GWT, URL Parameters, and Magento
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I'm getting into the URL parameters in Google Webmaster Tools and I was just wondering if anyone that uses Magento has used this functionality to make sure filter pages aren't being indexed.
Basically, I know what the different parameters (manufacturer, price, etc.) are doing to the content - narrowing. I was just wondering what you choose after you tell Google what the parameter's function is.
For narrowing, it gives the following options:
Which URLs with this parameter should Googlebot crawl? <label for="cup-crawl-LET_GOOGLEBOT_DECIDE">Let Googlebot decide</label> (Default) <label for="cup-crawl-EVERY_URL">Every URL</label> (the page content changes for each value) <label style="color: #5e5e5e;" for="cup-crawl-ONLY_URLS_WITH_VALUE">Only URLs with value</label> ▼(may hide content from Googlebot) <label for="cup-crawl-NO_URLS">No URLs</label> I'm not sure which one I want. Something tells me probably "No URLs", as this content isn't something a user will see unless they filter the results (and, therefore, should not come through on a search to this page). However, the page content does change for each value.I want to make sure I don't exclude the wrong thing and end up with a bunch of pages disappearing from Google.Any help with this is greatly appreciated!
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Thanks!
I have decided to do this and am turning off a few parameters at a time to ensure it doesn't cause any crawling or indexing issues.
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I've seen quite a few issues with the way Magento handles products and narrowing, and in the past when setting up parameter handling in GWMT I have used No URLs. Each individual product page should have it's own unique URL, and you may or may not have product category pages as well. To avoid any duplicate content or thin content issues (not to mention wasted crawl bandwidth), I think it's best to just tell Google to ignore pages with those parameters.
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