Infinite 302 redirects on a site using Angular JS
-
I'm not quite sure what I'm seeing here. It's a site that uses Angular JS (version 1) and the crawl is showing infinite 302 redirects, but the redirects are all to the same URL?
Here's an example: https://www.razoo.com/us/story/Armco-Park-Foundation
Has anyone seen this before? What causes it and how do I counsel the client on how to fix it?
-
Indeed: thanks for the update. AngularJS is a great technique but relatively new and so much different from the techniques we've gotten used to working with in the past couple of years that this is an interesting case.
Good luck with the project and cool to see more people using AngularJS!
-
Thank you so much for following up, Katherine!
We really appreciate it. -
The pages are definitely 302 redirecting 10+ times - shown in both the Deepcrawl and Screaming Frog data, but not in the tools l like redirect checker. The redirects showed up in Screaming Frog and Deepcrawl.
I got my answer from Nicholas Chimonas who is on the Online Geniuses slack group and I've posted his response below.
-
Google Fetch & Render won't work as the site wasn't set up properly. And I got the data from Deepcrawl AND Screaming Frog, but that didn't help me with the why.
Nicolas Chimonas actually helped me figure it out and posted the answer on the Online Geniuses Slack group as well as the Tech SEO Google+ community, and here it is for all who are curious:
Nicholas ChimonasJun 7, 2016<a data-content="Figured%20I'd%20post%20my%20thoughts%20for%20the%20community%20here%20that%20I%20brought%20up%20in%20the%20Online%20Geniuses%20slack.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EAngular%20is%20throwing%20a%20wrench%20in%20the%20works%2C%20I'm%20not%20sure%20cloaking%20is%20really%20the%20intent%20here%20%3Cspan%20class%3D%22proflinkWrapper%22%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22proflinkPrefix%22%3E%2B%3C%2Fspan%3E%3Ca%20class%3D%22proflink%20aaTEdf%22%20href%3D%22%2F117530250543183103093%22%20oid%3D%22117530250543183103093%22%3ERick%20Bucich%3C%2Fa%3E%3C%2Fspan%3E%26nbsp%3Byou'll%20notice%20the%20differences%20in%20code%20when%20you%20view-source%20versus%20inspect%20element%20with%20chrome%20dev%20tools.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EExcerpt%20taken%20from%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fipullrank.com%2F6-things-you-should-know-about-in-chrome-devtools%2F%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttp%3A%2F%2Fipullrank.com%2F6-things-you-should-know-about-in-chrome-devtools%2F%3C%2Fa%3E%20%3A%3Cbr%3E%22First%20things%20first%2C%20View%20Source%2C%20we%E2%80%99ve%20had%20great%20times%20together%2C%20but%20it%E2%80%99s%20over.%20In%20the%20post-JavaScript%20age%2C%20there%20is%20little%20value%20in%20looking%20at%20the%20pure%20source%20code%20of%20a%20page%20before%20its%20JavaScript%20transformations.%20In%20fact%2C%20due%20to%20Google%E2%80%99s%20vast%20improvements%20in%20crawling%2C%20this%20is%20a%20fundamental%20flaw%20of%20all%20SEO%20crawling%20tools%20in%20that%20crawlers%20are%20not%20seeing%20the%20code%20as%20the%20user%20or%20Google%20sees%20it.%20Rather%2C%20SEO%20tools%20are%20seeing%20the%20code%20as%20it%E2%80%99s%20downloaded%20and%20not%20as%20it%E2%80%99s%20rendered.%20Granted%2C%20crawling%20with%20headless%20browsers%20is%20both%20slower%20and%20far%20more%20computationally%20expensive%2C%20but%20it%E2%80%99s%20also%20just%20a%20requirement%20at%20this%20point%20given%20the%20adoption%20rate%20of%20JavaScript%20frameworks.%20If%20you%E2%80%99re%20not%20using%20Inspect%20Element%20to%20review%20code%2C%20you%20are%20likely%20missing%20a%20big%20part%20of%20the%20picture.%22%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3ESo..%20with%20that%20in%20mind%2C%20I%20also%20went%20the%20route%20of%20investigating%20the%20page%20with%20different%20user-agents.%20By%20the%20way%2C%20Katherine%20fetched%20the%20URL%20as%20Googlebot%20and%20was%20served%20a%20302%20redirect%20in%20WMT.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EThis%20is%20the%20URL%20as%20Googlebot%20sees%20it%2C%20as%20mentioned%20totally%20different%20outline%2C%20and%20text%2C%20and%20links%20on%20the%20page.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FqQ4kwm2.png%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttp%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FqQ4kwm2.png%3C%2Fa%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EBoth%20of%20these%20red%20boxes%20in%20this%20image%20are%20links%20to%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EWhich%20resolves%20when%20browsing%20as%20Googlebot.