Google’s Matt Cutts has been putting out Webmaster Help videos for years now, answering questions from webmasters who want to learn more about optimizing for Google search results. Sometimes these videos are really helpful. Sometimes, perhaps, not as much. Either way, you’re not going to get much better advice about what Google is looking for from sites than you’ll get from Google itself.
Following are some of the best Matt Cutts videos of 2012. Most are from the Webmaster Help videos, but there are a few others sprinkled in. You may have seen some or all of them. Maybe you’ll come across some you missed.
We’ll start with the best: this parody video of Cutts on how to rank #1 in Google:
The rest are real.
Did the last Google Dance come with update BART or Fritz? (A Google History Lesson)
How much time should I spend on meta tags, and which ones matter?
How will Google treat new TLDs?
Don’t block Googlebot from crawling JavaScript and CSS
Should I disallow Googlebot from crawling slower pages?
Matt Cutts At 2012 Korea Webmaster Conference
How does Google search work?
How effective is Google now at handling content supplied via Ajax?
How does Google view font replacement?
What happens if I link to a good page that later becomes spammy?
What should I do if my competitors are using webspam techniques?
A Hangout With Matt Cutts
What hardware and software powers Googlebot?
Is freshness an important signal for all sites?
What is Google’s view on guest blogging for links?
Does the use of schema.org markup create a ranking benefit?
Disavow Links
What is Google’s thinking about links from article marketing, widgets, etc?
If I haven’t been participating in link schemes, do I need to worry about my links?
Why doesn’t Google release an SEO quality check up calculator?
Are reconsideration requests read by real people?
Do human “quality raters” influence which sites are impacted by Panda?
Should I structure my site using subdomains or subdirectories?
Why does Google shut down products?
Should I keep a domain parked without content before I launch the website?
How does Google consider site-wide backlinks?
How will Google interpret links to URLs ending with a campaign tag?
How long does a reconsideration request take to process?
How many messages did Google send about unnatural links?