Demystifying SEO for developers
Search Off the Record
Developers often have misconceptions about SEO. In this episode of Search Off the Record, John Mueller and Martin Splitt clarify what matters and what doesn't. They cover areas including: Optimizing themes for SEO, The indexing API, and common HTML mistakes. This podcast delivers essential knowledge for developers to enhance their SEO strategies and avoid common pitfalls. Resources: Episode transcript → Chapters: 0:00 - Intro to SEO misconceptions 0:15 - Why developers should care about SEO? 0:59 - Technical vs non-technical SEO 4:38 - The importance of naming things 6:03 - Title...
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SOTR094_Transcript.pdf
Search Off the Record
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What SEOs should know about devs
Search Off the Record
In this candid episode of Search Off the Record, Gary Illyes and Martin Splitt from the Google Search team peel back the curtain to reveal a more human side of their work and challenges. Instead of diving deep into technical concepts, they reflect on their personal journeys—touching on everything from public speaking nerves to building empathy between developers and SEOs. Through playful banter and thoughtful commentary, they share how communication, context, and curiosity play vital roles in their day-to-day roles, both internally at Google and in the broader web ecosystem. The conversation...
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SOTR093_Transcript.pdf
Search Off the Record
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How Googlebot crawls the web
Search Off the Record
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Martin and Gary from the Google Search Relations team take a deep dive into how Googlebot and web crawling work—past, present, and future. Through their humorous and thoughtful conversation, they explore how crawling evolved from the early days of the internet, when scripts could index a chunk of the web from a single homepage, to the more complex and considerate systems used today. They discuss the basics of what a crawler is, how tools like cURL or Wget relate, and how policies like robots.txt ensure crawlers play nice with web infrastructure....
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SOTR092_Transcript.pdf
Search Off the Record
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Debugging the Internet: HTTP, TCP, and You
Search Off the Record
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Gary Illyes and Martin Splitt from the Google Search team dive deep into the foundations of how the web works—specifically HTTP, TCP, UDP, and newer technologies like QUIC and HTTP/3. The two reflect on how even experienced web professionals often overlook or forget the mechanics behind these core protocols, sharing insights through technical discussion, playful banter, and analogies ranging from messenger pigeons to teapots. The conversation spans key concepts like packet transmission, connection handshakes, and the importance of status codes...
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SOTR091_Transcript.pdf
Search Off the Record
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Launching Search Central Live Deep Dive
Search Off the Record
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Google's Martin Splitt, Cherry, and Gary Illyes discuss the exciting expansion of Search Central Live with the introduction of Search Central Live Deep Dive. They share the history of Search Central events, the inspiration behind creating a more advanced, multi-day experience, and how community feedback helped shape the new format. Cherry explains how the Deep Dive events will offer in-depth sessions, practical workshops, and greater opportunities for networking within the Search community across the APAC region. The team also offers a...
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How are web standards made?
Search Off the Record
Ever wondered how web standards are made? Martin and Gary from Google Search take you behind the scenes of the internet's governing bodies. From the IETF to the W3C, learn about the consensus-driven processes that shape the web. Find out why these standards are crucial for ensuring a consistent and reliable online experience. Resources: Episode transcript → Listen to more Search Off the Record → Subscribe to Google Search Channel → l Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team....
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