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Google Search Central has updated its documentation to introduce a new best practice aimed at improving page discovery for large websites with separate mobile and desktop versions. This change is particularly significant for websites looking to enhance their SEO by ensuring faster and more comprehensive indexing by Google’s mobile-first crawler. Key Updates: Link Consistency Across Mobile and Desktop : Google now recommends that all links available on the desktop version of a site should also be included in the mobile version. This ensures that Google’s mobile-first crawler, which primarily uses the mobile version for indexing, doesn’t miss important pages. Alternative for Missing Links : If replicating all desktop links on mobile isn't feasible, Google suggests including these links in a sitemap file. This ensures that Google’s crawler can still discover and index these pages through the sitemap, even when the mobile and desktop versions differ...

Google’s recent Search Off the Record podcast reveals how even small businesses and solo creators can use DIY user experience research (UXR) to uncover valuable insights, improve usability, and boost customer satisfaction—on a budget. Key Points of the Discussion Foundational principles of UXR: Understanding what UXR is, why it matters, and how it’s different from academic research. Recognizing the need for UXR: Key signs indicating when a product might benefit from user experience research, such as high bounce rates or user complaints. DIY UXR methods: Practical methods that even small teams or solo developers can use without major resources, including cognitive walkthroughs and heuristic evaluations. Approaching user data effectively: Combining qualitative and quantitative data to gain insights and using tools like data visualization and reenacting user actions. Reliable resources for beginners: Recommendations, including the N...

Google's John Mueller advises using a multi-signal approach for canonical tags, combining <link rel="canonical"> , sitemaps, and internal links to ensure accurate content indexing and avoid duplicate issues in SEO. In a recent LinkedIn post, a user shared their insights on canonical URLs after reviewing Google’s documentation on handling duplicate content. They detailed their understanding of implementing <link rel="canonical"> tags and sitemaps and posed a follow-up question about Google’s interpretation of these signals. The inquiry, which was directed at Google Search Central, received a response from John Mueller, Google’s Search Advocate. Mueller provided valuable context on how Google handles canonical URLs when faced with similar or duplicate content, emphasizing best practices for SEO professionals. Understanding Canonical Tags: Why They Matter Canonical tags are HTML elements used to manage content that appears in duplicate or sim...

Google Search Central has added a new page on Google Trends to support content creators, marketers, site owners and other professionals in using Google Trends more effectively. This resource aims to provide clear guidance on how to use Google Trends data to better understand search patterns, ultimately helping users fine-tune content strategies and connect with their audiences. “We’re excited to announce a new documentation page on Search Central: Get started with Google Trends! Learn how to better understand your market and find information that can help you as you're developing your content strategy and refining how you talk to your audience.” - Google Search Central What’s in the New Guide? The new page offers an in-depth look at Google Trends’ main tools, the Explore tool and the Trending Now tool : Explore Tool : Users can analyze custom search terms or topics and track interest over time, by location, and across categ...

Google has recently updated its favicon guidelines, setting clearer requirements on size, aspect ratio, and resolution. These small changes are all about enhancing the look and clarity of favicons in search results. What is a Favicon? A favicon is a tiny icon that represents a website, usually appearing next to the site's title in browser tabs, bookmarks, and search results. It's often a simplified, recognizable image that makes your site easier to identify at a glance. For businesses, it’s a small but valuable piece of branding that users recognize instantly. The Update: Aspect Ratio and Size Requirements In this update, Google has introduced two key requirements: 1:1 Aspect Ratio : Favicons displayed in Google Search must be square—meaning the width and height should be equal. This is to make sure the favicon appears clean and uniform, with no squishing or stretching. Size Requirements : The minimum favicon size is now 8x8 pi...

In a recent LinkedIn discussion, a digital entrepreneur shared some interesting observations about the effects of Core Web Vitals (CWV) and advertisements on website rankings. This post prompted a response from John Mueller, a Google Search Advocate, who provided clarification on how CWV and overall user experience (UX) contribute to search performance. The User’s Concerns: Ads, Rankings, and Core Web Vitals The author of the post, an entrepreneur and an experienced SEO specialist, describes how introducing ads led to an almost immediate drop in rankings for their website, despite achieving high scores in Core Web Vitals and PageSpeed Insights. These metrics, designed to measure a site’s loading, interactivity, and visual stability, are known to be part of Google’s ranking considerations. However, the user noted that their ad-enabled site saw dramatic drops in rankings and search traffic shortly after the ads went live. Here’s how the user describes the issue: ...