Search Off the Record
Search Off the Record takes you behind the scenes of Google Search and its inner workings! In each episode, the folks from the Search Relations team will give you background info on the decision-making behind launches, feature prioritization in Search Console, and the projects Google Search teams are working on. They will share fun stories from the many conferences they attend as well as from their day-to-day working life at Google. They will also dive into the currently trending conversations in the SEO community at large. Have a listen!
S1 E88 · Mon, December 30, 2024
Wrapping up 2024
As 2024 comes to a close, we're reflecting on what SEO things happened this year. Listen along as we chat about what we learned from going to events, the importance of understanding how AI works, and whether everything will be replaced with JavaScript. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr088-transcript Encoding + Googlebot → https://goo.gle/4iZEKXO Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentra l Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E87 · Thu, December 05, 2024
Handling Dupes - Same Same or Different?
In this episode of Search Off the Record, John and Martin talk to Allan Scott from the Google Search team that handles duplicate content. They explore how Google Search deals with duplicated content, clustering, and canonicalization. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr087-transcript Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast #SEO Speakers: Allan Scott, John Mueller, Martin Splitt Products Mentioned: Search Console - General
S1 E86 · Thu, November 21, 2024
A discussion of UX for SEO
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Lizzi and John are joined by Rio Ichikawa, a product manager working on UX, CRO, and SEO, to discuss the intersection of SEO and UX. They explore how user experience impacts SEO, emphasizing the shared goals of attracting and converting users. Tune in for a discussion on common UX mistakes - like carousels - and how heatmaps can be a valuable tool for understanding user behavior and optimizing web pages for better engagement and conversion rates. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr086-transcript Transcript in Japanese by Rio → https://goo.gle/3OOrWpx Rio on X/Twitter → https://goo.gle/4eAOjJz Rio on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3OnaHuY Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentra l Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E85 · Thu, October 31, 2024
Understanding how users experience your website
Sometimes talking to your users is the best way to figure out why that pesky bounce rate is high. But how do you actually do that, especially if you're on a budget? In this episode of Search Off the Record, we're learning all about user experience research (UXR) and how getting a better understanding of how your users interact with your website can help when you're looking for ways to improve it. Tune in as Iva Barisic Hafner, a user experience researcher on the Google Shopping team, explains how to use UXR methods to get to the bottom of the "why" behind user behavior. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr085-transcript Nielsen Norman Group → https://goo.gle/3YI3xrq List of UXR methods → https://goo.gle/40sI6Ma Iva on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3A7Te6E Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E84 · Thu, October 17, 2024
Designing Google Doodles and delightful experiences
What does recursion, Weather Frog, and Momo the Magic Cat have in common? In this episode of SOTR, Lizzi and John go behind the scenes of a Google Doodle with Jessica Yu, the lead for Doodles and delight on Google Search, about designing experiences that resonate with your audience. Listen along as we learn more about what's involved in getting an easter egg into Google Search, from hatching the idea to designing (and deploying) the experience and measuring success. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr084-transcript Jessica Yu on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3BKgSq1 Momo's first appearance → https://goo.gle/3UbGgeC Submitting an idea for the Google Doodle → https://goo.gle/3A04stC AVIF is now supported by Google → https://goo.gle/3NrwhhK Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E83 · Thu, October 03, 2024
Google Search Reliability
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Ben Walton and David Yule from the Google Search Site Reliability Team (SRE) walk us through their day to day work, which surprisingly is not just about putting out fires! Learn what Search SREs really do, how they handle incidents that occasionally occur, and what it takes to be an SRE for Google Search. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr083 SRE handbook → https://goo.gle/3XSbVUF David on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3XQKavR Ben on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/4ewAkEX Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E82 · Thu, September 19, 2024
How do I know if my SEO is doing a good job?
