Using rel=canonical
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I have a set of static pages which were created with the purpose of targeting long tail keywords. That has resulted in Domain Authority dilution to some extent. I am now in the process of creating one page which will serve the same results but only after user selects the fields in the drop-down. I am planning to use rel=cannonical on the multiple pages pointing back to the new page. Will it serve the purpose?
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Hi Andy,
The single page will only serve the same results as the static pages only after user selects the fields in the drop-down. This is a functionality which will server results with users inputs only. Since rel=cannonical can be used only in the case of absolute duplication only like for instance e-commerce website with price, or other filters.
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Hi Aniket,
I am planning to use rel=cannonical on the multiple pages pointing back to the new page. Will it serve the purpose?
If I understand correctly what you are looking to do, then yes, this will do the job nicely for you. Rel=canonical is often used on multiple pages to point back to one primary to help remove duplication issues in Google's eyes, but still allows you to have the pages in place.
However, if you have lots of these static pages that just exist and are no longer serving any real purpose, then consider 301ing them instead.
-Andy
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