Vanity URLs are being indexed in Google
-
We are currently using vanity URLs to track offline marketing, the vanity URL is structured as www.clientdomain.com/publication, this URL then is 302 redirected to the actual URL on the website not a custom landing page. The resulting redirected URL looks like: www.clientdomain.com/xyzpage?utm_source=print&utm_medium=print&utm_campaign=printcampaign.
We have started to notice that some of the vanity URLs are being indexed in Google search. To prevent this from happening should we be using a 301 redirect instead of a 302 and will the Google index ignore the utm parameters in the URL that is being 301 redirect to? If not, any suggestions on how to handle?
Thanks,
-
Thanks for your quick response and your recommendations!
-
-
Yes, use 301 instead of 302. 301 would pass any authority (i.e. any backlinks) that the vanity URL gains to the actual page whereas a 302 doesn't.
-
Add a canonical URL to www.clientdomain.com/xyzpage so that search engines only index 1 version of the page
That should do 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
-
How ask Google to de index scrapper sites?
While doing text Google searches for various keywords I have found two sites that have scrapped pages from my site which goes by an old URL of www.tpxcnex.com and a new URL of www.tpxonline.com www.folder.com is one of the sites and if you try to visit that site or any of the scrapped Google index listing, Chrome warns you not to. How can I ask Chrome to deindex www.folder.com or another scrapper site, or atleast deindex the URLs which have clearly scrapped my content?
Technical SEO | | DougHartline0 -
Why images are not getting indexed and showing in Google webmaster
Hi, I would like to ask why our website images not indexing in Google. I have shared the following screenshot of the search console. https://www.screencast.com/t/yKoCBT6Q8Upw Last week (Friday 14 Sept 2018) it was showing 23.5K out 31K were submitted and indexed by Google. But now, it is showing only 1K 😞 Can you please let me know why might this happen, why images are not getting indexed and showing in Google webmaster.
Technical SEO | | 21centuryweb0 -
Is my website indexed correctly in Google - www.couponshop.co.uk
Our website www.couponshop.co.uk has just had a relaunch after a change of direction.
Technical SEO | | LaurenGT
A lot of the pages were redirected. When I checked the indexing of the website on Google, I put site:couponshop.co.uk and only two pages come up, but when I put site:www.couponshop.co.uk they all show up.
Is this correct or are we doing something wrong?0 -
Some of my website urls are not getting indexed while checking (site: domain) in google
Some of my website urls are not getting indexed while checking (site: domain) in google
Technical SEO | | nlogix0 -
If Google's index contains multiple URLs for my homepage, does that mean the canonical tag is not working?
I have a site which is using canonical tags on all pages, however not all duplicate versions of the homepage are 301'd due to a limitation in the hosting platform. So some site visitors get www.example.com/default.aspx while others just get www.example.com. I can see the correct canonical tag on the source code of both versions of this homepage, but when I search Google for the specific URL "www.example.com/default.aspx" I see that they've indexed that specific URL as well as the "clean" one. Is this a concern... shouldn't Google only show me the clean URL?
Technical SEO | | JMagary0 -
Google webmaster tools says access denied for 77 urls
Hi i am looking in google webmaster tools and i have seen a major problem which i hope people can help me sort out. The problem is, i am being told that 77 urls are being denied access. The message when i look for more information says the below Googlebot couldn't crawl your URL because your server either requires login to access the page, or is blocking Googlebot from accessing your site. the responce code is 403 here is a couple of examples http://www.in2town.co.uk/Entertainment-Magazine http://www.in2town.co.uk/Weight-Loss-Hypnotherapy-helped-woman-lose-3-stone i think the problem could be that i have sent them to another url in my httaccess file using the 403 re-direct but why would it bring up that google bot could not crawl them any help would be great
Technical SEO | | ClaireH-1848860 -
Why Google not picking My META Description? Google itself populate the description.. How to control this Search Snippets??
Why Google not picking My META Description? Google itself populate the description.. How to control this Search Snippets??
Technical SEO | | greyniumseo0 -
Drupal URL Aliases vs 301 Redirects + Do URL Aliases create duplicates?
Hi all! I have just begun work on a Drupal site which heavily uses the URL Aliases feature. I fear that it is creating duplicate links. For example:: we have http://www.URL.com/index.php and http://www.URL.com/ In addition we are about to switch a lot of links and want to keep the search engine benefit. Am I right in thinking URL aliases change the URL, while leaving the old URL live and without creating search engine friendly redirects such as 301s? Thanks for any help! Christian
Technical SEO | | ChristianMKTG0