It's been a few months since you hired an SEO; how can you tell if things are headed in the right direction? In this episode of Search Off the Record, Lizzi and John interview Erika Varangouli, head of Branded Content at Riverside.fm, about all things hiring and working with SEOs. Just because uplift isn't happening doesn't mean they're not doing work; we walk through practical things to check throughout the process, such as how things are prioritized, is there regular reporting, and proactive communication around things that don't go as planned. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr082-transcript John's initial LinkedIn Post → https://goo.gle/3XNOqfI Erika Varangouli on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3ZukgiH Erika on X → https://goo.gle/3XXGBUR Do I Need an SEO? → https://goo.gle/4dabZUb SEO Starter Guide → https://goo.gle/42alrmy Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E81 · Thu, September 05, 2024
Let's talk shopping markup
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Irina Tuduce from the shopping team joins John Mueller and Lizzi Sassman to chat all things shopping data, from schema.org to feeds spec. Listen along as we chat about how shopping infrastructure gets its data, why pricing data can be tricky, and what the Shopping team has been working on this year. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr081-transcript Irina Tuduce on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3Xuiywf Product structured data → https://goo.gle/4eaPJus Feed spec in Merchant Center → https://goo.gle/3Tdl2MU How to set up Merchant Center account → https://goo.gle/4gcSPjq Merchant-level organization markup → https://goo.gle/47fvmd2 Schema.org community on GitHub → https://goo.gle/4e7A6E3 Variants in Google Search → https://goo.gle/4dU4BOc Merchant Listings report in Search Console → https://goo.gle/47hlNuu Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E80 · Thu, August 22, 2024
Working With Search Console API
We sat down with Mihai Aperghis, a Google Product Expert (PE) for Search, when he visited the Zurich office for the PE Summit this year. In this episode we talk about how he started his SEO agency, the tools he built, and his role as a Product Expert in the Search Central Help Community. Mihai explains how he built tooling to get data from Search Console into Google Sheets and how he automated this process as well as what features he'd like to see coming to the Search Console API. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr 080-transcript Mihai on X → https://goo.gle/4dUzL7I Mihai's tools → https://goo.gle/4dW3yNj Mihai's recap of the PE Summit → https://goo.gle/4cAKhQ4 Search Central Help Community → https://goo.gle/4dUzOAq Intro to Search Console API → https://goo.gle/3AzkJ8P
S1 E79 · Thu, August 08, 2024
Crawling smarter, not harder
In this episode of SOTR, John Mueller, Lizzi Sassman, and Gary Illyes talk about misconceptions around crawl frequency and site quality, what's challenging about crawling the web nowadays, and how search engines could crawl more efficiently. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr079-transcript Gary's post on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3YAT55q Crawling episode with Dave Smart → https://goo.gle/3WShUsf If-Modified-Since → https://goo.gle/3ywXvja About the IETF → https://goo.gle/3SGVVlo Robots Exclusion Protocol → https://goo.gle/4dgmBSg Proposal for new kind of chunked transfer → https://goo.gle/3AgMF1c Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
Thu, August 08, 2024
Transcript for Crawling smarter, not harder
Thu, July 25, 2024
Internationalization & hreflang
Managing websites that use different languages and serve different countries is no easy task. That's why Lizzi, Gary and Martin sat down to talk about all things internationalization, hreflang and what's making managing international, multi-language websites easier. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr078-transcript Docs for international and multilingual sites → https://goo.gle/3WtolAL How x-default can help you → https://goo.gle/3Y8AdKB Web Almanac hreflang usage in 2022 → https://goo.gle/4bKX2Hv Hreflang tags generator by Aleyda Solis → https://goo.gle/4bVRVEI Merkle Hreflang testing tool → https://goo.gle/3WaWbKj Hreflang Builder → https://goo.gle/4cW8fGi Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
Thu, July 11, 2024
Rendering JavaScript for Google Search
In this episode, Zoe Clifford from the rendering team joins Martin and John from Search Relations to talk about how Google Search deals with JavaScript sites, how rendering works and what the mysterious "iteratorect" was. They also discuss what's the DOM, if all pages get rendered, how long it takes and what website owners should look out for when building JavaScript-driven websites. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr077-transcript JavaScript SEO basics → https://goo.gle/3W0XnjB Fixing search-related JavaScript issues → https://goo.gle/3S2bMdY Google I/O 2019 presentation → https://goo.gle/4bCdZ6M Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
Thu, June 27, 2024
Transcript for Inside Search Quality: Using metrics and data science to improve Search
Thu, June 27, 2024
Inside Search Quality: Using metrics and data science to improve Search
