Martin Splitt

★★★ 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

★★★ Should you really invest in server-side rendering for SEO?

Server-side rendering (SSR) is not necessary for Googlebot since it executes JavaScript and sees client-side rendered content. However, SSR is recommended as an investment because it is generally fast...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does the JSON application state in the DOM create duplicate content?

During server-side rendering, if the application state is serialized as JSON in the page (for hydration) in addition to the rendered HTML, it does not pose a duplicate content issue. Google only looks...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you test Cloudflare Rocket Loader and third-party tools before activating them for SEO?

To determine if a service like Cloudflare Rocket Loader is compatible with SEO, test your URLs with Google's tools (Mobile Friendly Test, Rich Results Test, Search Console). If the content is displaye...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you worry about 'Other Error' messages in Search Console and Mobile Friendly Test?

When Search Console or Mobile Friendly Test shows 'Other Error' for resources (JS, CSS), it's typically a limitation of the testing tool: limited quota, no cache, quick timeout. THIS IS NOT a real pro...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Does JavaScript rendering really consume crawl budget?

There is no specific quota or budget for JavaScript rendering or JS execution (no 'render budget' or 'JavaScript budget'). The crawl budget only pertains to HTTP requests (crawling), not rendering. Th...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it really time to move on from dynamic rendering for SEO?

Google is no longer actively recommending dynamic rendering (like Rendertron). It's a workaround, not a long-term solution. If JavaScript causes issues for Googlebot, it's likely causing issues for us...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Does asynchronous JavaScript post-load really hinder Google indexing?

If part of the content (e.g., e-commerce product listings) is loaded asynchronously via JavaScript after the initial load, it’s not a problem as long as it loads quickly and shows correctly in the URL...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Shared or Dedicated Server: Does Google really make a difference?

The choice between a shared server and a dedicated server is of no importance to Google. Googlebot makes as many requests as necessary regardless of the hosting. A slow server-side (time to first byte...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Is SSR + client hydration really safe for Google SEO?

Frameworks with hydration (server-side rendering followed by client hydration, like Next.js/Nuxt) are acceptable. Even if some components only function on the client side, it’s not an issue as long as...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★ Should you stop monitoring the overall Lighthouse score to focus on the Core Web Vitals metrics that matter for your site?

The significance of different performance metrics (FID, LCP, CLS) varies based on the type of site. For an interactive application (chat), First Input Delay is crucial. For a content site (Wikipedia),...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Is it true that Googlebot overlooks your WebP images served by Service Worker?

If you are using a Service Worker to serve WebP images instead of JPEG/PNG (by detecting browser support), Googlebot will not see the WebP because it does not execute Service Workers. Even if third-pa...

May 12, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are JavaScript links really crawlable by Google if the code is clean?

Client-side generated links with JavaScript are crawlable by Google as long as they are <a> tags with an href attribute containing a crawlable URL. Client-side rendering is not an issue as long as the...

May 05, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Are JavaScript redirects really as effective as 301s for SEO?

Google properly handles JavaScript redirects (window.location.href). They have no obvious disadvantage compared to server-side 301 redirects for Google Search, although they require the crawler to und...

May 05, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available

★★★ Should you overlook timeout errors from the Mobile-Friendly Test?

Testing tools like the Mobile-Friendly Test can show 'other errors' and timeouts more easily than Google's actual indexing infrastructure, which is much more patient. These errors in the tools do not ...

May 05, 2020 ⚡ Analysis available