How to handle wordpress tags
-
Hi fellow SEO mozzers,
I am getting 'duplicate content' errors when our site is crawled, mainly down to our WordPress blog and how we have handled tags. Currently, they are being crawled and as such are regarded as duplicate pages.
I have read several different articles on how to handle tags. Some suggest noindex the tag URL's.
Others suggest to optimize them and allow them to be indexed since Google has confirmed they won't penalize a WordPress site for having archive pages that publish and point to the same content. It will select the best link to represent the cluster of links.
Over the past few months, nearly 4% of our WordPress traffic have been referred by tag pages listed in search engines.
Initially I was going to noindex the tag pages, but going on the above info I wonder should I leave them as they are?
Or is the issue that having duplicate content will lead to inefficient crawling?
Any views/opinions on how best to handle this?
-
That's true, you can show excerpt which is better - but I believe ultimately the best bet is to noindex tags. Most people end up with hundreds or thousands of tag archives, all with just a few posts in them. If you're really good about using tag perfectly, it might work - but I think most sites benefit from noindexing them.
-
You can do this if you want to be really certain you won't hurt anything.
-
Hi Sarah,
SEOmoz had a mozinar on Advanced Wordpress and they mentioned on how to handle tag pages, category pages and duplicate content. I've added the attachment to the answer.
Basically can you simply go to the tag.php, archive.php, category.php files and change the the_content to the_excerpt then it should help with duplicate content. Whenever peopel visit the tag pages, instead of viewing the whole duplicate content there, they will only see an except and to read more, they will have to click on the post.
Hope this answers your question.
-
No, just noindex, follow them. Install the Yoast SEO plugin that will do the work for you with their presets.
-
The bounce rate isn't significantly higher than the site average and the time on site is similar to site average too...majority of the keywords are (not provided) so I can't see actual queries.
If I do decide to noindex tags, do I need to consider anything in the transition? like redirecting the tag pages that have been indexed to the equivalent post etc.?
-
Personally I noindex all my category and tags in WordPress as I don't think they offer the best way for people searching for information to enter my blog. That being said I always believe that i****f a page is of use to a searcher, then you should include it within the index.
I know you have said that you are getting 4% of your organic traffic via tag pages but what's the quality of these visitors, do they have a low bounce rate or better than average time on site?
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Alt tags advice
Hello, When describe an alt tag from what I understand you need to put your keyword when you can and not literally describe the image. For example let's say I have a picture with 2 cyclists on a road in the dolomites. I would tend to describe it saying " 2 cyclists riding in the dolomites" But for google it is better to describe it saying "Bike riding in Italy and through the dolomites" based on the fact that I am looking to rank on "italy bike tours" Isn't it ? Thank you,
On-Page Optimization | | seoanalytics0 -
Is there a way to keep your brand name in the title tag even if your title is cut off?
Hi, I've been thinking of placing our brand name in the front of our title tag for brand recognition purposes. While doing research I came across a few sites that seem to have their brand name on every title tag, regardless of whether of not their title tag was too long and getting cut off by Google. Ex: Personalized Cutting Broads & Humidors...-Etsy The title tag for the example above was for a store in Etsy that sells personalized cutting broads, which was what i searched for. Normally a title tag that is too long gets cut off by Google and your brand name no longer shows if you've positioned it at the end of your title tag. Is there a way to get your brand name to show up at the end of every title tag even if your title is long and gets cut off by Google? Obviously, I could just place the brand name at the front of my title tag, but if I wanted something like my example above is that possible? Thanks You
On-Page Optimization | | znotes0 -
Unkown H1-Tag on my webshop
Dear community, I have a unknown and undetecable H1-tag on my webshop. I'm currently optimizing my webshop and get stuck by two H1-tags on every page. Does anyone know where i can remove this H1-tag? My webshop URL: www.rijwielcashencarry.nl Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | rijwielcashencarry0400 -
Wordpress SEO. How to add static content above home page posts.
I think I many have some duplicate content issues as have been adding unque content above posts in categories using the all category SEO. How can I add static content to the posts on the home page though? Any help appreciated!
On-Page Optimization | | SamCUK0 -
Google Results Title Tag HELP
Can anybody tell us why Google changes your title tag in the SERP? If you check out the below link or type in 'days inn', you will see the 2nd result for www.daysinnrc.co.uk just says 'Days Inn' but on the actual site the title tag for this page is 'Days Inn UK | Days Inn | Daysinnrc.co.uk' http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=days+inn&oq=days+inn&gs_l=hp.3...4110.4110.4.4297.1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1c.1.kWVC24EnCHE&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=7680231318a44bb0&bpcl=35466521&biw=1920&bih=934 This has happened with another site too, does anybody know why? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | SEOwins0 -
How Should I Fix Duplicate Content in Wordpress Pages
In GWMT i see google found 41 duplicate content in my wordpress blog. I am using Yoast SEO plugin to avoid those type of duplicates but still the problem was stick.. You can check the screenshot here - http://prntscr.com/dxfjq Please help..
On-Page Optimization | | mamuti0 -
Do I need a robots meta tag on the homepage of my site?
Is it recommended to include on the homepage of your site site? I would like Google to index and follow my site. I am using WordPress and noticed my homepage is not including this meta tag, therefore wondering if I should include it?
On-Page Optimization | | asc760 -
Does it matter what text you wrap in an H1 tag?
Typically H1 tags are reserved for page headings, i.e. on a blog post the blog post title is very often the pages H1, or top-level heading as the W3C puts it. On the SEOmoz home page they currently have "SEO Software." as their H1 tag, which seems perfectly reasonable and to me fits the W3C criteria. However, what if the primary keyword for SEOmoz was "seo community" so they decided to wrap just those two words in the sentence that follows on their home page and maintain the existing style of the words "seo community" with CSS. (see attachment) Are there any arguments against doing that? Would Google be able to detect this? If so, would Google care? I do believe the overall importance of the H1 tag has lessened to a degree, however I still believe they are valuable to an extent and would love to hear anyone's thoughts. 7NZcD.png
On-Page Optimization | | TakeLessons1