In this episode of SOTR, Lizzi and John sit down with Elizabeth Tucker to go behind the scenes of Search Quality product management. Listen along as they discuss using data science to measure quality and make improvements, how search behavior is changing over time, and how to think about E-E-A-T and the Search Quality Rater Guidelines. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr076-transcript BERT paper → https://goo.gle/3XroKpe E-E-A-T for site owners → https://goo.gle/4c5E0fQ Search Quality Rater Guidelines → https://goo.gle/3z07OvN Improving Search with Rigorous Testing → https://goo.gle/45x7OQ0 Day in a life of a Search Quality Product Manager → https://goo.gle/3z087GX Meet Data Scientists at Google → https://goo.gle/3xzZ67c Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
Thu, June 06, 2024
Cosmic Rays & Crawlers: When Google Search is under the weather
How does Google address incidents that affect Search results, like indexing problems or crawling issues? Join John, Lizzi, and Gary in this episode of Search off the Record as the team discusses internal processes Google uses to detect, investigate, and communicate these incidents to users and website owners. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr075-transcript Google Search Status Dashboard → https://goo.gle/3Vcs9pi Lifecycle of an issue → https://goo.gle/3KsgjCe SRE Playbook's chapter on troubleshooting → https://goo.gle/3V9NPCj Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast Speaker: John Mueller, Lizzi Sassman, Gary Illyes Products Mentioned: Search Console - General
Thu, June 06, 2024
Transcript for Cosmic Rays & Crawlers: When Google Search is under the weather
Thu, May 23, 2024
Building SEO community with office hours
In this episode of Search off the Record, John and Lizzi invite Michael Chidzey and “Jo” Juliana Turnbull to talk all things SEO Office Hours. Listen along as they discuss why they picked this format, whether community building has an impact on SEO, and how you can get involved in this growing community of SEO practitioners. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr074-transcript Join the next Good Signals SEO Office Hours → https://goo.gle/4avilfM Good Signals SEO Office Hours announcements on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/450vo7F Jo Juliana Turnbull on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/4bISYbP Jo Juliana Turnbull on X → https://goo.gle/44V8xKF Mike Chidzey on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/4dSJg7Q Submit a question for Google SEO Office hours → https://goo.gle/3K93A7A Watch more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Central Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast Speaker: John Mueller, Lizzi Sassman, Michael Chidzey, Juliana Turnbull Products Mentioned: Search Console - General
Thu, May 23, 2024
Transcript for Building SEO community with office hours
Thu, May 09, 2024
Let’s talk Content Decay
What's the best way to handle outdated content? Does old content affect SEO? In this episode of Search Off the Record, Lizzi Sassman and John Mueller discuss the importance of addressing old content and updating it to continue being useful to users today. Listen along as Lizzi and John discuss content decay’s effect on Google Search results and practical steps to tackle it. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr073-transcript Crypto redirects → https://goo.gle/4dq7Ywe Outdated blog post on traffic drops → https://goo.gle/3y8UNQd Mobile-Testing Tool blog post → https://goo.gle/4bsCJ1Q Structured Data Tool landing page → https://goo.gle/4bvZ8Lw Watch more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Central Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
Thu, May 09, 2024
Transcript for Let’s talk Content Decay
Thu, April 25, 2024
Gemini for Social Posts: Game Edition
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Gary Illyes, Lizzi Sassman, and John Mueller put Large Language Models (LLMs) to the test and compete to create the best social post using generative AI. Listen along as they weigh the pros and cons, assess how accurate the posts are, stumble on some owl facts, and see how Google’s own GenAI tool, Gemini, can be used as a creativity tool. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr072-transcript SEO Starter Guide → https://goo.gle/42alrmy rel=prev/next isn't a signal → https://goo.gle/4aIWz8F Managing Multi-Regional Sites → https://goo.gle/3J3u5e9 Bubble chart analysis → https://goo.gle/49q9VW8 Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
Thu, April 25, 2024
Transcript for Gemini for Social Posts: Game Edition
Thu, March 28, 2024
Deciphering INP and Core Web Vitals
In this episode of Search Off the Record, John Mueller and Lizzi Sassman are joined by Rick Viscomi from the Chrome Web Performance team to discuss the importance of understanding what users seek to accomplish and optimizing accordingly, rather than focusing solely on metric scores. Listen along as the Search team touches on metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), and the latest Interaction to Next Paint (INP) as pieces of the pie for a better user experience. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr071-transcript Introducing INP to Core Web Vitals → https://goo.gle/4ar2UW6 Page Experience & Google Search → https://goo.gle/49cEWgm Rick on X (formerly Twitter)→ https://goo.gle/3PCe4ze Core Web Vitals on Stack Overflow → https://goo.gle/4awMqvw Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast Speaker: John Mueller, Lizzi Sassman, Rick Viscomi, Products Mentioned: Search Off The Record,
Thu, March 28, 2024
Transcript for Deciphering INP and Core Web Vitals
Thu, March 14, 2024
What is a web crawler, really?
