Google: Don't Build Sites Where You Need To Test To See How Search Engines React

Google's John Mueller has said on Reddit that it is better to build a site where you know how Google and search engines will treat it then build a site where you are unsure. There isn't always a need to get fancy with your code to the point where you need to go through various tests to make sure Google will crawl, index and rank those pages.

John said "many people do too much fancy shtuff when they could just be doing something basic that works just as well." "Keep it so that you don't have to guess, ask, or test what search engines will do, and keep it so that search engines are clearly & consistently guided to do what you're trying to do."

He added that even if "it's unclear" and you decide to test it and the tests say it works fine. You should not assume it is fine. He said "then assume that search engines will change their behavior when you're in the plane headed to Timbuktu for a 3-week camel safari."

That is some serious advice here. Assume fancy web sites that need to be tested to see if they work with search engines, won't work.

He said keep it simple and of course consistent because you don't want to be on a vacation and get an alert that your web site is not working well in Google and sales are way down.