Mobile URLs in the desktop SERPs
-
Our real estate website URL is listed on desktop search as well as the mobile URL. I've read several blogposts on this subject but I still don't understand the fix for this. I've read to use rel=canonical tags. But does that stop Google from listing it in the desktop SERP? Is there a way to stop this without blocking the mobile site which is what our programmer wants to do? Or is this something we have to live with until Google fixes this issue?
-
Hi Melissa,
To avoid your Mobile URLs to get indexed on the desktop results you need to:
- Add rel=canonical annotations in each Mobile URL pointing to their desktop URL versions
- Add rel=alternate annotations in each Desktop URL pointing to their mobile URL versions
As Google specifies here and you can see in this graphic. Additionally, you can also see in those Google recommendations how you need to set 301 redirects to refer between your mobile and desktop URLs according to the user agent (mobile or desktop) used, as you can see in this other graphic too.
If you look to optimize more your site towards Mobile SEO, you can also take a look at this Moz post I wrote some months ago.
Thanks!
-
Hi Melissa,
If I read your question correctly, you've run into a situation where your mobile URLs for your mobile website are appearing in desktop searches? Do you have a sitemap on your mobile website that is properly formatted for mobile websites? That's a strong indication that your website is in fact a mobile website and should not appear in desktop search results, only mobile search results.
Here's a great resource on mobile sitemaps: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=34648
Hope that helps.
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
-
Unsolved Orphaned unwanted urls from the cms
Hi
Technical SEO | | MattHopkins
I am working on quite an old cms, and there are bunch of urls that don't make any sense.
https://www.trentfurniture.co.uk/products/all-outdoor-furniture/all-outdoor-furniture/1
https://www.trentfurniture.co.uk/products/all-chairs/all-chairs/1
https://www.trentfurniture.co.uk/products/all-industries/all-chairs/1
https://www.trentfurniture.co.uk/products/all-chairs/all-industries/1
https://www.trentfurniture.co.uk/products/all-chairs/banqueting-furniture/1
https://www.trentfurniture.co.uk/products/all-chairs/bar-furniture/1
https://www.trentfurniture.co.uk/products/all-chairs/bentwood-furniture/1
For example there are no internal links. And fortunately not much traffic at all. But I can't see in the cms why they are generating? I've tried to check the html code to check why, what's the reason? But all I can think of is the structure....? something odd the cms writes?
Anyone have any ideas please? And would I redirect all these? Just thinking there could be a better solution/fix, rather than redirects since there are no links or traffic.....Like the devs solve why they are generating.....Unfortunately I get very slow responses from the devs as a 3rd pty company, hence on here ;0). (Some of those are indexed too)... :0) Thanks in advance....0 -
URL 301 Re-direct
Hello, If we publish a blog post with a url which accidentally contains a number at the end (blog.companyname.com/subject-title-0), is it best-practice to update the URL (e.g. to blog.companyname.com/subject-title) and put in a 301 re-direct from the old to the new one or should it simply be left as is? I've read that 301's lose link equity and relevance so is it really worth re-directing for the sake of a cleaner url? Thanks for your input! John
Technical SEO | | SEOCT1 -
Backlinks that go to a redirected URL
Hey guys, just wondering, my client has 3 websites, 2 of 3 will be closed down and the domains will be permanently redirected to the 1 primary domain - however they have some high quality backlinks pointing the domains that will be redirected. How does this effective SEO? Domain One (primary - getting redesign and rebuilt) - not many backlinks
Technical SEO | | thinkLukeSEO
Domain Two (will redirect to Domain One) - has quality backlinks
Domain Three (will redirect to Domain One) - has quality backlinks When the new website is launched on Domain One I will contact the backlink providers and request they update their URL - i assume that would be the best.0 -
How do you check mobile-friendliness when you have a separate mobile site?
One of our clients has a separate mobile site, and we've setup the rel="alternate" on the main site homepage, but https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/ still fails the site (it checks the main site, instead of the mobile site) when we put in the main site URL. Is there any way to check that we've got everything setup correctly? (We have a lot of experience with mobile responsive sites, but not so much with separate URLs.)
Technical SEO | | AdamThompson1 -
URL not indexed but shows in results?
We are working on a site that has a whole section that is not indexed (well a few pages are). There is also a problem where there are 2 directories that are the same content and it is the incorrect directory with the indexed URLs. The problem is if I do a search in Google to find a URL - typically location + term then I get the URL (from the wrong directory) up there in the top 5. However, do a site: for that URL and it is not indexed! What could be going on here? There is nothing in robots or the source, and GWT fetch works fine.
Technical SEO | | MickEdwards0 -
Google Displaying wrong URL but correct page title and description in SERPS
Hi. Our second highest performing page on Google is messed up in the SERPS. This is our login page. It always ranks high. It still does, but the URL is incorrect. Google is referencing an old redirect that was for a one off campaign from January 2014. This page has long been redirected. But now the vanity url for this page is what is displayed in Google. The link goes to our login page but once you log in it redirects you to a page saying the offer has expired instead of your account details. This is a huge issue for us. Can anyone shed some light? I'm having a rel canonical added since this page is used for a lot of vanity deeplinks.
Technical SEO | | PollyKane0 -
Different serps
Hi, I seem to be making progress in recovering from penguin/panda. (maybe) However I get vastly different results if I search google in different ways for example if I specify the geographic location as US (I am in the UK) for prom hairstyles ie http://www.google.com/search?q=prom+hairstyles&gl=us (which I believe gives the SERPs for the US or at least it used to) my site (prom-hairstyles.org) comes in at number two or sometimes on the second page. But if I just search google.com it comes in at 450 or so. My question is do you get the same and why such a big difference? Thanks, Ian
Technical SEO | | jwdl0 -
I have a SERP result thats started returning a dud URL all of a sudden, any ideas why?
SERP "French Furniture" in google.co.uk The URL thats started to be returned P7 is <cite>www.thefurnituremarket.co.uk/ categories.asp?cat=</cite> The meta description is relevant however our CMS system 'ecommerce templates' has some code in it to return a dynamic meta description dependant on what catergory is being searched. It seems that the meta description is being populated from our french furniture category but the URL is not dynamic.. This has only started happening this past week. usually the url http://www.thefurnituremarket.co.uk/french_furniture.asp is returned. in WMT is is nicely indexing with 5 links... on it's own... Any ideas?
Technical SEO | | robertrRSwalters0