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Gary Illyes and Lizzi Sassman take a deep dive into crawling the web: what is a web crawler, and how does it really work? Listen along as the Search team is joined by an expert web developer in the SEO community, Dave Smart, for an in-depth and technical discussion of all things crawling, and maybe dispel some myths along the way. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr070-transcript Managing your crawl budget → https://goo.gle/3IzRZxl Dave Smart on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3wPSuRA Tame the Bots → https://goo.gle/4cfCQ1P Search Central Help Forum → https://goo.gle/sc-forum Indexing API docs → https://goo.gle/3v8yVU0 Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast Speaker: Gary Illyes, Lizzi Sassman Products Mentioned: Search Off The Record
Thu, March 14, 2024
Transcript for What is a web crawler, really?
Wed, February 21, 2024
Search Central Product Experts
In this episode of Search Off the Record, John Mueller and Lizzi Sassman sit down with Aaseesh Marina, Product Support Manager, to discuss the Search Central community forums. Did you know there is a group of Product Experts and community members that can help you navigate your SEO questions? Listen along as the Search Team takes a deep dive into the Search Central help community forum and discover why it should be your go-to guide for any SEO help. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr069-transcript Search Central help community → https://goo.gle/3sViTv3 Product Expert program → https://goo.gle/3SL6jrI Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast Speaker: John Mueller; Lizzi Sassman; Products Mentioned: Search Off The Record;
Wed, February 21, 2024
Transcript for Search Central Product Experts
Thu, January 25, 2024
Rewriting the SEO Starter Guide
The SEO Starter Guide is getting a refresh! Have you ever wondered how the Search team plans and writes such a document? In this episode of Search Off the Record, John Mueller, Gary Illyes, and Lizzi Sassman discuss which topics are still relevant, the right level of detail for a starter guide, and whether or not including anti-patterns in documentation is a good idea. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr068-transcript SEO Starter Guide → https://goo.gle/42alrmy SEO Starter Guide: What’s all the drama? → https://goo.gle/4b6ZLMq Let’s pick a domain name → https://goo.gle/3tezc6t Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast Speaker: John Mueller; Gary Illyes; Lizzi Sassman;, Products Mentioned: Search Console;,
Thu, January 25, 2024
Transcript for Rewriting the SEO Starter Guide
Thu, December 21, 2023
2023: Year in review
In this episode of Search, Martin, John, and Gary look back at 2023 and reminisce on some of this year’s Search announcements. From updates to Core Web Vitals to going back to basics of website titling, the team covers a wide range of announcements and updates in the world of SEO. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr067-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
Thu, December 21, 2023
Transcript for 2023: Year in review
S1 E66 · Tue, November 21, 2023
Which aspect of my site should I focus on?
In this episode of Search, Martin, Gary, and John discuss aspects of SEO that website owners often overlook. From overall quality to more technical aspects, The Search team talks about where they focus on their SEO work and why the details add up to a better SEO experience. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr066-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E66 · Tue, November 21, 2023
Transcript for Which aspect of my site should I focus on?
S1 E65 · Tue, November 07, 2023
Features and deprecations on Steve
In this episode of Search, John, Gary, and Martin discuss why the search team adds and removes features on their search engine, Steve. From creating a better user experience to surfacing relevant answers for search queries, maintaining an organized webspace requires continual retooling. Tune into this episode of Search Off the Record to learn about what the team considers when updating their search engine itself! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr065-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E65 · Tue, November 07, 2023
Transcript for Features and deprecations on Steve
S1 E64 · Tue, September 19, 2023
The effect of quality on Search
In this episode of Search, John and Gary discuss the impact of quality on search results. From sitemaps to scheduling and more, the Google Search team talks about how the quality of the page and site plays a role in crawling and indexing, besides ranking. Do you need to update your site often or add many links? Tune in and find out on this episode of Search Off the Record! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr064-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E64 · Tue, September 19, 2023
Transcript for The effect of quality on search
S1 E63 · Tue, August 22, 2023
Let's talk ranking updates
The Google Search algorithm has been updated and panic quickly sets in. In this episode of Search, Martin, John, and Danny help content creators everywhere focus on the value they bring into the digital world. From changing ranking systems to updated documentation, the Google Search team discusses their holistic approach to SEO, ranking, and more! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr063-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E63 · Tue, August 22, 2023
Transcript for Let's talk ranking updates
S1 E62 · Thu, July 20, 2023
Let’s pick a domain name
A top-level domain (TLD) is the last part of a domain name, after the dot, and identifies the type of organization the domain belongs to, or the country the domain is targeting. Some examples include .com, .org, .ai, .ch, .xyz. In this episode of Search, John, Gary, and Martin help you choose the best top-level domain for you and your website, including price, popularity, and if a custom one makes a difference in search engines. They also touch upon second-level domains, dashes, keywords, their effect on SEO, and more! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr062-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E62 · Thu, July 20, 2023
Transcript for Let’s pick a domain name
S1 E61 · Thu, June 22, 2023
Why is my site not indexed?
