worst enemy of Core Web Vitals?
JavaScript is the most resource-intensive asset on a page, more than images or videos. It must be downloaded, parsed into machine code, and then executed. During JavaScript execution, the browser cann...
Mar 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
★★ Should You Really Delete Your Broken AMP Pages Instead of Keeping Them?
If you're aware that your AMP pages have issues, fix them or delete them. If you want to reap the benefits of AMP, having a valid AMP page is the first step. A broken AMP page brings more problems tha...
Mar 25, 2021 ⚡ Analysis available
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