Martin Splitt

★★★ Should you really worry about a low crawl rate?

A low crawl rate is not problematic if Google has already seen and indexed all the content. The crawl rate is neither an indicator of quality, demand, nor traffic. It has no direct impact on ranking o...

May 27, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Why does Googlebot still crawl using HTTP/1.1 instead of HTTP/2?

Googlebot still uses HTTP/1.1 for crawling. JavaScript optimization strategies must take this limitation into account, even though HTTP/2 offers multiplexing advantages for modern browsers....

May 27, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really split your JavaScript bundles by site section for better SEO?

Rather than using a single massive JavaScript bundle, it's advised to split the bundles according to the logical sections of the site (blog, forum, shop) to avoid downloading unnecessary code and to i...

May 27, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Google really ignore Cache-Control headers for crawling?

Google generally ignores Cache-Control headers because many resources are under-cached. To force re-downloads, it's better to use versioned URLs with hash (e.g., app.abc123.js) rather than relying on ...

May 27, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is dynamic rendering really risk-free for SEO?

Serving identical or similar content to bots without JavaScript is not seen as cloaking. If the content varies slightly, it is dynamic rendering, which is perfectly acceptable according to Google....

May 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does dynamic rendering really slow down your server or enhance your crawl budget?

Dynamic rendering generally takes more time on the server side because an additional rendering step is added. However, it can save client-side API requests and potentially increase the crawl budget fo...

May 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why does Google treat JavaScript redirects as 302s instead of 301s?

Google treats client-side JavaScript redirects as temporary redirects similar to 302s, not as permanent 301s. It's preferable to avoid them, but not critical if necessary....

May 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can Googlebot really crawl hidden links in a hamburger menu?

If a mobile navigation only appears in the DOM after user interaction (clicking on the hamburger), Googlebot will not see these links. The links must be present in the DOM, even if they are visually h...

May 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google really treat 301 and 302 redirects differently for SEO?

Google does not make a significant distinction between 301 and 302 redirect codes in terms of SEO handling, although their behavior differs for browsers (cached vs non-cached)....

May 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should You Serve Lightweight Pages to Bots to Enhance Performance?

It is not recommended to serve bots pages without webfonts to gain performance. The added complexity (bot detection, extra code, potential bugs) far exceeds the minimal benefit. It is better to block ...

May 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ How can you effectively manage 404 errors in a SPA without risking deindexation?

For SPAs with client-side routing, Google recommends three solutions to signal a 404 error: redirect to a server URL with a 404 code, add a noindex tag, or use a soft 404 (automatically detected but l...

May 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Why is Googlebot missing your content loaded by Web Workers?

Googlebot does not handle Web Workers perfectly, particularly asynchronous streams. If a worker loads data asynchronously, it does not work reliably. Google is working to improve this support but reco...

May 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it true that hidden content in accordions is actually indexed by Google?

Content hidden behind accordions or tabs is indexable by Google as long as it is present in the DOM, even if it is invisible. However, the main content should not be hidden behind user interaction, an...

May 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is it really time to ditch manual structured data implementation?

To implement structured data markup at scale, the best approach is to do it programmatically via the CMS or developers, rather than manually on a page-by-page basis. Google Tag Manager is an alternati...

May 18, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you overlook the Lighthouse score to optimize your SEO?

Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights are tools for developers and SEOs designed to measure the speed perceived by users. They are not specific to search. Lighthouse metrics and scores are constantly evol...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is page speed really a Google ranking factor?

Page speed is already a ranking factor, and that won't change. Google uses metrics that model user experience to determine what constitutes a good response to a query. The Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, FID) a...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it really a good idea to inject the canonical tag through JavaScript?

Using JavaScript to inject the canonical tag into the head is perfectly acceptable, as long as it appears at the right place in the rendered DOM and points to the expected URL. Check with testing tool...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does Google Tag Manager really slow down your site, and should you abandon it?

Google Tag Manager is a viable solution when developer resources are lacking, but it adds extra JavaScript and impacts speed. If you can implement directly on the page or with your own JavaScript, it'...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is serving a 404 to Googlebot while showing a 200 to visitors really cloaking?

In a pre-rendered React SPA, serving an HTTP 404 code to Googlebot (via pre-render) while the user sees a 200 error page is generally not considered cloaking, unless you are doing something really dub...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are 301, 302, and JavaScript redirects really equivalent for SEO?

For Googlebot, there is no practical difference between a 301, 302, or client-side JavaScript redirect. Googlebot follows JavaScript redirects and treats them as normal redirects. There is no client-s...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available