Martin, John, and Gary discuss the potential reasons why your website or page is not indexed, both from a technical and quality perspective. Learn about the tools and reports available in Google Search Console to help determine why your website is not indexed. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr061-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E61 · Thu, June 22, 2023
Transcript for Why is my site not indexed?
S1 E60 · Tue, May 30, 2023
Q&A: You asked on Linkedin, we answered in here
In this episode of Search Off the Record, John, Gary, and Martin answer highly sought-after questions left on Gary’s Linkedin post. They share the drawbacks of client-side rendering, how Web3 would affect SEO, and more. Why do 410 response codes show the same as 404s in Search Console? Is it treated differently in the backend? Find out that, and more from how the Search team would rebuild a search engine differently from Google’s to what the team has learned from the billions of search queries it’s received over the years. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr060-transcript Check out the Google Search Centra YouTube channel → https://goo.gle/43lCh1h Check out the Google Search Central blog → https://goo.gle/3CJW3sH Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E60 · Tue, May 30, 2023
Transcript for Q&A: You asked on Linkedin, we answered in here
S1 E59 · Wed, April 05, 2023
Staging and launching a site
In this episode of Search Off the Record, John, Gary, and Lizzi chat about launching websites. Launching a website can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially staging your website for launch, or if you’re a seasoned website owner and want to stage a new feature. How can you prevent a staging site from becoming indexed? Who are the people having the problem with the staging servers? What is the difference between a site launch and migration? Listen to this podcast episode to find out! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr059-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E59 · Wed, April 05, 2023
Transcript for Staging and launching a site
S1 E58 · Thu, March 23, 2023
JavaScript at Google
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Googlers Edu Pereda and Pascal Birchler join Martin Splitt to chat in-depth about programming languages, JavaScript and TypeScript. Learn more about the projects they use JavaScript with, why people have strong emotions towards JavaScript, what they like and dislike about the controversial programming language, and more! Has Javascript improved? Is there such a thing as modern JavaScript? Is it possible WebAssembly could replace TypeScript? Listen to find out! Transcript → Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast #JavaScript
S1 E58 · Thu, March 23, 2023
Transcript for JavaScript at Google
S1 E57 · Wed, March 08, 2023
Search and Open Source
On this episode of Search Off the Record, guest Edu Pereda, Engineer at Google joins Martin Splitt and Gary Illyes to chat about Search Open Sourcing projects. Open source is a source code made available for the public to modify and distribute. Learn about the Search open source library projects, requirements in mind when creating open source libraries, why not every library can be open source, and more in this podcast episode! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr057-transcript Find us on Twitter → https://goo.gle/3JgUSEB Edu Pereda on Twitter → https://goo.gle/3ZntryE Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast #Opensource
S1 E57 · Wed, March 08, 2023
Transcript for Search and Open Source
S1 E56 · Thu, February 23, 2023
Site moves: Are they getting any easier?
With the right resources, site moves or domain changes don’t have to be as hard as we once remember. In this episode of Search Off the Record, join Lizzi, Gary, and John for a chat about site moves. Learn about the different types of site moves, common issues, and how to move your site without harming search ranking results. Find out how site moves affect users and Search, how there could be a drop in traffic, and more. Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr056-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E56 · Thu, February 23, 2023
Transcript for Site moves: Are they getting any easier?
