Notes from the Google Webmaster Hangout on the 10th of February 2017.
Use RSS with Pubsubhubbub to get URLs Indexed
You can use an RSS feed with Pubsubhubbub to ping Google with new URLs as an alternative to Sitemaps.
JavaScript Rendering Can Take a Day Longer than Crawling
Google’s JavaScript rendering of pages might not happen for a day after the HTML is crawled.
Google is OK with Manipulated Back Buttons
Google doesn’t usually have a problem with manipulating the back button behaviour, such as preventing users going back to Google’s search results.
Redirects are Temporary or Permanent Based on Use
Google establishes temporary or permament redirects based on the situation which they are used instead of just looking at the status code, and they only really effect the URL which Google shows in results.
Google Doesn’t Care About 404 Page Quality
Google doesn’t care how good your 404 page is or what content you include.
Use Incognito for Unpersonalised Results
You can use an Incognito window and GL parameter to view unpersonalised search results in a specific region.
Google Shopping Crawling Counts Towards a Crawl Budget
Google Shopping verification crawling comes from the overall crawl budget.
Responsive Sites Don’t Need to Change for Mobile-first
Responsive sites don’t need to change for mobile-first indexing.
Parameter Handling Improves Crawl Efficiency
Parameter handling prevents URLs being crawled so is better than canonical tags for crawl efficiency.
