Can I, in Google's good graces, check for Googlebot to turn on/off tracking parameters in URLs?
-
Basically, we use a number of parameters in our URLs for event tracking. Google could be crawling an infinite number of these URLs. I'm already using the canonical tag to point at the non-tracking versions of those URLs....that doesn't stop the crawling tho.
I want to know if I can do conditional 301s or just detect the user agent as a way to know when to NOT append those parameters.
Just trying to follow their guidelines about allowing bots to crawl w/out things like sessionID...but they don't tell you HOW to do this.
Thanks!
-
No problem Ashley!
It sounds like that would fall under cloaking, albeit pretty benign as far as cloaking goes. There's some more info here. The Matt Cutts video on that page has a lot of good information. Apparently any cloaking is against Google's guidelines. I would suspect you could get away with it, but I'd be worried everyday about a Google penalty getting handed down.
-
The syntax is correct. Assuming the site: and inurl: operators work in Bing, as they do in Google, then Bing is not indexing URLs with the parameters.
That article you've referred to only tells how to sniff out Google...one of a couple. What it doesn't tell me, unfortunately, is if there are any consequences of doing so and taking some kind of action...like shutting off the event tracking parameters in this case.
Just to be clear...thanks a bunch for helping out!
-
My sense from what you told me is that canonicals should be working in your case. What you're trying to use them for is what they're intended to do. You're sure the syntax is correct, and they're in the of the page or being set in the HTTP header?
Google does set it up so you can sniff out Googlebot and return different content (see here), but that would be unusual to do given the circumstances. I doubt you'd get penalized for cloaking for redirecting parameterized URLs to canonical ones for only Googlebot, but I'd still be nervous about doing it.
Just curious, is Bing respecting the canonicals?
-
Yeah, we can't noindex anything because there literally is NO way to crawl the site without picking up tracking parameters.
So we're saying that there is literally no good/approved way to say "oh look, it's google. let's make sure we don't put any of these params on the URL."? Is that the consensus?
-
If these duplicate pages have URLs that are appearing in search results, then the canonicals aren't working or Google just hasn't tried to reindex those pages yet. If the pages are duplicates, and you've set the canonical correctly, and entered them in Google Webmaster Tools, over time those pages should drop out of the index as Google reindexes them. You could try submitting a few of these URLs with parameters to Google to reindex manually in Google Webmaster Tools, and see if afterward they disappear from the results pages. If they do, then it's just a matter of waiting for Googlebot to find them all.
If that doesn't work, you could try something tricky like adding meta noindex tags to the pages with URL parameters, wait until they fall out of the index, and then add canonical tags back on, and see if those pages come back into the SERPs. If they do, then Google is ignoring your canonical tags. I hate to temporarily noindex any pages like this... but if they're all appearing separately in the SERPs anyhow, then they're not pooling their link juice properly anyway.
-
Thank you for your response. Even if I tell them that the parameters don't alter content, which I have, that doesn't stop how many pages google has to crawl. That's my main concern...that googlebot is spending too much time on these alternate URLs.
Plus there are millions of these param-laden URLs in the index, regardless of the canonical tag. There is currently no way for google to crawl the site without parameters that change constantly throughout each visit. This can't be optimal.
-
You're doing the right thing by adding canonicals to those pages. You can also go into Google Webmaster Tools and let them know that those URL parameters don't change the content of the pages. This really is the bread and butter of canonical tags. This is the problem they're supposed to solve.
I wouldn't sniff out Googlebot just to 301 those URLs with parameters to the canonical versions. The canonicals should be sufficient. If you do want to sniff out Googlebot, Google's directions are here. You don't do it by user agent, you do a reverse DNS lookup. Again, I would not do this in your case.
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
-
What can we do to optimize / be mobile-friendly for PDFs?
I'm getting a "Your page is not mobile-friendly." notice in the SERPs for all of our PDFs. I check the pdf on the phone and it appears just fine. rFtLq
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | johnnybgunn0 -
What's the best URL structure?