S1 E55 · Thu, January 12, 2023
Search Console Help Center
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Josh Cohen, a Tech Writer on the Search Console Team, joins John and Lizzi to chat about the Search Console Help Center. They dive into who drives changes in Search Console, tips for writing feedback, and questions to ask when deciding the right level of information to give in a document. Learn the differences between product and doc issues, not being able to remove content from a website you don't own, and more! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr053-transcript Search Console Help Center → https://goo.gle/3k34NU5 Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E55 · Thu, January 12, 2023
Transcript for Search Console Help Center
S1 E54 · Thu, December 22, 2022
Year in review 2022
John, Gary, and Lizzi wrap up 2022 by reflecting on projects, events, and past episodes of Search Off the Record. They discuss the most surprising aspect of 2022, updating Search documentation, and much more! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr055-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E54 · Thu, December 22, 2022
Transcript for Year in review 2022
S1 E53 · Wed, December 14, 2022
Search Status Dashboard
On this episode of Search Off the Record, John, Gary, and Lizzi chat about the Google Search Status Dashboard for incident reporting. They discuss what prompted the dashboard, how this compares to reporting Search incidents on Twitter, and more! Learn how the dashboard can streamline communication between Google and those reporting incidents. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr054-transcript Status Dashboard → https://goo.gle/3Wt80KL How To Use the Dashboard → https://goo.gle/3HvwHls Blog: When indexing goes wrong (2019) → https://goo.gle/3HvwHls Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E53 · Wed, December 14, 2022
Transcript for Search Status Dashboard
S1 E52 · Wed, November 30, 2022
From journalism to SEO with Jennifer Slegg
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Gary and Lizzi talk with a guest from the larger Search Marketing Community, Jennifer Slegg - an expert on all things Search Engine Marketing, specializing in the Quality Rater's Guidelines and E-A-T. Reminisce about the internet in the early 2000s, hand-coded websites, minimal search results, no ads, and straight-to-the-point content. Jennifer shares her experience transitioning from journalist to Search Marketer, the writing process for her well-known detailed analysis on changes in the Quality Rater's Guidelines, and more! Was there any data available about what people searched for in the early 2000s? What does E-A-T stand for? Listen to find out! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr051-transcript Jennifer on Twitter → https://goo.gle/3OKwNad Jennifer's 2022 guide to understanding Quality Rater Guidelines updates → https://goo.gle/3OKwNad The SEM Post → https://goo.gle/3UjqMm9 Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E52 · Wed, November 30, 2022
Transcript for From journalism to SEO with Jennifer Slegg
S1 E51 · Thu, November 17, 2022
Let’s talk redirects
Redirects are a genuine approach to moving something from one place to another. In this episode of Search Off the Record, John and Martin talk about the different types of redirects and which one you may want to use. They share the differences between 301 and 302 redirects, what type of redirects 308 and 307 are, why someone may want to use a JavaScript redirect over a meta refresh-type redirect, and more. They also cover merging and splitting domains, frustrating geo-targeting redirects, and redirects for mobile and desktop. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr052-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E51 · Thu, November 17, 2022
Transcript for Let’s talk redirects
S1 E50 · Thu, November 03, 2022
LIVE Q&A from brightonSEO
Join John, Lizzi, and guest, Myriam Jessier, SEO Trainer, for a live recording of SOTR from brightonSEO: a conference where SEOs gather to chat, network, and learn about search marketing. In this episode, they answer a bunch of questions hand-picked before the event. They cover topics like which is better: subdomain or subdirectory, to criteria for penalizing backlinks, and the pros and cons to templated content outlines. Learn about adding schema types, image alt, and more! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr050-transcript brightonSEO website → https://goo.gle/3TVlfm0 Mryiams Jessier’s website → https://goo.gle/3W6iUGU Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E50 · Thu, November 03, 2022
Transcript for LIVE Q&A from brightonSEO
S1 E49 · Thu, October 20, 2022
Search Central docs and SEO
Find out if Google Search Central implements its SEO best practices and guidelines on its own website and documentation! Hosts John and Lizzi discuss SEO tools, sitemaps, hreflang links, robots.txt, click-through rates, and more. They cover what they’ve implemented, what they are thinking of updating, and what they are passing on. Hear all things link related, categorizing, and working with an external SEO agency during rebranding. Episode transcript → http://goo.gle/sor049-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E49 · Thu, October 20, 2022
Transcript for Search Central docs and SEO
S1 E48 · Thu, October 06, 2022
Let's talk image SEO
Do you want to know how to increase traffic to your website with images? What about making your website more accessible for screen readers with alt text for an image? Our hosts John and Lizzi chat about optimizing for image search. They cover everything from naming your image file, how often Googlebot crawls images, increasing visibility of your page through image search, to improving alt text and image accessibility. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr048-transcript Google images best practices → https://goo.gle/3CAevUD SEO for Google Images | Search Central Lightning Talks → https://goo.gle/3e76PQo Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E48 · Thu, October 06, 2022
