During a recent AMA on Reddit, Google’s Gary Illyes repeatedly advised SEOs to focus on the fundamentals, especially making websites more crawlable. When asked about the future of SEO and important ranking factors, Illyes stressed the need for SEOs to return to the basics. He also suggested that less emphasis should be placed on updates and metrics from rank tracking software.
Illyes stated, “I really wish SEOs went back to the basics (i.e. MAKE THAT DAMN SITE CRAWLABLE) instead of focusing on silly updates and made-up terms by the rank trackers, and that they talked more with the developers of the website once done with the first part of this sentence.”
He reiterated this sentiment later in the thread when asked about his favorite SEO conspiracy theory, expressing a general dislike for them as they distract SEOs from important tasks. As he put it, “I don’t have a favorite; they generally want me to crawl up in a corner and cry because we don’t do a good enough job getting people to focus on the important things… like CREATING A DAMN CRAWLABLE SITE.”
Illyes also took a subtle jab at rank tracking tools when a user mentioned “link velocity,” a term he wasn’t fond of. He responded, “I would love if you didn’t focus that much on links and made-up terms like link velocity.” For more insights from Gary Illyes, read the full AMA and explore additional resources.
