There are multiple ways to add hreflang annotations for webpages, but are any of the ways treated differently by Google? Is one way processed faster than another? The question came up on Twitter, and John Mueller from Google confirmed that Google treats each hreflang application the same, regardless of whether it is in HTML or […]
Google Dropping Meta Tag Description Length Warnings from Search Console
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Google Sending New Wave of Mobile-First Indexing Enabled Notifications
If you have a large number of sites in your Google Search Console, chances are good you have received one (or twenty) emails from Google alerting that sites have been switched over to mobile first indexing in the search results. The new notices are identical (aside from a non-relevant footer change) to the ones Google […]