Transcript for Let's talk image SEO
S1 E47 · Thu, September 22, 2022
The early days of Google Search Central
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Vanessa Fox, a former Google employee, joins hosts John and Lizzi to talk about the early days of Google Search Central (or shall we say, Webmaster Tools). She shares the beginnings of the Sitemaps tool, Webmaster Help group, Webmaster Tools, and more! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr047-transcript Our very first blog post, authored by Vanessa Fox → https://goo.gle/3qEM6WM URL Structure guidelines → https://goo.gle/3U3T8BU SEO Compendium → https://goo.gle/3C0RsCn Keylime Toolbox → https://goo.gle/3xIipIn Vanessa Fox on twitter → https://goo.gle/3xJmOLa Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E47 · Thu, September 22, 2022
Transcript for The early days of Google Search Central
S1 E46 · Thu, September 08, 2022
Non-HTML files on the web
Join hosts Gary and Lizzi for a chat about file types on the web beyond HTML, like PDFs, PowerPoints, and images. We cover issues with all sorts of file types, if you should convert your weird file into HTML, what file types are indexed, and more on non-HTML files. Resources: PDFs in Google search results → https://goo.gle/3RZ16dV Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr046-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E46 · Thu, September 08, 2022
Transcript for Non-HTML files on the web
S1 Enull · Thu, September 01, 2022
PODCAST TRAILER: Welcome to Search Off the Record
What is Search Off the Record? Listen to our podcast trailer! Do you geek out about SEO? Are you interested in exploring on-going projects with the people that work on Google Search? Well, look no further! Listen to the Search Off the Record podcast to go behind the scenes of SEO and Google Search, all while having fun and mischief with our hosts from the Search Relations team from Google: Gary Illyes, Lizzi Sassman, John Mueller, and Martin Splitt. Watch the Search Off the Record podcast trailer on YouTube → https://goo.gle/3RmjuNe Listen to Search Off the Record on YouTube → https://goo.gle/3PShrA2 Listen to Search Off the Record on Libsyn → https://goo.gle/3am6jMx Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E45 · Thu, August 25, 2022
Should I worry about crawl budget?
There is a lot of confusion around crawl budget so Martin, Lizzi, and Gary from Search Relations are here to bring clarity for everyone unsure about it. Are you worried about your website not being crawled quickly? Not sure what consumes and wastes your crawl budget? Learn when you should and shouldn’t be worried about your crawl budget. This episode covers misconceptions and frequently asked questions concerning crawl budget. Resources: What Crawl Budget Means for Googlebot → https://goo.gle/3pIwXTM Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr045-transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. #SOTRpodcast
S1 E45 · Thu, August 25, 2022
Transcript for Should I worry about crawl budget?
S1 E44 · Thu, August 11, 2022
Let’s talk accessibility
In this episode of Search Off The Record, guest Danny Farra, UX Interaction Designer at Google, joins Lizzi Sassman to chat about accessibility of websites. We explore how to get started with accessibility, from using a screen reader for the first time to assessing contrast ratio and cognitive accessibility . Listen to this podcast to learn about assisted technology tools like screen readers and more! Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr044-Transcript Google Accessibility → https://goo.gle/3A5C6LG Danny Farra on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3A6OJX6 Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E44 · Thu, August 11, 2022
Transcript for Let’s talk accessibility
S1 E43 · Thu, August 04, 2022
Transcript for How do removals work in Google Search, really?
S1 E43 · Thu, August 04, 2022
How do removals work in Google Search, really?
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Lizzi Sassman, John Mueller, and Gary Illyes have an insightful conversation around how removals work in Google Search. Specifically, they chat about how Google Search operates when removals are in the mix. How does crawling, indexing, and blocking work in the backend? What really happens at each of these stages when it comes to removals? Listen to this podcast to get a behind-the-scenes look at Google Search Resources: Check out our episode about blocking → https://goo.gle/3P1UWYq Control what you share with Google → https://goo.gle/3oUyoym In-depth guide to how Google Search works → https://goo.gle/3bx2CV2 Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr043-Transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E42 · Thu, July 14, 2022
How Barry Schwartz Created RustyBrick
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Lizzi Sassman and Gary Illyes sit down with Barry Schwartz - a search engine connoisseur. Specifically, they explore how Barry runs his online career, balancing RustyBrick and Search Engine Roundtable. We even talk about website development, and the origin story behind RustyBrick - a web construction firm specializing in website development, web page design, SEO optimization, and more! Check out and subscribe to Barry Schwartz’s YouTube channel → https://goo.gle/3z3FCWw Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr042-Transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E42 · Thu, July 14, 2022
Transcript for How Barry Schwartz Created RustyBrick
S1 E41 · Thu, June 30, 2022
Transcript for How can you block content from Google Search?
S1 E41 · Thu, June 30, 2022
How can you block content from Google Search?
