Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
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
-
How many pages for a new site for Google to sink it's teeth into
Hello, I've got a high traffic site I'm building. Is 20 articles enough to start or should I start with 40 or 60 to not flop? I've got good internal linking. I've got: 3 10X articles
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BobGW
17 cornerstones so far. Worked hard so far. Do I launch? or wait for 40? 60? I know thousands is best. Competitors have much more. Thank you, Bob0 -
Should I keep my existing site or start new?
I have a website with less than 3K visits a year. Only customers with an Account with me who have login credentials can see my product pricing and make a purchase onsite; therefore, indexing/page ranking is not a concern for me. My agency suggests that my product catalog be corrected to a parent/child relationship. Currently, each product variation has its own SKU and PDP. As a result, product findability: Site Search, Categorization, and Facets are a mess. Is there any way I can keep my current URL (branding purposes)? I thought we could delete all pages (PLPs & PDPs) and create all new and enforce 301 redirects. Thoughts?
Community | | SEOfreshman1 -
Link flow for multiple links to same URL
Hi there,
On-Page Optimization | | doctecs
my question is as follows: How does Google handle link flow if two links in a given page point to the same URL? (do they flow link individually or not?) This seems to be a newbie question, but actually it seems that there is little evidence and even also little consensus in the SEO community about this detail. Answers should include source Information about the current state of art at Google is preferable The question is not about anchor text, general best practises for linking, "PageRank is dead" etc. We do know that the "historical" PageRank was implemented (a long time ago) without special handling for multiple links, as e.g. last stated by Matt Cutts in this video: http://searchengineland.com/googles-matt-cutts-one-page-two-links-page-counted-first-link-192718 On the other hand, many people from the SEO community say that only the first link counts. But so far I could not find any data to back this up, which is quite surprising.0 -
Home page keyword in url
I have been looking into SEO for a few weeks now trying to perfect a homepage. Going through various sources on MOZ, and other examples out there on the internet, I keep seeing that you should have your keyword in the URL of the page. The homepage is the page most people want to rank the highest in google searches, however, you cannot put the keyword in the URL as most home page URLs are simply /. Should I actually make the home like this: www.example.com/key-word-example? I would imagine this would not be the normal for many users and would seem like it's not the home page.
On-Page Optimization | | Matthew_smart0 -
Url structure with dash or slash
Hi There We have a content website. We don't rank well category image related searches but we get quite good traffic for those keywords. Those keywords are mostly like "category images". We want to change our url structure and we have 2 options now. 1- domain.com/category/category-images 2-domain.com/category/images option 1 repeats the category name so it looks spammy option 2 doesn't really have the keyword. any ideas which one tho choose? Thanks! ps: we don't want to use domain.com/category-images (too many root link)
On-Page Optimization | | muminaydin0 -
How to find google indexed pages
I can't find where the # of indexed pages are on my google analytics. I tried the instructions below, but the index status was not an option on my dashboard. View the Index Status page: On the Webmaster Tools home page, click the site you want. On the Dashboard, click Google Index, and then click Index Status.
On-Page Optimization | | SoftwareMarketing0 -
Blocking Subdomain from Google Crawl and Index
Hey everybody, how is it going? I have a simple question, that i need answered. I have a main domain, lets call it domain.com. Recently our company will launch a series of promotions for which we will use cname subdomains, i.e try.domain.com, or buy.domain.com. They will serve a commercial objective, nothing more. What is the best way to block such domains from being indexed in Google, also from counting as a subdomain from the domain.com. Robots.txt, No-follow, etc? Hope to hear from you, Best Regards,
On-Page Optimization | | JesusD3 -
Changing page titles and google penalties?
I just recently learned that changing your page title earns you a google penalty. Unfortunately i learned this after playing around with my page titles a bit to get the most optimal page titles. Does anybody know how long this google penalty lasts? is it forever? or just temporary?
On-Page Optimization | | adriandg0
