5 tips and trends from Google Webmaster Conference
The Google Webmaster Conference was filled with fun information. Here are the more important topics covered.
Topic: Googlebot
Bingbot goes evergreen
Bing will adopt Chromium-based Edge browser to run JavaScript and render pages.
Google to update GoogleBot’s user agent
Make sure you are prepared for the new GoogleBot user agent, which launches this December.
Server migrations are “uneventful for Google systems”
Expect Googlebot to readjust your crawl frequency, though.
Google can crawl AJAX just fine
No special action necessary for webmasters.
SMX Overtime: Your questions answered about Google penalties and their impact on websites
SMX London attendees asked SEO expert Fili Wiese a wide-ranging number of questions about penalties, indexing, crawling and more.
You can’t opt into or out of mobile-first indexing
Google's John Mueller reminds us that one day, there will only be mobile-first indexing.
Yes, Googlebot can detect JavaScript redirects
JavaScript redirects are followed similarly to server-side redirects, Google explained.
Google testing tools now support evergreen Googlebot
After three months, the Google testing tools are now using the latest version of Googlebot.
Google adds JavaScript SEO basics to its Search developer’s guide
The new section aims to provide beginners with an overview of how Googlebot processes JavaScript.
Google to stop supporting noindex directive in robots.txt
Changes are coming to how Google understands some of the unsupported directives in your robots.txt file.
Google posts draft to formalize Robots Exclusion Protocol Specification
Google open sources its robots.txt parser as part of this announcement.
Google Search Console adds mobile-first indexing features
Google adds the date your site switched over to mobile-first indexing to Search Console reports.
SMX Advanced through the lens of a young SEO professional
Shahista Kassam shares her takeaway from the Seattle event: SEOs need to advocate their value while expanding their writing competencies and developer skills.
Leaning into SEO as Google shifts from search engine to portal
How to prepare your company for Google's new customer journey for search.
Google adds Googlebot desktop vs. mobile selector for Rich Results test
Here is a new way to test to see if your site has issues with Google's mobile-first indexing.
PWA: How to avoid partial rendering issues with service workers
When there are issues rendering pages server side to prevent correct rendering, the content can have discrepancies shown to end users (or search bots).
Starting July 1, all new sites will be indexed using Google’s mobile-first indexing
Google to default to mobile-first indexing for new sites. Be sure to build web sites that work well on mobile.
Google says no core update or infrastructure changes have occurred despite chatter
The company says the rumors are not legit - there was no major update to Google search recently.
I/O announcements have some applauding and others shaking their fists
Marketers continue to accuse Google of stealing their clicks.
Google’s web crawler Googlebot now runs on the latest version of Chromium: Why that’s a good thing
Googlebot has been upgraded and should now be able to crawl more modern web sites with less of an issue.
Google confirms AJAX (i.e. XHR) calls consume crawl budget
One more thing to look at if you need to optimize your crawl budget for the most efficient Googlebot crawl of your pages.
Google spotted testing version of GoogleBot that can render more content
Google may be able to fully crawl more advanced and modern web apps sooner than you thought.
Using JavaScript to publish content? Here are 6 ways to view rendered HTML via desktop and mobile
Always test your pages using Google’s own tools and third-party resources to view the rendered HTML to make sure all your content is showing up.
5 practical data blending examples for smarter SEO insights
Here's a step-by-step guide to blending data tables from different tools to uncover valuable new insights using Python (or SQL).
How Google will shift resources to media search and other tidbits from Gary Illyes’ AMA on Reddit
The Google webmaster trends analyst also touched on topics like the possibility of an Indexing API, whether internal over-linking penalties exist and how the clustering of duplicate pages works.
Google Search Console’s URL inspection tool adds HTTP response, page resources, JS logs and rendered screenshot
You must check out the upgraded Google URL inspection tool; it really gives you more detailed insights into your pages.
Nofollow couldn’t save the Google webmaster blog from comment spam
Google's plan of "preventing comment spam" with the nofollow link attribute didn't work for its own webmaster blog.
Mueller: Focus your SEO on Google’s status quo
Sometimes it is a good idea to keep it simple with your web pages.
Year in Review: Top 10 SEO expert columns of 2018
Here's a look at the most read columns from our SEO experts that stood above the rest this year.
Google’s mobile-first indexing now powers over half of Google’s search results
Google issued an update on the status of its mobile-first indexing initiative.
SearchCap: Local SEO report, Google Maps spam report & following Googlebot
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Did you know you can report Google Maps-related spam calls and other violations to Google?Nov 28, 2018 by Barry Schwartz Google local has its share of spam and manipulation issues. There’s […]
Google details how to set up lazy loading for best SEO results
SEOs are excited about the new lazy loading documentation from Google.
Bing crawling, indexing and rendering: A step-by-step on how it works
Crawlers are technical but understandable thanks to Microsoft's Senior Program Manager Frédéric Dubut's presentation at SMX East.
SearchCap: SEO for Google Home Hub, Google Ads segmentation & Bing Ads insertion orders
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: The impact of ‘close variants’ in exact match typesOct 31, 2018 by Frederick Vallaeys A look at 4 ways Google Ads Scripts can help restore control for some advertisers. Bing Ads […]
Ask the SMXperts — Page speed, site migrations and crawling
Our SMXperts share their tactical insights on optimizing crawl budgets, fine-tuning page speed and how to execute on large-scale error-free site migrations.
Here’s an exclusive insider look at SMX East
Search Engine Land’s SMX® East returns October 24-25. We’re bringing a revamped, updated agenda and more than 50 world-class speakers to NYC, and we can’t wait to see you there. If you’re involved in SEO, SEM, marketing, content, social media or any other customer-facing activity, you owe it to yourself (and your company or client’s […]
5 ways to improve ROI on seasonal pages by optimizing your SEO crawl budget
Guide Google to pages you want to rank, index them faster and keep them updated. Bring seasonal pages into focus to increase impressions.
SearchCap: SMX East benefits, US wireless carrier report, Bing Webmaster Tools & more
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Local inventory-based SEO strategy juiced rankings and sales for US wireless carrier Aug 23, 2018 by Greg Sterling Carrier saw an average ranking position of 1.9 for product queries and 5x […]
Old content still showing up in Google search results? Google might not find that content important
Google explains how crawl rate can be used as confirmation that a page is OK to remove from your website, and thus their index.