How to add canonical tag
-
Hi,
I read through many of the forum questions dealing with the overly dynamic URLS and I think I understand. Please let me know if I know what I am talking about:
If SEO moz is saying I have 20 pages (mostly search and home/index pages) with overly dynamic urls, I would go to the that particular page and add the following code between the head tag:
This code would cause Google to go to this page instead of the following duplicate index pages:
1. http://www.about-sports-collectibles.com/index.php?pcsid=0a83aa7119cf3d80a1d018634ec4ec94&p
2. http://www.about-sports-collectibles.com/index.php?pcsid=18b220fc62628b013a51c6f26209df50&p
There are a total of about 8 of these index pages.
The problem is that I can't figure out where I would access each of these duplicate pages to add the canonical tag. There is only one home page with coding.
As far as the search pages are concerned, I would not want Google to follow those pages would I? If that is the case, what would be the best code to add between the tags?
For instance here are a couple of the overly-dynamic URL pages for the search pages:
1. http://www.about-sports-collectibles.com/index.php?p=catalog&mode=search&search_in=all&search_str=
I hope I am not overwhelming anyone with my questions. I really am trying to get a handle on how Ll this stuff works.
Thanks so much the help.
Don
-
Thanks Chris.
I Appreciate your help.
Don
-
Yes, you would add the canonical link element:
to the 20 pages that are the same as your home page. But I think they are all the same page, so you don't have to look far. The pcsid looks like a session id, so if you can add the canonical link element to index.php, it will appear in all displays of the home page. It is OK if the canonical link element on a page points to itself.
Notice that index.php is used for search results and shopping cart pages also. So adding it to index.php may add it to all your search pages and cart pages. But do you want those pages indexed? If not, then the element is OK on these pages.
WARNING
Your product pages do not display index.php, but I am assuming they are dynamically generated. If they are, you may end up with the canonical link element on every page of your site. If your software can't handle that differently, you will be better off without the canonical link element.
Use an XML Sitemap
NOTE: Use an XML sitemap, and submit it on Google Webmaster Tools (and similar at other engines). If the URL is on the sitemap, it should get preference over a URL not on the sitemap.
Currently on Google
You sites listings don't show any pcsid numbers, so the duplicate content issue may not be a big problem. You do, however, want credit when someone links to your page and add a pcsid in their linking url.
If your shopping cart provider does not have a way for you to fix this, urge them to add it.
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
-
Silly question about noindex and canonical
Hi, This is probably going to sound a bit stupid, but I nevertheless want to check. We have a site that's going to have identical pages (really not my choice) for a sales reason. The two examples would be example.com/profile-name and example.com/location/profile-name Users using the onsite navigation will always end up in the latter example naturally as they have to select a location before viewing content (plus having the location in the url is nice as there are multiple profiles across different locations that have the same name). However, it's easier to sell our services when we can offer just example.com/profile-name to users for their own marketing reasons. I'd like to make the example.com/profile-name noindex follow, and have just the example.com/location/profile-name indexed, but not sure if it would be better to implement canonical tags instead? Can anyone see any potential pitfalls of using either method or does it not really make a difference (which is what I suspect, but I'd rather look stupid than get this wrong)? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | LeahHutcheon0 -
Are lots of wordpress tags hurting my SEO?
When I started my blog 4 years ago and didn't know what I was doing, I set it up to be organized using tags (no categories). I have around 20 tags and around 250 articles. Each blog article typically has 2-4 tags associated with it. There is a lot of topic overlap and putting each post in only one category wouldn't work. I have been no indexing, do follow my tag pages because they are just a list of post titles, but I'm wondering if the whole situation is hurting my SEO. On my homepage I have a sidebar menu/list of all the tags so I have link juice going to no indexed (but dofollow) pages. Reducing the number of tags would be bad for user experience because people who were looking for info on a specific topic wouldn't be as easily able to find what they want. Ideas?
On-Page Optimization | | KateV0 -
How to ALT tag correctly many similar images?
scenario: I have a product page with some text about the product and 12-15 different images af the product: details, colours, different views... how should I name an alt tag them correctly, been them actually really similar? Is it keyword stuffing to use the same name containing a relevant keywords?
On-Page Optimization | | DavideM0 -
Description tag/ duplicate content.
Quick question - will Gg deem it duplicate content if I use the description tag text anywhere else in the on-page copy? Thanks, David
On-Page Optimization | | newstd1000 -
To enter keyword meta tags or to not enter keyword meta tags?
I've been doing SEO for awhile, but new to SEOMoz. I'm surprised that SEOMoz does not recommend keyword meta tags. I didn't enter them for the longest time because I know Google doesn't care about them. However, I did read that other search engines DO use them. And therefore that is why you should have them. I teach my customers about SEO, and I know it would be much easier for them not to enter or worry about the keyword meta tags. However, I would love to hear opinions here. And to Bing/Yahoo put any weight into them or is it only really small search engines? Thanks! Hilary
On-Page Optimization | | endlessrange0 -
Title Tag Over Optimization
Hey, I've read that adding the company name to the title tag was a waste of space since the more words the less weight each one has, with all this over optimization preventive measures, should I rewrite the title tags format with company names? and if so should it be (company name): (naturally organized keywords) (naturally organized keyword) | (Company name). or can I keep it just naturally organized keywords Also I used to do (keyphrase) - (keyphrase) instead of commas, should I fix this? I asked this question on Randy's post http://www.seomoz.org/blog/6-changes-every-seo-should-make-before-the-over-optimization-penalty-hits-whiteboard-friday but didn't really get an answer. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | nrv0 -
Is it better to include the secondary keyword or site name in a title tag?
When I add a site name to my title tag with long-tailed primary and secondary keywords the title tag is longer than 70 characters. I need to include all three parts, so what should I do? At 70 characters the site name is usually partially cut off. I do not want to get penalized by Google, but I need to include the site name to have consistency. I am using the format Primary Keyword-Secondary Keyword | Site name
On-Page Optimization | | lwilkins0 -
H1 tags the same on all pages - problem?
I generally use wordpress as a CMS and have the H1 tag coded in the header.php include file. This results as it being the same in all page - I normally do something like Keyword - Company name and set the company logo as the background and move the text off screen using text indent (CSS). Is having the same on every page a bad thing? I might be tricky to change so their all unique.
On-Page Optimization | | JamesJacobs0