Wrong page version in the index
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Hi,
my site is currently accessible through URL with and without www.
The Version with www has 10 times more Backlinks (PA 45 vs 38) but is not listet into the google Index.
As far as I know there was never made a google Webmaster account or declared otherwise the version without www to be 'cannonical'.
Basically I think that for SEO reasons it would be much better to declare the with www version to be cannonical and redirect the without www version to it.
My questions are:
Do you have an idea why the with www version is not indexed?
How long does Google usually take to change the version in the index?
Do I risk my site to be thrown out of the index for some days untill the change is made?Thanks in advance.
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Hi Sebastian,
Having duplicate content is quite a problem for you. You have two pages with the same content and different inbound links profile, confusing the search engines with it. Resolving this issue (with a canonical or a 301 redirect) will point out the page you are targeting from the two and make it easier to compete with.
301 or a canonical will also provide the link juice flow from one of the pages to the other one.
1. Do you have an idea why the with www version is not indexed?
2. How long does Google usually take to change the version in the index?
3. Do I risk my site to be thrown out of the index for some days untill the change is made?1. If you would be a search engine and see duplicate content from the same provider would you index both?
2. I would say that after resolving this issue, create a Google Webmaster Tools account, submit your sitemap and you should see some change in a few days.
3. After Google will index your canonicals you will have the non-www deindexed and the www version indexed.
Now probably you will see some kind of fluctuation in this process, but after done you should see a comeback soon.
Google won't punish you after you make these changes to help them. Quite logical, right?!
I hope it was helpful,
Istvan
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