SEO Tip: Don’t Do As Google Does, Do As They Say – Info SEO

There is the saying “do as I say, not as I do.” That is often the case in which Google prefers you to listen to their advice versus watch their actions. When Google AdWords redirected to Google Ads and used a 302 redirect, which is still the type of redirect in place, that would be one of those examples. AdWords has permanently changing to Google Ads, so why a temporary redirect?

Another example is when Google Maps moved from maps.google.com to google.com/maps, again a 302 redirect. Or when Google webmaster tools, well, it is still undergoing, moved from a google.com/webmasters and is moving to subdomain at https://search.google.com/search-console.

Again, do as we say, not as we do.

Why does this happen? Well, John Mueller of Google said on Twitter

John said: “you’d be surprised (or maybe it’s just like most other companies) how these decisions usually aren’t driven by SEO.”

Here is the tweet:

— John ☆.o(≧▽≦)o.☆ (@JohnMu) July 31, 2018

So if you think you should move from a subdomain to a subfolder or use a 302 over a 301 – it doesn’t mean Google is doing this because it is their best SEO bet – it was just a decision made for one of many other reasons.

Forum discussion at Twitter.