Blog
Mert Özen's blog posts on software development, backend, frontend, and DevOps.
SEO Myths and Facts: Meta Keywords, Word Count, AI Content and "Guaranteed Ranking" Promises
Google hasn't used meta keywords since 2009, there is no keyword density or ideal word count target, Google objects to AI content not because of how it's produced but when it's mass-produced without adding value, and no one can guarantee a top position. For each myth we give Google's official source, the claims Google doesn't confirm and the developer's next step.
"Why Isn't My Page Indexed?" Diagnosing Indexing Problems Step by Step
For a page that isn't indexed, ask in order: does Google know the URL, does robots.txt allow it, does it return 200, is there a noindex, does the canonical point to itself, is the content real; the first no is where the problem is. We cover the diagnosis tree, a .NET 10 check tool that runs locally, the robots.txt and noindex conflict, and the Crawled/Discovered – currently not indexed states.
Getting Started with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools: Verification, URL Inspection and Core Reports
In Search Console a Domain property is verified through DNS and covers all subdomains and protocols; a URL-prefix property sees only the prefix you enter, and the verification token must stay in place. We cover the URL Inspection fields, the Page indexing and Performance reports, importing into Bing Webmaster Tools and a first-week checklist for mertozen.com.
Appearing in Results: Title Links, Snippets, Meta Descriptions and Site Names
Google builds the result heading not only from the title but also from h1, og:title and link text; it takes the snippet mostly from page content, and meta descriptions have no length limit. We look at per-page title and meta in Razor and Angular 22 with real server output, snippet controls, site name and favicon rules, and the title suffix on mertozen.com.
How Google Ranks: Ranking Systems, Core Updates and E-E-A-T
Google doesn't rank with a single algorithm but with many named ranking systems such as BERT, PageRank, freshness and reviews; it doesn't disclose their weights. We cover the waiting and comparison method Google recommends after core updates, why E-E-A-T isn't a direct ranking factor, and the real role of quality raters.
Google Search Essentials: Technical Requirements, Spam Policies and Key Best Practices
Google Search Essentials has three parts: technical requirements (Googlebot access, a page that returns 200, indexable content), spam policies that lower rankings or remove a site, and key best practices. We cover the policies added in 2024–2026, the difference between manual actions and algorithmic detection, and protecting user content in ASP.NET Core with X-Robots-Tag and rel="ugc".
How Search Engines Work: Crawling, Rendering, Indexing and Serving
Google processes a page in four steps: it discovers and crawls the URL, renders the JavaScript, indexes the content through duplicate clusters and canonical selection, and serves it by relevance and quality when a query arrives. We show Googlebot's 2 MB limit with a real measurement and follow a post on mertozen.com step by step.