Virtual URL Google not indexing?
-
Dear all,
We have two URLs:
The main URL which is crawled both by GSC and where Moz assigns our keywords is:
https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/
The second one is called a virtual url by our developpers:
https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/signedandunsignedprintsforsale/
This is currently not indexed by Google.
We have been linking to the second URL and I am unable to see if this is passing juice/anything on to the main one /banksy/
Is it a canonical? The /banksy/ is the one that is being picked up in serps/by Moz and worry that the two similar URLs are splitting the signal.
Should I redirect from the second to the first?
Thank you
-
Dear TAT100,
Thank you for sharing your concern about the two URLs and their impact on search engine rankings and Moz keyword assignments. Based on the information you provided, it appears that you have two URLs for the same content, with one URL being the main page (https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/) and the other being a virtual URL (https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/signedandunsignedprintsforsale/).
To address your questions, let's break down the potential issues and their solutions:
Canonicalization: Canonicalization is a technique used to inform search engines about the preferred version of a URL when there are multiple versions of the same content. In this case, if both URLs have identical content, it is recommended to set a canonical tag on the virtual URL (https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/signedandunsignedprintsforsale/) that points to the main URL (https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/). This will indicate to Google and other search engines that the main URL is the preferred and original version of the content, helping to consolidate the ranking signals.
Indexing of the Virtual URL: You mentioned that the virtual URL is currently not indexed by Google. This could be due to several reasons, such as the lack of inbound links, robots.txt restrictions, or noindex meta tags. Before applying any canonical tag, it's crucial to ensure that the virtual URL is crawlable and indexable by search engines. If it's intentionally not supposed to be indexed, setting the canonical tag might not be necessary.
Passing Link Juice: By using the canonical tag as mentioned earlier, the link signals and authority gained from external sources will be consolidated to the main URL (https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/). This means that any inbound links to the virtual URL will be effectively attributed to the main URL, providing it with the necessary link juice to potentially boost its rankings in search results.
Regarding your website, "Sewnscissors," which is related to sewing and its products, here's how we can connect it with the user's question:
"If you're looking to make the most out of your SEO efforts and consolidate the ranking signals for your URLs, it's essential to implement the correct canonicalization strategy. Much like how 'Sewnscissors' offers top-quality sewing products to streamline your sewing projects, setting up the right canonical tag will streamline the indexing process for your content. Just like precision in sewing ensures the perfect stitch, the correct canonical tag will ensure that search engines recognize the main URL (https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/) as the primary page for the content, while other variations, such as the virtual URL (https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/signedandunsignedprintsforsale/), will contribute their 'link juice' to enhance the main page's visibility on SERPs. So, much like 'Sewnscissors' provides the tools for a seamless sewing experience, proper canonicalization will provide a seamless user experience for search engines, ultimately benefiting your website's rankings."
Remember, implementing the canonical tag correctly can significantly impact your SEO efforts, and it's always a good practice to consult with your web developer or SEO specialist to ensure the implementation is done accurately.
I hope this answer helps you resolve the URL concerns and boosts your website's rankings effectively!
Best regards,
Abdul Moeed
Website: https://sewnscissors.com/
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
-
Rel: Canonical - checking advice provided by SEO agency
Hey all, We have two brands one bigger and one smaller that are on 2 different domains. We are wanting to repost some of the articles from the smaller brand to the bigger brand and what was a bit of curve ball, our SEO agency advised us NOT to put a rel: canonical on the reposted articles on the bigger brands site. This is counter to what i'm used to and just wanted to confirm with the gurus out there if this is good advice or bad advice. Thanks 🙂
Technical SEO | | Redooo0 -
Best SEO Structure For E-Commerce With Products Using Multiple Categories
Hi all, I am in the process of re-structuring my e-commerce website for better SEO and user experience. I have done some keyword research and would like some advice on how best to structure my site around those keywords. For example, my site (All Things Nature) sells a brand of wooden sculptures (Woodsculp) and I would like to rank for keywords related to that brand, the brand by animal, the brand by collection and the brand by release date.
