Are websites getting "fat"? Page weight, HTML size & Googlebot limits explained - transcript

Are websites getting "fat"? Page weight, HTML size & Googlebot limits explained

In this episode of Search Off the Record, Gary and Martin dig into what "page size" and "page weight" actually mean for developers, users, and search...

Google crawlers behind the scenes - transcript

Google crawlers behind the scenes

Developers often talk about Googlebot as if it were a single program you could just run as "googlebot.exe", but that is not how Google's crawling actu...

How Browsers Really Parse HTML (and What That Means for SEO) - transcript

How Browsers Really Parse HTML (and What That Means for SEO)

Martin and Gary unpack how HTML parsing really works, why the HTML standard is so lenient, and how messy markup can silently break key SEO signals lik...

Do You Still Need a Website in 2026? (Transcript)

Do You Still Need a Website in 2026?

In this episode of Search Off the Record, Martin and Gary from the Google Search Relations team tackle a deceptively simple question: do you still nee...

Crawling Challenges: What the 2025 Year-End Report Tells Us - Transcript

Crawling Challenges: What the 2025 Year-End Report Tells Us.

​Join Martin and Gary as they dive into Search Off the Record's Episode 103, unpacking the 2025 Year-End report on crawling issues. Discover fascinati...

SOTR102_transcript.pdf

SEO, AIO, GEO, your site, & third-party support to optimize for LLMs

In this episode, John Mueller and Danny Sullivan continue their conversation about the changing landscape of Search. They discuss the practicalities o...

Thoughts on SEO & SEO for AI, part 1

In this episode, John Mueller and Danny Sullivan talk about SEO and the new kids on the block: AIO, GEO and others. Danny shares how these things inte...

SOTR100_transcript.pdf

How Search Off the Record tackles SEO and web development

Celebrate the 100th episode of Search Off the Record with Martin, Lizzi, Cherry, John and Gary as they revisit memorable moments, touching on a bunch...

SOTR099_transcript.pdf

Optimizing login-page content for Google Search

Explore critical aspects of search engine optimization for web content that lives behind a login or paywall. In this episode, Martin and John cover ho...

SOTR098_transcript.pdf

Lazy loading demystified

Optimize your website's performance with lazy loading techniques. In this episode, John Mueller  and Martin Splitt discuss lazy loading, and its SEO i...

SOTR097_Transcript.pdf

SEO for photographers: websites, social media, and Google Search

In this episode of Search Off The Record, John and Martin explore the intersection of SEO and photography. Is a website essential for photographers, o...

SOTR096_Transcript.pdf

How does CSS affect SEO?

Martin and John dive into the world of CSS and explore its connection to SEO. Discover why CSS files matter for SEO, how modern CSS frameworks impact...

SOTR095_Transcript.pdf

SEO for small businesses

Are you a developer or small business owner struggling with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? In this episode of Search Off the Record, Google Search...

SOTR094_Transcript.pdf

Demystifying SEO for developers

Developers often have misconceptions about SEO. In this episode of Search Off the Record, John Mueller and Martin Splitt clarify what matters and what...

SOTR093_Transcript.pdf

What SEOs should know about devs

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 huma...

SOTR092_Transcript.pdf

How Googlebot crawls the web

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 w...

SOTR091_Transcript.pdf

Debugging the Internet: HTTP, TCP, and You

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 work...

Launching Search Central Live Deep Dive

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 t...

How are web standards made?

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 I...

SOTR089_Search_Off_the_Record_-_89th_episode_

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,...

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...

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 int...

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'r...