Should users be allowed to leave comments on the website? can Help with SEO as long as you can moderate them, says Google.
This topic was addressed by Google search advocate John Mueller during the Google Search Central SEO office hours hangout recorded on February 18th.
An SEO expert named Vahid Parsa joins the livestream to ask Mueller some questions. User comments whether it is considered Ranking factor.
It is not accurate to say that website comments are a ranking factor. Simply allowing users to leave comments does not improve your site’s ranking.
However, depending on what users type in the comments section, it can help with search rankings.
Mueller explains the SEO value of user comments:
How User Comments Help SEO
User comments can add SEO value to your web pages in additional ways. environment.
When users stay on topic and leave comments related to page content, that information helps search rankings.
Comments related to the subject of a web page help Google understand your content better and determine which types of queries it should rank for.
Muller said:
“What I find really helpful in these comments is that people often write in their own words about the page, which gives them a little more information about how this page appears in search results.” From that perspective, I think comments are a good thing on the page.”
And vice versa.
Users leaving irrelevant comments can degrade the overall page quality.
Off-topic comments can send various signals to Google about what the page is about and for which queries it should be displayed.
User comments are the responsibility of the website, even if they are written by persons not directly affiliated with the site.
If it is on your website, you are responsible.
For example, comments containing spammy links may be responsible for penalties or demotions in search results.
That said, it’s a good idea to only allow comments if you can moderate them.
As Mueller says, the biggest challenge with user comments is staying on topic.
“Obviously it can be hard to find a way to keep them in a reasonable way because people spam those comments and all sorts of crazy things happen there. But overall , I hope you can find a way to keep comments on your webpage to provide a little more context and make it easier for people searching in different ways to find your content.”
Listen to Mueller’s reaction in the video below.
Deleting comments can affect search rankings
Please note that if your website currently allows comments, removing comments may affect your search rankings.
Depending on the situation, the impact can be good or bad.
Cleaning up comment sections full of irrelevant or spam content can help improve your ranking.
On the other hand, removing comments that add valuable context to your page can lead to lower rankings.
Here’s what Mueller said about the SEO impact of removing website comments in the old Hangouts:
“From our point of view, we consider comments to be part of the content. Ultimately, if people are finding your page based on the comments there, removing those comments will You obviously won’t be able to find the page based on the page.
User comments can be good or bad for your SEO, so there are many things to consider.
Featured image: Screenshot from YouTube.com/GoogleSearchCentral, February 2022.