I'm setting up pages for my client's website and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do this. Which of the following would be best (let's say the keywords being used are "sell xgadget" "sell xgadget v1" "sell xgadget v2" "sell xgadget v3" etc.). Domain name: sellgadget.com Potential URL structures: 1. sellxgadget.com/v1
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Zing-Marketing
2. sellxgadget.com/xgadget-v1
3. sellxgadget.com/sell-xgadget-v1 Which would be the best URL structure? Which has the least risk of being too keyword spammy for an EMD? Any references for this?0 -
Will Canonical tag on parameter URLs remove those URL's from Index, and preserve link juice?
My website has 43,000 pages indexed by Google. Almost all of these pages are URLs that have parameters in them, creating duplicate content. I have external links pointing to those URLs that have parameters in them. If I add the canonical tag to these parameter URLs, will that remove those pages from the Google index, or do I need to do something more to remove those pages from the index? Ex: www.website.com/boats/show/tuna-fishing/?TID=shkfsvdi_dc%ficol (has link pointing here)
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | partnerf
www.website.com/boats/show/tuna-fishing/ (canonical URL) Thanks for your help. Rob0 -
If I had an issue with a friendly URL module and I lost all my rankings. Will they return now that issue is resolved next time I'm crawled by google?
I have 'magic seo urls' installed on my zencart site. Except for some reason no one can explain why or how the files were disabled. So my static links went back to dynamic (index.php?**********) etc. The issue was resolved with the module except in that time google must have crawled my site and I lost all my rankings. I'm nowher to be found in the top 50. Did this really cause such an extravagant SEO issue as my web developers told me? Can I expect my rankings to return next time my site is crawled by google?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Pete790 -
My homepage doesn't rank anymore. It's been replaced by irrelevant subpages which rank around 100-200 instead of top 5.
Hey guys, I think I got some kind of penalty for my homepage. I was in top5 for my keywords. Then a few days ago, my homepage stopped ranking for anything except searching for my domain name in Google. sitename.com/widget-reviews/ previously ranked #3 for "widget reviews"
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | wearetribe
but now....
sitename.com/widget-training-for-pet-cats/ is ranking #84 for widget reviews instead. Similarly across all my other keywords, irrelevant, wrong pages are ranking. Did I get some kind of penalty?0 -
Restructuring Menu's
Hi all I am running my site on Wordpress using a slightly modified them from Studiopress on the Genisis frame work. I am extremely over my head but alas until I get some revenue SEO and Design are all on me. I do not know HTML or CSS but I do follow directions well (unless you ask my wife). Disclaimer out of the way I have some questions. I would like to change up my menu's to be more on the line of Products | Services | About Us | Contact Us | Blog Listing various direct mail pieces under Products, Sevices and so on and so forth. I wonder does this mean I will have to figure out how to write 301's and other complicated things or can I just make the changes. I think but might be wrong that this will change the URL's. Any advice before I mess this up would be greatly helpful. My site is http://www.roiautosolutions.com. If you want a few laughs about the car business read the 2 most recent blog post, anything before that and my writing style is pretty boring. Thanks, Mark Hilger
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | mhilger0 -
What's a good place for a copywriter to start researching the more technical aspects of SEO?
I've been working as a copywriter for about a year and a half now and I feel like the more advanced SEO topics (rel= tags, .htaccess files, etc) are a bit over my head. Is there a website where I can read up on all of these things? I have a basic understanding of them but I couldn't talk about them for very long, and I want to become more well rounded as a search marketer. Thanks!!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | nxmassa0 -
How Can I move a site higher in Google Places?
As we all know Google Local Business/Places now has significant real estate for many searches. What I find hard to understand is what makes the difference between the different positions. Is it solely based on the content in Google Places itself or is it regular ranking factors. I am (like everybody) on a hell for leather search to try and rank above my competition but having studied their Places information I do not think there is much I more I can do. Suggestions hat have actually worked for you?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | kdaly1000