Google’s John Mueller noted that, at times, best practices can have little impact on search visibility.
Google’s John Mueller addressed how long it takes for SEO to show results and what it means if rankings remain stagnant after a year. He explained that sometimes best practices don’t yield the expected outcomes and clarified why this can happen.
What Is SEO?
SEO is a multifaceted concept with no single, definitive answer. What qualifies as good SEO varies widely, often depending on an individual’s background and approach to the field. For some, SEO revolves around incorporating keywords into content and building links. Others focus less on links and more on creating robust content. Some practitioners emphasize technical aspects like site performance metrics and structured data.
In specific segments of the SEO community, there’s a belief that SEO might not even matter because Google prioritizes ads, big brands, YouTube videos, and more ads, leaving only scraps for small businesses.
The answer can be elusive when someone asks why their SEO efforts aren’t yielding results. Even if ten SEOs agree on a potential issue, they might not have pinpointed the real problem—they’ve just identified the most obvious one. This was the challenge John Mueller faced when asked why a site wasn’t ranking despite adhering to SEO best practices.
Hard to Answer Without Specifics
John Mueller recounted a question he received:
“I changed my website a year ago and did a lot of work on SEO. Should this be affecting my website’s traffic by now?”
Knowing the specifics of the webpage is the only way to answer this type of question. Mueller responded in a general way, ultimately suggesting that the person seek further advice in Google’s help forums.
Mueller began his response by acknowledging the difficulty of providing a clear answer:
“It’s tricky to say much here. I don’t know what specifically you did to work on SEO, and I don’t know if that would have resulted in significant changes.”
Why SEO Doesn’t Work
Mueller’s observation is spot on. A website might have an excellent layout, fast page speed, perfectly implemented structured data, and a logical site architecture that optimizes internal linking. With all these elements in place, what could go wrong with a properly optimized website?
The answer lies in the content.
The content could be incomplete or overly comprehensive. It might be unfocused, and a clearer understanding of the topic is needed. The content could be too keyword-centric and need to be more user-focused. There might be a mismatch between the content and the keywords in the title and headings. Perhaps the content is too ambitious, targeting highly competitive search phrases where it simply can’t compete.
No amount of SEO can salvage a website facing these issues—and this is just a sample of what can go wrong.
Mueller addressed this limitation of SEO, especially in cases where it fails to make an impact:
“There are many best practices which have minimal effect on the day-to-day performance of a website. For example, having a clean page structure helps search engines know the content on a page better. Still, it might not necessarily result in immediate search ranking or traffic changes.”
Ranking Criteria Is Different Across Topics
Mueller also highlights that what’s essential for SEO can vary significantly depending on the topic. Some topics demand fresh, up-to-date content, while others require strong signals of trustworthiness and authority. In some cases, it’s crucial to establish brand preference and popularity signals—indicating that users expect to see a specific brand for certain queries. Geographic factors might play a role in prioritizing local signals. It could also be an issue of user intent, where the searcher wants to read a personal experience shared in a forum.
This variability in what drives SEO success may be what Mueller refers to when he says that the most effective SEO elements differ across websites.
He explained:
“The most effective elements of SEO will vary across websites. It takes a lot of experience to go from a long checklist of possible items to a short, prioritized list of critical items.”
Ranking Criteria Is Different Across Topics
Mueller also highlights that what’s essential for SEO can vary significantly depending on the topic. Some topics demand fresh, up-to-date content, while others require strong signals of trustworthiness and authority. In some cases, it’s crucial to establish brand preference and popularity signals—indicating that users expect to see a specific brand for certain queries. Geographic factors might play a role in prioritizing local signals. It could also be an issue of user intent, where the searcher simply wants to read a personal experience shared in a forum.
This variability in what drives SEO success may be what Mueller refers to when he says that the most effective SEO elements differ across websites.
He explained:
“The most effective elements of SEO will vary across websites. It takes a lot of experience to go from a long checklist of possible items to a short, prioritized list of critical items.”
Experience Is Important
The final factor Mueller emphasized is the crucial role of experience in becoming a better SEO. For example, I once thought I had a solid grasp on creating content that ranks, but after writing a couple thousand articles for Search Engine Journal, I gained a whole new understanding of content creation. There are depths of insight that only come from extensive experience. While mentorship can accelerate learning, hands-on experience remains invaluable.
John Mueller underscored the importance of experience in mastering SEO:
“Your experience here will grow over time as you practice. I recommend getting input from others and practicing by helping others with challenges they post in help forums. Good luck!”
Seeking input from others is excellent advice, but there’s no substitute for the knowledge gained through experience.
If you’re still confused, consider exploring monthly SEO packages and letting the experts assist you.