%20Notice%20the%20lack%20of%20%2Fus%2F%20prior%20to%20%2Fstory%2F%2C%20navigate%20to%20the%20above%20URL%20and%20you'll%20be%20302%20redirected%20to%20the%20%2Fus%2F%20URL.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EVersus%20when%20I'm%20in%20chrome%2C%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%20is%20a%20302%20redirect%20to%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fus%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fus%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Flw9ta0R.png%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttp%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Flw9ta0R.png%3C%2Fa%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3ESo%20that's%20where%20your%20redirect%20loop%20is%20coming%20from.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EThose%20links%20to%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%20which%20are%20highlighted%20in%20red%20boxes%20only%20appear%20for%20Googlebot%2C%20they%20don't%20appear%20on%20the%20human%20browser%2C%20or%20the%20screaming%20frog%20without%20being%20headless%20and%20spoofed%20as%20Googlebot%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3ESo%20when%20Googlebot%20is%20served%20up%20a%20version%20of%20the%20page%20which%20302%20redirects%20them%20from%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%20to%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fus%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fus%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%20they%20instead%20are%20once%20again%20served%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%20because%20the%20user-agent%20is%20Googlebot%2C%20which%20once%20again%20302%20redirects%20them%20to%20%3Ca%20rel%3D%22nofollow%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fus%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%22%20class%3D%22ot-anchor%20aaTEdf%22%20jslog%3D%2210929%3B%20track%3Aclick%22%20dir%3D%22ltr%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fwww.razoo.com%2Fus%2Fstory%2FArmco-Park-Foundation%3C%2Fa%3E%20etc.%20ad%20infinitum%EF%BB%BF" data-profiledetails="%7B%22profileId%22%3A%22104133087852424173047%22%2C%22realName%22%3A%22Nicholas%20Chimonas%22%7D">Share</a>Figured I'd post my thoughts for the community here that I brought up in the Online Geniuses slack.
Angular is throwing a wrench in the works, I'm not sure cloaking is really the intent here +Rick Bucich you'll notice the differences in code when you view-source versus inspect element with chrome dev tools.
Excerpt taken from http://ipullrank.com/6-things-you-should-know-about-in-chrome-devtools/ :
"First things first, View Source, we’ve had great times together, but it’s over. In the post-JavaScript age, there is little value in looking at the pure source code of a page before its JavaScript transformations. In fact, due to Google’s vast improvements in crawling, this is a fundamental flaw of all SEO crawling tools in that crawlers are not seeing the code as the user or Google sees it. Rather, SEO tools are seeing the code as it’s downloaded and not as it’s rendered. Granted, crawling with headless browsers is both slower and far more computationally expensive, but it’s also just a requirement at this point given the adoption rate of JavaScript frameworks. If you’re not using Inspect Element to review code, you are likely missing a big part of the picture."So.. with that in mind, I also went the route of investigating the page with different user-agents. By the way, Katherine fetched the URL as Googlebot and was served a 302 redirect in WMT.
This is the URL as Googlebot sees it, as mentioned totally different outline, and text, and links on the page.
http://i.imgur.com/qQ4kwm2.png
Both of these red boxes in this image are links to https://www.razoo.com/story/Armco-Park-Foundation
Which resolves when browsing as Googlebot. Notice the lack of /us/ prior to /story/, navigate to the above URL and you'll be 302 redirected to the /us/ URL.
Versus when I'm in chrome, https://www.razoo.com/story/Armco-Park-Foundation is a 302 redirect tohttps://www.razoo.com/us/story/Armco-Park-Foundation
http://i.imgur.com/lw9ta0R.png
So that's where your redirect loop is coming from.
