English Google Webmaster Central office-hours hangout

TL;DR

Discussion on SEO, crawling, indexing, and webmaster queries.

Transcript

JOHN MUELLER: All right. Welcome, everyone, to today's Google Webmasters Central office-hours hangout. My name is John Mueller. I'm a webmaster trends analyst here at Google in Switzerland. And part of what we do are these Office Hours Hangouts with a bunch of fantastic webmasters, publishers, SEOs, who drop in every now and then, lots of people wh... Read More

Key Insights

• Voice search requires more precision as users generally receive fewer results compared to traditional search.
• Googlebot's crawling behavior can be misunderstood due to server-side logging or URL rewriting issues.
• 404 errors are common and do not negatively impact a website's ranking; they indicate URLs that shouldn't exist.
• A site's migration without proper redirects can lead to significant drops in organic traffic.
• Using rel="canonical" tags is crucial in multilingual sites to indicate preferred indexed versions.
• Googlebot generally crawls from a single location, so speed optimizations should focus on user experience.
• Content hidden behind dropdowns or tabs on mobile sites will be indexed normally with the mobile-first index.
• For e-commerce sites, balancing category and product pages is essential for user satisfaction and SEO.

Questions & Answers

Q: How does voice search differ from traditional search in terms of query handling?

Voice search requires more precision because users typically receive fewer results. Unlike traditional search, where queries can be expanded or refined, voice search aims to provide the most accurate result initially, as users cannot easily choose from multiple results.

Q: Why might Googlebot crawl URLs that are disallowed in robots.txt?

Googlebot crawling disallowed URLs is often due to server-side issues or incorrect logging rather than Googlebot ignoring the robots.txt file. It's important to verify the robots.txt setup and ensure that server logs accurately reflect URL requests.

Q: How should a site handle a migration to avoid loss of traffic?

During a site migration, it's crucial to set up proper redirects from old URLs to new ones. This helps Google recognize the new site structure and prevents a drop in traffic by maintaining the link equity and visibility of the previous URLs.

Q: What is the importance of rel="canonical" tags in multilingual websites?

Rel="canonical" tags are important in multilingual setups to indicate the preferred version of a page for indexing. They help Google understand which version of a page to show in search results, especially when there are minor content differences across language versions.

Q: Does Googlebot's crawling location affect website speed and ranking?

Googlebot primarily crawls from one location, and while speed is a ranking factor, it focuses on user experience rather than Googlebot's experience. Speed optimizations should ensure fast load times for users across different locations, not just where Googlebot crawls from.

Q: How does Google handle content hidden behind dropdowns on mobile sites?

With the mobile-first index, content hidden behind dropdowns or tabs is indexed normally. This means that such content will still be considered for ranking purposes, aligning with how users interact with mobile sites.

Q: What should e-commerce sites consider regarding category and product pages?

E-commerce sites should balance the number of category and product pages to ensure a good user experience and effective SEO. Testing different setups can help determine what works best for users without overwhelming them with too much or too little information.

Q: How can a site improve its chances of appearing in Google's Top Stories?

Appearing in Google's Top Stories is based on organic algorithms, and there's no specific meta tag to guarantee placement. Sites should focus on high-quality content and timely news to increase their chances, but there are no guarantees of consistent visibility in this section.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The hangout addressed various webmaster concerns, including voice search precision, Googlebot crawling behavior, and the handling of 404 errors. John Mueller emphasized that 404 errors are normal and don't affect site rankings.

• A significant topic was website migration, where improper redirects can lead to traffic drops. Participants also discussed the importance of rel="canonical" tags in multilingual setups to ensure correct indexing.

• Googlebot's crawling from a single location was clarified, highlighting the need for speed optimizations for user experience. The session also covered mobile indexing and content visibility in dropdowns.