Summary of English Google Webmaster Central office-hours hangout

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00:00:00 - 01:00:00

John Mueller, a webmaster trends analyst at Google, discusses a range of topics in this English Google Webmaster Central office-hours hangout. Mueller discusses new structured data types, the importance of context for images and graphics, and the use of mobile-friendly website factors as ranking factors. He also advises using redirects when moving a website to a new server or domain, and reducing the number of links on a page to improve page rank. Additionally, Mueller explains the impact of having too many pages on a website, and suggests focusing on quality content. Finally, he advises serving images consistently from the same server to optimize image search, and clarifies that Google looks at the type of SSL certificate rather than individual providers.

00:00:00 In this section, John Mueller, a webmaster trends analyst at Google, announced new structured data types including social profile-specific links and events information on the Google blog, along with a new structured data testing tool. He notes how their recently launched Google Moderator collection helps to focus on user feedback and any missing elements regarding Webmaster Tools or web search in general. John explains how the feedback is useful for re-confirming that they're on the right path, and that to prioritize some earlier feedback, the requests from webmasters must be prioritized as well. As a suggestion from their side, the feedback is indeed useful.
00:05:00 In this section, John Mueller answers various queries related to Google search results and website optimization. He suggests that if users find irrelevant information in search results, they can use the feedback link, which helps get the message to the right people as soon as possible. Mueller also talks about the new structured data testing tool and invites feedback from users to make it more efficient. Additionally, he advises a user who reports unethical practices by competitors to provide detailed information about the website and the issue at hand to help the team understand what is going wrong. Finally, he suggests that metasearch websites can use graphics and bars to make information clearer for users while ensuring that it does not penalize website performance in Google.
00:10:00 In this section, John Mueller discusses the idea of adding context to images and graphics on a website. He states that while there is no minimum word count for a page or a minimum amount of text on a page, adding some kind of context to pages is definitely necessary. He does note, however, that adding a clear title, heading, or minimal text to those pages is essential to provide context to the images or graphics. Additionally, he discusses metasearch and app interfaces on a website, stating that creating some general pages where users can use the web app interface and guiding them to that page is a better approach than trying to get all the combinations indexed separately as it would dilute the pages.
00:15:00 In this section, John Mueller discusses mobile-friendly website factors as ranking factors and its potential use in the future. He mentions that Google is experimenting with ranking mobile-friendly content in subtly different ways and may prioritize more mobile-friendly pages over non-mobile-friendly pages for users searching on smartphones. However, this does not mean that mobile-friendly criteria will be used as ranking factors for desktop search. Mueller advises webmasters to make their sites mobile-friendly and provides tips for making sure that Google recognizes a mobile-friendly site. Additionally, the topic of site redesigns and 301 redirection is brought up, and Mueller explains that Google usually picks up on redirects fairly quickly, but in some cases, submitting the old URLs in a sitemap can speed up the crawling process.
00:20:00 In this section, John Mueller from Google Webmaster Central addresses concerns related to old URLs of migrated sites and the use of the Remove URL tool from Google Webmaster. According to Mueller, only in specific situations when prompt removal of content from search is urgent should webmasters utilize the tool. In another section, Mueller clarifies that Google's display of social icons and knowledge graph in search results for local searches that display the map with photo and details will be separate from regular web search but entirely available when searched for using Google+ local search. Mueller ultimately suggests focusing on one format of schema markup to ensure clarity and consistency, but reiterates that using both is okay, as using both will not affect the ranking of a website.
00:25:00 In this section, John Mueller from Google explains that having a large number of 404 pages is not something to worry about and is a fine technical response to a request for a non-existent page. He also goes on to explain how the robots.txt file works and stresses that it relies on well-behaved crawlers following the directives within. He recommends that for those parts of the site you want blocked for every crawler, you should add it to your robots.txt file and also include that in specific sections for individual crawlers. Finally, John confirms that a website hosted on an IP in the USA with a UK domain extension for local businesses will not create any problems for geotargeting.
00:30:00 In this section, John Mueller recommends using redirects when moving a website to a new server, though he points out that if URLs remain the same, there would be no need for redirects. He also suggests having the content available on both servers during the time users and crawlers may get stuck in the overlapping period. However, if moving to a new domain, it is essential to set up redirects to avoid confusion. Later, in the discussion with a client, Mueller indicates that having too many links on a page can hinder the passage of page rank since search engines will struggle to determine which parts fit together. Hence, he advocates reducing the number of links on any web page.
00:35:00 In this section, John Mueller discusses how having too many links, particularly in a sidebar, can dilute page rank, making it more challenging to identify which pages are essential and which ones are not. He suggests that a lot of links on one page can make it challenging to comprehend the website's content structure, and if such pages aren't linked anywhere else, they may not receive much page rank. John advises focusing on quality content instead of adding new content that may not be useful to customers, particularly on e-commerce websites, to make those pages more vital within the site.
00:40:00 In this section, John Mueller, a webmaster trends analyst at Google, discusses how having more pages on a website does not necessarily mean that those pages are of lower quality. However, if you simply dilute existing content by splitting it onto separate pages without adding additional quality, it does not add much value to the site. He suggests that if you're adding content that's really relevant, then it's not something you should worry about. Additionally, he explains how the page rank is diluted if your website has lots of pages, but you're not adding any additional value to those pages, which means that individual pages won't be as relevant in search anymore.
00:45:00 In this section, John Mueller addresses various topics such as how to get a single article selected for the OneBox, articles timestamped for organic search, how long to keep up the 301 redirects, and the plans regarding the retirement of Freebase. The snippet data is algorithmically generated with some of it being inferred and pulled from your page. Mueller advises redirecting the old URLs permanently and keeping it in place for at least a year. In terms of Webmaster Tools, Mueller says it helps to confirm what you are trying to do, but there are certain technical reasons why it may not be possible. Finally, Mueller doesn't recommend flattening an architecture simply to level the equity.
00:50:00 In this section, John Mueller addresses two separate issues. The first question discusses whether or not it is beneficial to redirect larger sites upwards. Mueller states that this issue depends on the site and should be considered on a case-by-case basis. With regards to the second issue of whether high-quality editorial links alone are enough to lift a Penguin penalty, Mueller advises fixing the problem, removing any unnatural links, and avoiding the temptation to make more. Lastly, Mueller answers a question on whether it would be considered duplicate content if the same image is served from two domains. He clarifies that duplicate content does not necessarily lead to penalties and advises site owners to avoid them for technical reasons involving crawling and indexing.
00:55:00 In this section, John Mueller discusses image indexing for Google search and how serving images consistently from the same server helps optimize image search for your site. Constantly changing URLs for images means that Google has to re-index every time it crawls, which can extend the time it takes to index images for optimal search results. On another topic, John Mueller was asked if there was a list of which SSL certificate providers Google approves of; he clarifies that Google looks at the type of certificate instead of individual providers, and that free certificates can be just as useful as paid ones in optimizing search results.

