Google’s John Mueller shared a case the place a leftover HTTP homepage was inflicting surprising site-name and favicon issues in search outcomes.
The problem, which Mueller described on Bluesky, is simple to overlook as a result of Chrome can mechanically improve HTTP requests to HTTPS, making the HTTP model simple to miss.
What Occurred
Mueller described the case as “a bizarre one.” The positioning used HTTPS, however a server-default HTTP homepage was nonetheless accessible on the HTTP model of the area.
Mueller wrote:
“A hidden homepage inflicting site-name & favicon issues in Search. This was a bizarre one. The positioning used HTTPS, nonetheless there was a server-default HTTP homepage remaining.”
The tough half is that Chrome can improve HTTP navigations to HTTPS, which makes the HTTP model simple to overlook in regular searching. Googlebot doesn’t comply with Chrome’s improve conduct.
Mueller defined:
“Chrome mechanically upgrades HTTP to HTTPS so that you don’t see the HTTP web page. Nevertheless, Googlebot sees and makes use of it to affect the sitename & favicon choice.”
Google’s website identify system pulls the identify and favicon from the homepage to find out what to show in search outcomes. The system reads structured information from the web site, title tags, heading components, og:site_name, and different alerts on the homepage. If Googlebot is studying a server-default HTTP web page as a substitute of the particular HTTPS homepage, it’s working with the fallacious alerts.
How To Verify For This
Mueller steered two methods to see what Googlebot sees.
First, he joked that you may use AI. Then he corrected himself.
Mueller wrote:
“No wait, curl on the command line. Or a device just like the structured information take a look at in Search Console.”
Working curl http://yourdomain.com from the command line would present the uncooked HTTP response with out Chrome’s auto-upgrade. If the response returns a server-default web page as a substitute of your precise homepage, that’s the issue.
If you wish to see what Google retrieved and rendered, use the URL Inspection device in Search Console and run a Reside Check. Google’s website identify documentation additionally notes that website names aren’t supported within the Wealthy Outcomes Check.
Why This Issues
The show of website names and favicons in search outcomes is one thing we’ve been documenting since Google first changed title tags with website names in 2022. Since then, the system has gone by way of a number of rising pains. Google expanded website identify assist to subdomains in 2023, then spent practically a 12 months fixing a bug the place website names on inner pages didn’t match the homepage.
This case introduces a brand new complication. The issue wasn’t within the structured information or the HTTPS homepage itself. It was a ghost web page within the HTTP model, which you’d don’t have any cause to test as a result of your browser by no means confirmed it.
Google’s website identify documentation explicitly mentions duplicate homepages, together with HTTP and HTTPS variations, and recommends utilizing the identical structured information for each. Mueller’s case exhibits what can go fallacious when an HTTP model comprises content material completely different from the HTTPS homepage you supposed to serve.
The takeaway for troubleshooting site-name or favicon issues in search outcomes is to test the HTTP model of your homepage immediately. Don’t depend on what Chrome exhibits you.
Wanting Forward
Google’s website identify documentation specifies that WebSite structured information have to be on “the homepage of the location,” outlined because the domain-level root URI. For websites operating HTTPS, which means the HTTPS homepage is the supposed supply.
In case your website identify or favicon appears fallacious in search outcomes and your HTTPS homepage has the right structured information, test whether or not an HTTP model of the homepage nonetheless exists. Use curl or the URL Inspection device’s Reside Check to view it immediately. If a server-default web page is sitting there, eradicating it or redirecting HTTP to HTTPS on the server stage ought to resolve the difficulty.