Those links to https://www.razoo.com/story/Armco-Park-Foundation which are highlighted in red boxes only appear for Googlebot, they don't appear on the human browser, or the screaming frog without being headless and spoofed as Googlebot
So when Googlebot is served up a version of the page which 302 redirects them fromhttps://www.razoo.com/story/Armco-Park-Foundation to https://www.razoo.com/us/story/Armco-Park-Foundation they instead are once again served https://www.razoo.com/story/Armco-Park-Foundation because the user-agent is Googlebot, which once again 302 redirects them to https://www.razoo.com/us/story/Armco-Park-Foundation etc. ad infinitum
-
Sounds like Deepcrawl, Screaming Frog, and Google Fetch & Render.
-
Hi Katherine,
Hmm difficult to answer that question since we don't know the techniques you are using on this site. Apart from AngularJS.
This site show me a 200-header code. Which is an indication that everything is OK.
http://www.webconfs.com/http-header-check.php
What site gave you the 302-header code? One of MOZ's tools?
Bas
-
I should clarify that I'm seeing the redirect chain in Deepcrawl and Screaming Frog, and via Google's fetch and render tool inside Google Search Console.
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
-
SEO implications of using Marketing Automation landing pages vs on-site content
Hi there, I'm hoping someone can help here... I'm new to a company where due to the limitations of their Wordpress instance they've been creating what would ordinarily be considered pages in the standard sitemap as landing pages in their Pardot marketing automation platform. The URL subdomain is slightly different. Just wondering if anybody could quickly outline the SEO implications of doing this externally instead of directly on their site? Hope I'm making some sense... Thanks,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | philremington
Phil1 -
A 302 Redirect Question | Events Page Updates
Hello Moz World, I have a client that has a TON, like close to a thousand pages that have a 302 redirect set up. After further investigation, I found that every month they update their events page & Demo Request page, and the old events pages still exist but, get a 302 redirect to the updated page. From what I gather, this is a default mechanism set up by the hosting provider. My questions; is this an example of when to use a Rel=canonical? Also, is there a method for integrating this without having to go into every page and integrate the code snippet? And Lastly, How should I go about ensuring this doesn't happen in the future? Thanks ahead of time, you guys rock! B/R Will H.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | MarketingChimp100 -
Redirecting from _ to - ?
hi everyone, I need your help! 🙂 What's the best way to redirect a lot of urls from sign _ to sign - ? We changed our e-shop CMS and we don't use that _ anymore. We have more than 100.000 URLs and you can imagine that we don't to do by hand. Any chance of doing it with .htaccess easily? Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | FCRMediaLietuva0 -
HTTPS Login on HTTP Site | 301 or 302 Redirect?
I've searched the forum on this and online and can't seem to find a definitive answer. Some e-commerce sites that are http use a 302 redirect to the https login while other sites use a 301 redirect. I know 302 is generally not recommended but in this case it may make sense. Can anyone advise on the correct practice?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | CallMeNicholi0 -
Should i redirect this page?
Hi I have the following 2 pages: http://www.over50choices.co.uk/Funeral-Planning.aspx http://www.over50choices.co.uk/Funeral-Planning/Funeral-Plans.aspx My dilema is that google sees the words "funeral planning" & "funeral plans" as the same thing, which might explain why the "funeral plan" page is not ranked v well. My issue is that the "funeral planning" page is at category level and introduces the wider subject of funeral planning, which isnt just funeral plans, so if i 301 my "funeral plan" page i will have no where to talk about funeral plans. My question is, Is the "funeral plan" page not ranked v well because of this or do i just need better optimisation of the funeral plan page so google is clear which is the key focus for each page? Thanks Ash
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | AshShep10 -
Micro sites?
Hi, I have been speaking to seo firms regarding strategies and they mentioned setting up micro sites under domains that are relevant. i.e setting up armanidoamin.co.uk and we use it as a blog type site to update all info, product reviews, news relating to armani. Whats peoples thoughts on this? Does it work? Is it worth the effort? Im not so sure but obviously looking for ideas. Cheers
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | YNWA0 -
How are pages ranked when using Google's "site:" operator?
Hi, If you perform a Google search like site:seomoz.org, how are the pages displayed sorted/ranked? Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | anthematic0 -
Has my site been penalized?
Our site was listed on the first page for the phrase Active SEO on Google.co.uk. We suddenly find ourselves on page 4 overnight and we're not sure what's going on. We have not undertaken an Black hat techniques however the site is fairly new. Anyone have any ideas as to what is going on?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | MassivePrime0