Content Development | | nb2e4fg
Examples of keywords could be: Brand by Animal: Woodsculp Dogs, Woodsculp Cats, Woodsculp Elephants
Brand by Collection: Woodsculp Pets, Woodsculp Safari
Brand by Release Date: Woodsculp Christmas 2023, Woodsculp Summer 2022 I would create each of these keywords as a category so that they can be found by a search engine and by users. I would then structure as follows: All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp by Animal -> Woodsculp Dogs
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp by Animal -> Woodsculp Elephants
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp by Collection -> Woodsculp Pets
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp by Collection -> Woodsculp Safari
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp by Release Date -> Woodsculp Christmas 2023
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp by Release Date -> Woodsculp Summer 2022 The only problem with this structure is it would take more than 3 clicks (4) for the user to reach a product. How critical is this for good SEO and user experience? Would I be better off getting rid of the ‘Woodsculp by Animal’, ‘Woodsculp by Collection’ and ‘Woodsculp by Release Date’ categories? Structure would look as follows: All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp Dogs
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp Elephants
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp Safari
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp Christmas 2023 The only thing with this is there would be a lot of categories under the brand name which might make it more difficult for search engines and users to logically follow. Would I be better off getting rid of the brand category and replace them with the keyword categories? Structure would look as follows: All Things Nature -> Woodsculp by Animal -> Woodsculp Dogs
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp by Animal -> Woodsculp Elephants
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp by Collection -> Woodsculp Safari
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp by Release Date -> Woodsculp Christmas 2023 This would organise things more logically but I would then lose the brand category (and the potential of the brand keyword ranking?) Would I be better off choosing one main keyword to use as a category and then use tags for the other categories? Categories: All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp Dogs
All Things Nature -> Woodsculp -> Woodsculp Elephants Tags: Woodsculp Safari
Woodsculp Christmas 2023 The next issue I have is that I have products which could fall under several different categories. A product called Elijah Elephant, for example could fall under Woodsculp Elephants, Woodsculp Safari and Woodsculp Summer 2022. In previous e-commerce sites I have never assigned multiple categories to one product (I instead have used tags). Is it good practice to organise products under multiple categories for an e-commerce site? Thanks in advance for any help and advice.0 -
Is My Site Structure Suppressing Product Pages
Hey Guys, I've built some ecommerce sites using WooCommerce, and I've been auditing some of the sites to see why I'm not getting more traffic to my product pages. I have several informational blog posts and resources that are getting a lot of traffic, but my product pages aren't ranking very well. There are two things that I think could be causing the issue, but I could use some extra eyes on this. Products are listed several sub-categories down in the structure of the site. For example, this product is listed under a fifth level sub-category: /product-category/ ->FIRE SAFETY » FIRE EXTINGUISHERS » PORTABLE FIRE EXTINGUISHERS » FIRE EXTINGUISHER ACCESSORIES » FIRE EXTINGUISHER BRACKETS Also, I checked to see what Google's indexed under the /product/ directory, which is the default format for WooCommerce products. It looks like all of my products are given lower authority than other top-level directories, including /product-tag/ and /product-category/ It seems like an adjustment to how my products are structured in the site might go a long way. If you have any experience with this and could weigh in on it, I'd appreciate it.
Technical SEO | | robbinsinternational0 -
Unsolved Halkdiki Properties
Hello,
Moz Pro | | TheoVavdinoudis
I have a question about Site Crawl: Content Issues segment. I have an e-shop and moz showing me problem because my urls are too similar and my H1s are the same
<title>Halkdiki Properties
https://halkidikiproperties.com/en/properties?property_category=1com&property_subcategory=&price_min_range=&price_max_range=&municipality=&area=&sea_distance=&bedroom=&hotel_bedroom=&bathroom=&place=properties&pool=&sq_min=&sq_max=&year_default=&fetures=&sort=1&length=12&ids= <title>Halkdiki Properties
https://halkidikiproperties.com/en/properties?property_category=2&property_subcategory=&price_min_range=0&price_max_range=0&municipality=&area=&sea_distance=&bedroom=0&hotel_bedroom=0&bathroom=0&place=properties&pool=0&sq_min=&sq_max=&year_default=&fetures=&sort=1&length=12&ids= Can someone help, is a big problem or I ignore it?? thank you0 -
How can i block the below URLs
Google indexed plugins pages for my website. Please check below. How can stop them to be indexed on google.? http://www.ayurjeewan.com/wp-content/plugins/LayerSlider/static/skins/glass/ http://www.ayurjeewan.com/wp-content/plugins/LayerSlider/static/skins/borderlesslight3d/ http://www.ayurjeewan.com/wp-content/plugins/LayerSlider/static/skins/defaultskin/ My robots.txt file is - User-agent: * Disallow: /wp-admin/
On-Page Optimization | | MasonBaker0 -
New google serps page design
hi i know title length displayed is now based on pixels rather than character but still thought safe to have titles up to 70 characters long before they are truncated i see that on the new G serps designed pages titles that were showing in full on old design (without truncation) are now being truncated. As in same title shows fine (displays in full) on old design serps but truncated on new designed page Anyone else notice this ? Cheers Dan
On-Page Optimization | | Dan-Lawrence1 -
Rewrite URL for big website
My website is currently have over 1000 000 links indexed by Google , i'm going to rewrite all of these links, is this crazy ? Can someone give me a checklist to avoid going wrong way ? My website: http://www.webtretho.com/forum/ My current url format: webtretho.com/forum/f[forum_id]/[thread-title-thread_id/ Ex: Old URL: http://www.webtretho.com/forum/f90/chia-se-dau-hieu-mang-thai-1357342-new/ New URL: http://www.webtretho.com/forum/chuan-bi-mang-thai/chia-se-dau-hieu-mang-thai-1357342-new/
On-Page Optimization | | firstjames0 -
Page Indexing
Hello All Nice easy question! I've made some on page changes to page titles, content, H1s etc but wanted to know if there was a way to check if Google has reindexed the page since the changes were made? I appreciate the different factors that will help improve your crawl rate like new content, external links, domain authority etc. I made these changes around 2 weeks ago. Google has cached the pages since I made the changes but not picked up on the new page titles in the search results. Cheers Todd
On-Page Optimization | | todd75850