In this episode of Search Off the Record, we take a look at what it takes to block content from Google Search. Lizzi Sassman, Gary Illyes, and John Mueller chat about the role of robots.txt files and robots meta tags. What roles do they play in crawling and indexing? What other practices can you employ to remove unwanted content from Google Search? Listen to this podcast to discover some useful Search tips and tricks when it comes to barring content. Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr041-Transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E40 · Tue, June 21, 2022
Let’s talk about UX and SEO
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Martin Splitt, Gary Illyes, and Lizzi Sassman sit down to talk about user experience and SEO. What is UX? Besides Core Web Vitals, what other things could we try to automatically infer about the user experience of a site? From interstitials to site structure, our team of Search experts sit down and chat about the relationship between UX and SEO. Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr040-Transcript Let’s talk Core Web Vitals video → https://goo.gle/3xyX0k9 Let’s talk Core Web Vitals podcast → https://goo.gle/3xWcQGJ Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E40 · Tue, June 21, 2022
Transcript for Let’s talk about UX and SEO
S1 E39 · Thu, June 02, 2022
Transcript for A spotlight on SEO and data with Michelle Robbins
S1 E39 · Thu, June 02, 2022
A spotlight on SEO and data with Michelle Robbins
In this episode of Search Off the Record, we talk with Michelle Robbins - a software engineer by trade and member of the Search Marketing community. Lizzi Sassman and Gary Illyes sit down with Michelle to discuss how she got interested in SEO and even talk about data’s relation to SEO. How can data improve your SEO? Moreover, they explore common issues with data: bias, misrepresentation, and correlation vs. causation. Listen to this episode to see where the worlds of data and SEO overlap. Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr039-Transcript Michelle Robbins on Twitter → https://goo.gle/3Nd8jVE Michelle Robbins on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3PWnpAM Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E38 · Thu, May 19, 2022
Transcript for Let's talk about Web 3.0
S1 E38 · Thu, May 19, 2022
Let’s talk about Web 3.0
With Web 3.0 on the horizon, it’s hard to not talk about the next evolution of the internet. In this episode of Search Off The Record, Martin Splitt, Gary Illyes, and Alan Kent offer up their thoughts about the World Wide Web’s next iteration, and fondly recollect their experiences with older versions of the web. They ponder what people think Web 3.0 is and what it might become. Is it decentralized? Is it crypto? Both or none of that? Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr038-Transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E37 · Thu, May 05, 2022
Transcript for Let’s talk sitemaps
S1 E37 · Thu, May 05, 2022
Let’s talk sitemaps
A sitemap is a file where you provide information about the pages, videos, and other files on your site, and the relationships between them. In this episode of Search Off the Record, we sit down with Gary Illyes, John Mueller, and Lizzi Sassman to discuss all things sitemaps. How do they help with website SEO? What is the future of sitemaps? Listen to this episode to find out! Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr037-Transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E36 · Tue, April 26, 2022
Transcript for The Story of Kenichi Suzuki
S1 E36 · Tue, April 26, 2022
The Story of Kenichi Suzuki
In this episode of Search Off The Record, we talk with Kenichi Suzuki, a member of the larger search marketing community. Lizzi Sassman and Gary Illyes talk with Kenichi about his career in SEO, how he got started, and what advice he would give to those just starting out. Listen to this episode to gain valuable insight into the SEO world, and SEO in Japan! Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr036-Transcript Follow Kenichi on Twitter → https://goo.gle/3Li7BoX Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E35 · Thu, April 07, 2022
Structured data: What's it all about?
In this episode of Search Off The Record, we take a deep dive into structured data. Our hosts Martin Splitt and Lizzi Sassman talk with Ryan Levering, a software engineer at Google, about the importance of structured data, impactful things you can do with it, how Google uses it, and more! If you’re wanting to know the in’s and out’s of structured data, this episode is for you. Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr035-Transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team. fullname: Lizzi Sassman, Martin Splitt;
S1 E35 · Thu, April 07, 2022
Transcript for Structured data: What's it all about?
S1 E34 · Thu, March 24, 2022
When SEO goes wrong
You did a great job optimizing your site for search; however, it's attracting the wrong traffic from search engines. What are your options to correct this unexpected behavior? In this podcast, Martin Splitt, Gary Illyes, and Lizzi Sassman take a deep dive on how to determine if the search traffic is the correct audience, de-SEOing, and why it's such an interesting subject. Remove a page hosted on your site from Google → https://goo.gle/3JxlGhJ Get videos on Google with schema markup → https://goo.gle/3JwayBn Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr034-Transcript Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
S1 E34 · Thu, March 24, 2022
Transcript for When SEO goes wrong
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