01:00:00 - 01:10:00

During a Google Webmaster Central hangout, John Mueller discussed the issue of GeoIP redirects and suggested users set up URLs with a generic homepage that redirects users to their appropriate country version, allowing Googlebot to crawl and index the site separately. He also advised website owners to optimize title tags and descriptions for users' benefit, noting that the YMYL criteria is for search raters’ background information. Mueller concluded by thanking participants for their time and suggesting guest speakers and topic alternation to keep future sessions interesting, hinting at upcoming Webmaster Tool updates.

01:00:00 In this section, John Mueller from Google Webmaster Central advises a website owner how to index pages on a .co.uk domain with a GeoIP redirect active. Essentially, if users in the US are being redirected and never see the .co.uk site, then Googlebot wouldn't be able to crawl and index that site separately. Their recommendation is to set up URLs with a generic homepage that redirects users to their appropriate country version, and letting country versions be crawled or used by any user. Additionally, if there are pages that aren't relevant to specific countries, show them a banner on top, and if Googlebot needs to crawl both of these variations separately. Lastly, Mueller suggests that users make snippets as useful as possible for the user while making sure it's relevant for search engines.
01:05:00 In this section, John Mueller, from Google, discusses title tags and descriptions on web pages. He says that while Google may algorithmically shorten excessively long titles, it is important that you come up with a short and useful title that will work well for your users. Mueller also highlights that if there is something that tells users what your page is about and encourages them to come into your site, then it is important to go for that. In addition, Mueller discusses the YMYL or Your Money or Your Life criteria mentioned in one of the search rater guides, saying that he doesn't have much experience in it, but it's primarily for the raters' background information.
01:10:00 In this section, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller thanks the participants for their questions and discussion during the hangout. He advises those who want to participate in future sessions to be online and available before the scheduled start time. He also mentions that while this format may change in the future, he hopes to keep the sessions interesting by having guest speakers and alternating the topics. Finally, he hints that there may be upcoming updates to the Webmaster Tool, but he cannot give more details at the moment to keep it as a surprise.