English Google Webmaster Central office-hours hangout

TL;DR

John Mueller answers various webmaster-related questions in a Google Hangout session.

Transcript

hello all right this works great okay all right uh welcome everyone to today's Google webm central office hours Hangouts uh my name is John Mueller I am a webmaster Trends analyst here at Google in Switzerland and part of what we do is talk with webm and Publishers like the ones here in the hangout um as always I'd like to give those of you who are... Read More

Key Insights

• John Mueller suggests using the 'submit to indexing' feature in Search Console for a few pages or a sitemap for many pages to signal Google to recrawl updated pages.
• For orphan pages that are no longer linked, Google may still keep them indexed but will assume they are less critical and may eventually drop them.
• When dealing with multilingual sites, use hreflang tags for language variations and avoid using cross-language canonical tags to prevent losing indexed pages.
• Featured snippets are shown as the top position in Search Console, and there's a comprehensive help center article explaining how different search appearances are counted.
• Google can understand synonyms and variations of keywords, so exact match keywords are not necessary for ranking.
• Ads above the fold can affect rankings if users primarily see ads instead of content, but links to other sites are not automatically considered ads.
• High search traffic does not automatically equate to high-quality content; relevance and quality are distinct factors.
• Google treats the entire page, including comments, as part of the content, so spammy comments can affect overall page quality.

Questions & Answers

Q: How can I signal Google to recrawl pages that were previously 404?

You can use the 'submit to indexing' feature in Search Console for a few pages. For a large number of pages, updating the last modification date in your sitemap and resubmitting it can help signal Google to recrawl those pages.

Q: What happens to orphan pages that are no longer linked?

Google may keep these orphan pages indexed but will assume they are less critical. Over time, if they remain unlinked and have no significant history, they may eventually drop out of the index.

Q: How should I handle hreflang and canonical tags for a multilingual site?

Use hreflang tags to indicate language variations, and avoid using cross-language canonical tags. Each language version should have its own canonical tag pointing to itself to ensure all versions remain indexed.

Q: How does Search Console show featured snippets?

Search Console shows the position of the featured snippet as the top position. If you have multiple entries, it will display the highest-ranking one. There's a detailed help center article explaining different search appearances.

Q: Do I need to use exact match keywords to rank for a query?

No, Google can understand synonyms and variations of keywords. It's unnecessary to use exact match keywords, as Google can interpret the content and rank pages based on context and relevance.

Q: How do ads above the fold affect search rankings?

Pages with ads that dominate the above-the-fold area may rank lower if users primarily see ads instead of content. However, links to other sites are not automatically considered ads unless they disrupt user experience.

Q: Does high search traffic mean my content is high quality?

Not necessarily. While high search traffic indicates relevance, it doesn't automatically equate to high quality. Quality and relevance are distinct factors, and it's essential to assess content quality independently.

Q: Are comments considered part of the page content?

Yes, Google treats the entire page, including comments, as part of the content. Spammy comments can negatively affect the overall quality of the page, so it's important to manage and moderate comments effectively.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• John Mueller discusses the importance of using the 'submit to indexing' feature or a sitemap to signal Google to recrawl updated pages. He also addresses concerns about orphan pages, explaining that while they may stay indexed, they are seen as less critical.

• For multilingual sites, John advises using hreflang tags for language variations and warns against using cross-language canonical tags, which can result in losing indexed pages. He also explains how featured snippets are counted in Search Console.

• John clarifies that Google understands synonyms, so exact match keywords are unnecessary. He also discusses the impact of ads above the fold, the distinction between relevance and quality, and how comments are considered part of the page content.