Ever since Google has very publicly taken the stance that they do not have a recommended character count for meta description tags, some have wondered what that means for the meta tag warnings in Google Search Console that alerts site owners when their meta description tags are too long or too short. But with no […]
Google Search Console Crawl Stats to Update Soon
Google Search Console stopped updating data for crawl stats back on May 23rd for all users. But for those worried it might be a permanent change due to the migration to the new Google Search Console, it is not. The stats should start updating again soon. John Mueller from Google confirmed that it is a […]
Google: Don’t Block Googlebot from Slow Resources on Page
An interesting question came up in the Google Webmaster Office hours – if a site has a slow loading resource, such as javascript, that does not break the render, is it okay to block Googlebot from crawling it because it is slow and could impact the page negatively with regards to page speed? First, it […]
Google’s Googlebot Crawling, Search Visibility and Rankings
When it comes to crawling the web, Googlebot crawls some pages with high frequency, with many crawls per day, while other pages can go months between Googlebot visits. John Mueller from Google made some interesting comments regarding web pages that are crawled infrequently and why that might be, and if it is a concern for SEOs. […]
Google Testing Images in Local Service Ads in Search Results
Google is testing a new feature in their local service ads. This test adds images to the local service ad listing in the search results. Tom Waddington shared the screenshot on Twitter. You can also see from the screenshot that there are 30 photos that potential customers can view. So it isn’t just merely a […]
Bing Testing Local Packs with Image Thumbnails
Bing has been testing another variation of their local pack in the search results. Instead of the usual listing, it adds a thumbnail image for the business on the left hand side of each result in the pack. The images Bing is choosing to display vary between logos, thumbnails of the map and photos from […]
Google: Considerations When Splitting One Site Into Two Individual Sites
John Mueller from Google talked about the issues that can arise when splitting one site into two or multiple sites. This is something that many site owners do, but depending on the reasons for doing it – whether SEO or for the user – you can end up doing more harm to your overall search […]
Bing Local Pack Testing New Card Style in Search Results
Bing is testing a distinct new style of their local pack in the search results. Instead of the usual list of results together, this new layout has individual card-style results for each business within the local pack. However, some versions of this test drop the results in the local pack to only three results instead […]
Why Googlebot Shows Fluctuations on Time Spent Downloading Page Report
When viewing the Google Search Console stats for the amount of time Googlebot spends downloading a page, it is common to see wide fluctuations in that time. But while it is sometimes easy to guess the reasons, sometimes it isn’t always clear. John Mueller from Google answered a question about the report, specifically why there […]
Google: When to Choose Subdirectories vs Subdomains
The debate over subdomains versus subdirectories has been a hot one for SEOs for years. For SEO reasons, most prefer subdirectories, primarily for link equity purposes. But Google’s official stand is either works in the eyes of Google – even if they won’t necessarily rank equivalently. During the most recent Google Office Hours, the question […]