Google Official SEO Guide
Comprehensive assistance with Google Search optimization, SEO best practices, and search visibility improvements based on official Google documentation.
When to Use This Skill
This skill should be triggered when users ask about:
SEO & Search Optimization
- Improving website ranking in Google Search
- Implementing SEO best practices
- Optimizing meta tags, titles, and descriptions
- Fixing crawling or indexing issues
- Understanding how Google Search works
Structured Data & Rich Results
- Adding VideoObject, BroadcastEvent, or Clip structured data
- Implementing schema.org markup for rich results
- Creating sitemaps and robots.txt files
- Setting up breadcrumb navigation
- Configuring hreflang for multi-language sites
Technical SEO
- Mobile-first indexing optimization
- JavaScript SEO and rendering issues
- Managing duplicate content with canonical tags
- Configuring robots meta tags
- URL structure and internal linking
Search Console & Monitoring
- Using Google Search Console reports
- Debugging search visibility issues
- Monitoring crawl errors and indexing status
- Analyzing search performance metrics
Content & Links
- Writing effective anchor text
- Internal and external linking strategies
- Avoiding spam policies violations
- Managing site migrations and redirects
Key Concepts
The Three Stages of Google Search
- Crawling: Googlebot discovers and fetches pages from the web
- Indexing: Google analyzes page content and stores it in the index
- Serving: Google returns relevant results for user queries
Important SEO Principles
- Mobile-First Indexing: Google primarily uses the mobile version of content for indexing and ranking
- Canonical URLs: Specify the preferred version of duplicate or similar pages
- Structured Data: Use schema.org markup to help Google understand your content
- Search Essentials: Technical, content, and spam requirements for Google Search eligibility
Common Structured Data Types
- VideoObject: For video content and features
- BroadcastEvent: For livestream videos (LIVE badge)
- Clip: For video key moments/timestamps
- SeekToAction: For auto-detected key moments in videos
Quick Reference
Example 1: Basic VideoObject Structured Data
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "VideoObject",
"name": "Video title",
"description": "Video description",
"thumbnailUrl": [
"https://example.com/photos/1x1/photo.jpg",
"https://example.com/photos/4x3/photo.jpg",
"https://example.com/photos/16x9/photo.jpg"
],
"uploadDate": "2024-03-31T08:00:00+08:00",
"duration": "PT1M54S",
"contentUrl": "https://example.com/video.mp4",
"embedUrl": "https://example.com/embed/123"
}Use this for: Adding basic video metadata to help Google understand and display your videos in search results.
Example 2: LIVE Badge with BroadcastEvent
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "VideoObject",
"name": "Livestream title",
"uploadDate": "2024-10-27T14:00:00+00:00",
"publication": {
"@type": "BroadcastEvent",
"isLiveBroadcast": true,
"startDate": "2024-10-27T14:00:00+00:00",
"endDate": "2024-10-27T14:37:14+00:00"
}
}Use this for: Enabling the LIVE badge on livestream videos in Google Search results.
Example 3: Video Key Moments with Clip
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "VideoObject",
"name": "Cat video",
"hasPart": [
{
"@type": "Clip",
"name": "Cat jumps",
"startOffset": 30,
"endOffset": 45,
"url": "https://example.com/video?t=30"
},
{
"@type": "Clip",
"name": "Cat misses the fence",
"startOffset": 111,
"endOffset": 150,
"url": "https://example.com/video?t=111"
}
]
}Use this for: Manually specifying important timestamps/chapters in your video for the key moments feature.
Example 4: Good Anchor Text Practices
<!-- Bad: Too generic -->
<a href="https://example.com">Click here</a> to learn more.
<!-- Better: Descriptive and contextual -->
For a full list of cheese available for purchase, see the
<a href="https://example.com">list of cheese types</a>.
<!-- Bad: Too many adjacent links -->
I've written about cheese
<a href="/page1">so</a>
<a href="/page2">many</a>
<a href="/page3">times</a>.
<!-- Better: Spaced out with context -->
I've written about cheese so many times this year:
the <a href="/blue-cheese">controversy over blue cheese</a>,
the <a href="/oldest-brie">world's oldest brie</a>, and
<a href="/boy-and-cheese">A Boy and His Cheese</a>.Use this for: Creating effective internal and external links that help both users and Google understand your content.
Example 5: Crawlable Links
<!-- Recommended: Google can crawl these -->
<a href="https://example.com">Link text</a>
<a href="/products/category/shoes">Link text</a>
<a href="./products/category/shoes">Link text</a>
<!-- Not recommended: May not be crawled -->
<a routerLink="products/category">Link text</a>
<a onclick="goto('https://example.com')">Link text</a>
<span href="https://example.com">Link text</span>Use this for: Ensuring your links are discoverable and crawlable by Googlebot.
Example 6: Mobile and Desktop hreflang for Separate URLs
<!-- Mobile version (https://m.example.com/) -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://m.example.com/es/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="https://m.example.com/fr/">
<!-- Desktop version (https://example.com/) -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/">
<link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)"
href="https://m.example.com/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="https://example.com/fr/">Use this for: Properly configuring separate mobile URLs (m-dot sites) with internationalization support.
Example 7: robots meta tags
<!-- Don't index this page -->
<meta name="robots" content="noindex">
<!-- Don't follow links on this page -->
<meta name="robots" content="nofollow">
<!-- Don't index and don't follow -->
<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">
<!-- Don't show snippet in search results -->
<meta name="robots" content="nosnippet">Use this for: Controlling how Google crawls and indexes specific pages.
Example 8: InteractionStatistic for Video Views
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "VideoObject",
"name": "Video title",
"interactionStatistic": {
"@type": "InteractionCounter",
"interactionType": { "@type": "WatchAction" },
"userInteractionCount": 12345
}
}Use this for: Displaying the number of views/watches for your video content.
Example 9: External Links with Attribution
<!-- Citing sources with proper attribution -->
<p>
According to a recent study from Swiss researchers,
Emmental cheese wheels exposed to music had a milder flavor,
with the full findings available in
<a href="https://example.com/cheese-study">
Cheese in Surround Sound—a culinary art experiment
</a>.
</p>
<!-- Use nofollow when you don't trust the source -->
<a href="https://untrusted-site.com" rel="nofollow">
Untrusted content
</a>
<!-- Sponsored links must be marked -->
<a href="https://partner-site.com" rel="sponsored">
Partner content
</a>Use this for: Properly linking to external sources while maintaining SEO best practices.
Example 10: Mobile-First Indexing Checklist
<!-- Ensure same robots meta tags on mobile and desktop -->
<meta name="robots" content="index, follow">
<!-- Use same structured data on both versions -->
<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Organiz