Internal Links - Different URLs
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Hey so,
In my product page, I have recommended products at the bottom. The issue is that those recommended products have long parameters such as sitename.com/product-xy-z/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co&srcType=dp_recs
The reason why it has that long parameter is due to tracking purposes (internally with the dev and UX team).
My question is, should I replace it with the clean URL or as long as it has the canonical tag, it should be okay to have such a long parameter? I would think clean URL would help with internal links and what not...but if it already has a canonical tag would it help?
Another issue is that the URL is different and not just the parameter. For instance..the canonical URL is
and so the internal link used on the product page (same exact page just different URL with parameter)
sitename.com/xyz/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co&srcType=dp_recs (missing product name), BUT still has the canonical tag!
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While we'd all prefer a world in which there weren't messy parameters everywhere, they're often necessary for all kinds of reasons — tracking being a good example. So:
- Take a note of each of the parameters.
- Go to the 'Crawl' section in Google Search Console and then to 'URL Parameters'. Enter each of your tracking parameters there. When asked whether the parameter changes the page content seen by the user, answer honestly. If these are just tracking parameters, you should be OK to answer "No" in every case.
- Make sure that there is a canonical tag in place (which it sounds like there is, from your question). The canonical version shouldn't have any parameters.
- If you have a feature for users to share a page — "share this page on Facebook", for example — try and ensure that the shared URL is the canonical version.
You have a bigger issue with duplicate URLs. These pages should not co-exist:
sitename.com/productname-xy-z/
If I understand your question correctly, these pages are both of the same product. Pick a preferred URL and stick with it. Permanently redirect the other URL. A canonical tag will deal with the parameters, but you can't rely on it to solve duplicate page paths like this.
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Basically the canonical tag has nothing to do with this issue.
The links should not have parameters if you wish to pass on link juice and actually help the page you are linking to!
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