How to Block Urls with specific components from Googlebot
-
Hello,
I have around 100,000 Error pages showing in Google Webmaster Tools. I want to block specific components like com_fireboard, com_seyret,com_profiler etc.
Few examples:
I tried blocking using robots.txt. Just used this
Disallow: /com_fireboard/
Disallow: /com_seyret/But its not working. Can anyone suggest me to solve this problem.
Many Thanks
Shradda
-
I agree with Sha that your 404 page has a nice appearance. My main concern is it lacks functionality.
If I click on a link to your site and end up on that page, what is my next action? Likely I would hit the <back>button on my browser and leave your site. It is either that or typing a URL.</back>
I recommend you offer users the option to stay on your site. Your site navigation, a search box, some links, anything would be helpful.
-
Hi Shradda,
I agree with Ryan that the use of a meta noindex tag is the preferable way to block the pages, but obviously there may be difficulties with applying the tag, depending upon how your pages are generated and whether you are able to alter the code or not.
You can also use ?option=com_fireboard etc to create 301 redirects back to a higher order category page or search.
You should be able to use a single line of code to 301 all pages within each directory.
Using 301 redirects will also send a signal to search engines to de-index those pages.
Very clever 404 page too! Had to watch him go all the way across the page and back just so I knew I wasn't missing anything!
Sha
-
You can log into Google Webmaster Tools and adjust your parameter settings. It was designed for this exact purpose. Site Parameters > URL Parameters. If you use this solution, be sure to do the same in Bing WMT as well.
A better solution would be to noindex the pages. Using robots.txt should be avoided when possible.
If you do need to use robots.txt, your current disallow statement is set up to not crawl the folder named "com_fireboard". You intention is to not crawl the parameter ?option=com_fireboard. I know wildcards work for the trailing portion of a path but I have not tried them for the beginning part of the path.
I suggest you try the following:
Disallow: ?option=com_fireboard
For more on the robots.txt file, please view the following site: http://www.robotstxt.org/
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
-
Does the URL structure matter?
I have a blog on entertainment. does the url structure matter to rank my blog and iam also facing the issue of indexing of my blog. visit and check this if i need further changes.
Technical SEO | | Hammad784540 -
Sitemap Contains Blocked Resources
Hey Mozzers, I have several pages on my website that are for user search purposes only. They sort some products by range and answer some direct search queries users type into the site. They are basically just product collections that are else ware grouped in different ways. As such I didn't wants SERPS getting their hands on them so blocked them in robots so I could add then worry free. However, they automatically get pulled into the sitemap by Magento. This has made Webmaster tools give me a warning that 21 urls in the sitemaps are blocked by robots. Is this terrible SEO wise? Should I have opted to NOINDEX these URLS instead? I was concerned about thin content so really didnt want google crawling them.
Technical SEO | | ATP0 -
Why is robots.txt blocking URL's in sitemap?
Hi Folks, Any ideas why Google Webmaster Tools is indicating that my robots.txt is blocking URL's linked in my sitemap.xml, when in fact it isn't? I have checked the current robots.txt declarations and they are fine and I've also tested it in the 'robots.txt Tester' tool, which indicates for the URL's it's suggesting are blocked in the sitemap, in fact work fine. Is this a temporary issue that will be resolved over a few days or should I be concerned. I have recently removed the declaration from the robots.txt that would have been blocking them and then uploaded a new updated sitemap.xml. I'm assuming this issue is due to some sort of crossover. Thanks Gaz
Technical SEO | | PurpleGriffon0 -
Category URL Duplicate Content
I've recently been hired as the web developer for a company with an existing web site. Their web architecture includes category names in product urls, and of course we have many products in multiple categories thus generating duplicate content. According to the SEOMoz Site Crawl, we have roughly 1600 pages of duplicate content, I expect primarily from this issue. This is out of roughly 3600 pages crawled. My questions are: 1. Fixing this for the long term will obviously mean restructuring the URLs for the site. Is this worthwhile and what will the ramifications be of performing such a move? 2. How can I determine the level and extent of the effects of this duplicated content? 3. Is it possible the best course of action is to do nothing? The site has many, many other issues, and I'm not sure how highly to prioritize this problem. In addition, the IT man is highly doubtful this is causing an SEO issue, and I'm going to need to be able to back up any action I request. I do feel I will need to strongly justify any possible risks this level of site change could cause. Thanks in advance, and please let me know if any more information is needed.
Technical SEO | | MagnetsUSA0 -
Should I block robots from URLs containing query strings?
I'm about to block off all URLs that have a query string using robots.txt. They're mostly URLs with coremetrics tags and other referrer info. I figured that search engines don't need to see these as they're always better off with the original URL. Might there be any downside to this that I need to consider? Appreciate your help / experiences on this one. Thanks Jenni
Technical SEO | | ShearingsGroup0 -
Long URL
I am using seomoz software as a trial, it has crawled my site and a report is telling me that the URL for my forum is to long: <dl> <dt>Title</dt> <dd>Healthy Living Community</dd> <dt>Meta Description</dt> <dd>Healthy life discussion forum chatting about all aspects of healthy living including nutrition, fitness, motivation and much more.</dd> <dt>Meta Robots</dt> <dd>noodp, noydir</dd> <dt>Meta Refresh</dt> <dd>Not present/empty</dd> <dd> 1 Warning Long URL (> 115 characters) Found about 17 hours ago <dl> <dt>Number of characters</dt> <dd>135 (over by 21)</dd> <dt>Description</dt> <dd>A good URL is descriptive and concise. Although not a high priority, we recommend a URL that is shorter than 75 characters.</dd> </dl> </dd> <dd> URL: http://www.goodhealthword.com/forum/reprogramming-health/welcome-to-the-forum-for-discussing-the-4-steps-for-reprogramming-ones-health/ The problem is when I check the page via edit or in the admin section of wordpress, the url is a s follows: http://www.goodhealthword.com/forum/ My question is where is I cannot see where this long url is located, it appears to be a valid page but I cant find it. Thanks Pete </dd> </dl>
Technical SEO | | petemarko0 -
Block Baidu crawler?
Hello! One of our websites receives a large amount of traffic from the Baidu crawler. We do not have any Chinese content or do any business with China since our market is Uk. Is it a good idea to block the Baidu crawler in the robots.txt or could it have any adverse effects on SEO of our site? What do you suggest?
Technical SEO | | AJPro0 -
Magento URL Question
Calling all Magento Kings out there! I'm working on a client' site - powered by magento. I'm looking to rewrite a lot of the URLs. I know there is the URL rewrite tool, but I think what I need to do may go beyond this. Typical example would be: Old URL - http://www.xxxxxxxx.co.uk/fabric/product/product-black-screen-print-and-silver-fabric.html New URL - http://www.xxxxxx.co.uk/fabric/product/silver I know that magento's URLs seem to be created through categories so wanted to double check with someone the best way to do this. Also, I've heard that 301 redirects of non www to www in the .htaccess has a knock on effect on discounts? All comments greatly appreciated.
Technical SEO | | PerchDigital0