Google's SEO Update from John Mueller

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NeedMyLink

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Made a list of a few points that John Mueller, Google's head of search quality, has stated in interviews or tweets over the years. Some of this may be outdated.

- Changing publication dates doesn't help rankings. Without significant content changes, updating dates on web pages will not improve search rankings.

- Duplicate content is not penalized: Google displays one version of content and ignores the others.

- Website presentation affects rankings. Poor visual presentation can negatively affect a website's perception and visibility in search.

- Customer reviews do not affect web search rankings: they are used in local, but not in organic web search rankings.

- Ranking changes can take a month: after quality improvements, it can take up to a month to see changes in search results.
 
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maxmayer said:
Made a list of a few points that John Mueller, Google's head of search quality, has stated in interviews or tweets over the years. Some of this may be outdated.

- Changing publication dates doesn't help rankings. Without significant content changes, updating dates on web pages will not improve search rankings.

- Duplicate content is not penalized: Google displays one version of content and ignores the others.

- Website presentation affects rankings. Poor visual presentation can negatively affect a website's perception and visibility in search.

- Customer reviews do not affect web search rankings: they are used in local, but not in organic web search rankings.

- Ranking changes can take a month: after quality improvements, it can take up to a month to see changes in search results.
Click to expand...
Why do they always avoid talking about the effect of backlinks? Nobody wants to admit it's one of(if not the) most important ranking factor.
 
maxmayer said:
Ranking changes can take a month: after quality improvements, it can take up to a month to see changes in search results.
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sometimes up to the next core update lol,
especially with the last couple of years of nonsense

maxmayer said:
Website presentation affects rankings. Poor visual presentation can negatively affect a website's perception and visibility in search.
Click to expand...
total bulshit lmao,
as long as you have a good ctr, low bounce rate & other good UX metrics they can't really judge the "Website presentation",
it's not like google bots have a evaluation system for the design of the websites, probably part of the websites reviewers
 
Seriously google never shows good sites in serp no matter what, instead it shows all copied content websites, crappy and spammy websites on top in name of updates and talk all lies
 
hideath said:
total bulshit lmao,
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100% agree! I keep seeing garbage sites ranking up top, so this point is busted.

Points 2 and 5 are true, though...
 
Backlinks + Content matter, not G tweets

https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/semrush-ranking-factors-study-2024.1559834/
 
HenryObi said:
Why do they always avoid talking about the effect of backlinks? Nobody wants to admit it's one of(if not the) most important ranking factor.
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While they might not delve deeply into backlinks in casual discussions, Google's algorithm updates and guidelines do acknowledge the importance of high-quality, relevant backlinks.
hideath said:
sometimes up to the next core update lol,
especially with the last couple of years of nonsense


total bulshit lmao,
as long as you have a good ctr, low bounce rate & other good UX metrics they can't really judge the "Website presentation",
it's not like google bots have a evaluation system for the design of the websites, probably part of the websites reviewers
Click to expand...
Poor design can lead to a high bounce rate and low CTR because users might find the site difficult to navigate or trust less. While it's true Google's algorithms may not "judge" aesthetics in the traditional sense, they are sophisticated enough to interpret user interactions as signals of a site's value and relevance.
RMX said:
Seriously google never shows good sites in serp no matter what, instead it shows all copied content websites, crappy and spammy websites on top in name of updates and talk all lies
Click to expand...
Sometimes, sites that seem lower quality can rank due to strong relevance to the search query or because they meet specific user intent that we might not immediately recognize.
 
maxmayer said:
Sometimes, sites that seem lower quality can rank due to strong relevance to the search query or because they meet specific user intent that we might not immediately recognize.
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Agreed mate, but still the people who do a lot of works for their sites and miss a thing boom your site went downhill because of one update. I feel bad for them.
 
BuildMoreLinks said:
Never believe anything that John says! I think he just gets paid to confuse webmasters about how Google search works.
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It's possible that some statements might seem vague or misleading without context or might be misinterpreted over time as the algorithm evolves.

Could we dive deeper into specific points you find most contentious or confusing? For instance, understanding the rationale behind Google's stance on duplicate content
 
- Changing publication dates doesn't help rankings. Without significant content changes, updating dates on web pages will not improve search rankings.

this line is total BS . I am watching few sites for few months that change the date for some articles that rank on first page on very high volume of searches for kws, and every time their ranking position fluctuates from spot 5-8 for example to spot 2-3 ... the info on page is the same...not changed in anyway and yet, their rank increase every time.
 
gmc93 said:
- Changing publication dates doesn't help rankings. Without significant content changes, updating dates on web pages will not improve search rankings.

this line is total BS . I am watching few sites for few months that change the date for some articles that rank on first page on very high volume of searches for kws, and every time their ranking position fluctuates from spot 5-8 for example to spot 2-3 ... the info on page is the same...not changed in anyway and yet, their rank increase every time.
Click to expand...
It's interesting to see such discrepancies between Google's official statements and the actual behavior you're seeing. Google's algorithms are constantly evolving and there may be other factors affecting the rankings you've noticed. It's also possible that changes in user behavior or algorithm updates explain the fluctuations you've observed.
 
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