Martin Splitt

★★★ Is server-side rendering truly essential for Google SEO?

Server-side rendering (SSR) is not required for Googlebot as Google executes JavaScript and sees the content rendered on the client-side. However, SSR is highly recommended because it improves speed f...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does serialized JSON in your JavaScript apps count as duplicate content?

During SSR, application state is often serialized in JSON on the page, which duplicates the content once in the JSON and once in the DOM. Google does not consider this problematic duplicate content be...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is Cloudflare Rocket Loader passing Googlebot's SEO test?

Martin cannot claim that services like Cloudflare Rocket Loader are SEO-compatible without testing them. The recommended method is to use Google's testing tools (Mobile-Friendly Test, Rich Results Tes...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you really be concerned about the 'Other Error' status in Google's testing tools?

When testing tools (Mobile-Friendly Test, etc.) display 'Other Error' for certain resources, it usually indicates a timeout or quota limit, not a real problem. Googlebot during indexing is much more p...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you choose one JavaScript framework over another for your SEO?

There is no best JavaScript framework. The choice depends on the context: team size, skills, project type, need for TypeScript, backend integration. Angular is suitable for large teams with TypeScript...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does JavaScript really consume crawl budget?

There is no specific quota or budget for JavaScript rendering. The crawl budget only relates to HTTP requests (crawling), which include JavaScript and API files. Thanks to caching, the impact of JavaS...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you ditch dynamic rendering for better SEO results?

Google no longer actively recommends snapshot/dynamic rendering tools like Rendertron. It is a workaround, not a sustainable solution. If JavaScript is problematic for Googlebot, it likely is for user...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you really abandon client-side JavaScript for indexing product links?

For an e-commerce site where product listings are loaded in JavaScript after the initial load, Google discovers the links only after rendering. However, 90% of pages are rendered in a few minutes, so ...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is it really necessary to switch to a dedicated server to improve your SEO?

The choice between shared or dedicated server has no direct impact for Google. However, if the shared server is very slow (high server response time), it could affect user experience and thus indirect...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is client-side hydration really a SEO concern?

Using hydration (SSR + client-side for certain components) is acceptable as long as testing tools show that Google sees the expected content. Some components can be client-only. Lighthouse will detect...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is striving for 100 on Lighthouse really worth your time?

The Lighthouse score offers a useful overview but does not reflect all nuances. A score of 5 clearly indicates a problem to fix. A score of 95 shows that there's still fine-tuning to do but with dimin...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★ Is it true that 5G will accelerate your site, or is it just a mirage?

Historically, increases in bandwidth and network speed (like 5G) have not made sites faster because developers simply use the additional bandwidth for heavier content (video, VR, etc.). Martin expects...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does Googlebot really ignore your WebP images served through Service Workers?

Googlebot does not execute Service Workers. If a site uses a Service Worker to serve WebP images instead of JPEG/PNG, Googlebot will only see the original formats (JPEG/PNG), not the WebP. This does n...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights really have no impact on rankings?

Lighthouse and Page Speed Insights are tools for developers and SEOs, not direct ranking factors. They model user experience in terms of loading speed and are constantly evolving. These tools help det...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it true that page speed is as crucial a ranking factor as claimed?

Page speed is already a ranking factor and this will not change. Google tries to provide the best results for users, and ranking attempts to model what constitutes a good answer to a query. Improving ...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Do Google's Web Vitals really model user experience?

Google has announced Web Vitals, consisting of three existing metrics considered the best way to approximate user experience in terms of speed: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Cumulative Layout Shift ...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Can you really inject the canonical tag via JavaScript without risking your SEO?

It is acceptable to inject the canonical tag via JavaScript, even if the script is in the footer. The important thing is that in the rendered HTML, the canonical tag appears in the head and is the exp...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is GTM really sabotaging your loading time?

Google Tag Manager is not inherently problematic, but it is additional JavaScript that loads other scripts, which impacts speed. If you can implement directly on the page or through your own JavaScrip...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it really cloaking when Googlebot sees a 404 while users see a 200?

In a React single-page application that always returns 200 OK, using a pre-rendering service to serve a true 404 to Googlebot (while the user sees a 200 error page) is generally not considered cloakin...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are JavaScript redirects truly equivalent to 301 redirects for Google?

There is no 301 redirect on the client side: the 301 code is a server HTTP status. However, you can create a client-side JavaScript redirect. Googlebot follows these redirects and treats them similarl...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available