Same subcategory in different main categories
-
Hi all,
A fairly common problem in webshops is having the same subcategory in multiple main categories. Let's take the following example:
I came across this interesting article on this topic: https://mza.bundledseo.com/community/q/e-commerce-site-one-product-multiple-categories-best-practice
Although I understand that the answer on the above question is the most thorough method, I don't see a problem with just using canonicals either. On the webshop we are restructuring, there are only a few of these subcategories that return in multiple main categories, so generating a path via user activity and storing it in a cookie doens't seem really necessary to me.
Is it ok to just use canonicals or can this cause issues?
Thanks.
-
I would have no issue with using rel canonical links in this kind of situation where you cannot control the underlying CMS to the extent that you would need to entirely avoid the duplicate URLs. The only real risk in my opinion is in the canonicalisation not being respected, but if these are essentially exact duplicate pages, I think the risk of that is low (and even if that were the case, the impact would be relatively low too).
Good luck!
-
You are correct - if you are ending up with duplicate content because you are generating URLs (and probably breadcrumbs) based on the navigational path someone is following, canonicals are your best answer.
-
Both pages have exactly the same content: the same subcategory text about company law and the same products. Only the path that a visitor has to follow to reach these pages is different.
-
Personally, I don't see what you need to use canonical tags with the example URLs you supplied
The need only be used if the page/ produce at the end of the URL(s) is the same
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
-
Different language with direct translation: duplicate content, meta?
For a site that does NOT want a separate subdomain, or directory, or TLD for a country/language would the directly translated page (static) content/meta be duplicate? (NOT considering a translation of the term/acronym which could exist in another language) i.e. /SEO-city-state in English vs. /SEO-city-state Spanish -In this example a term/acronym that is the same in any language. Outside of duplicate content, are their other conflict potentials in rankings you can think of?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | bozzie3110 -
Help... To Optimize Category Page or Not?
My question is about whether to optimize a category page or not, but it’s a rather odd situation. Here’s a bit of background to start. When we relaunched our site, about six months ago, we had primary, secondary, and tertiary categories created. A user could reach all three levels by clicking through the site. Then we decided instead of linking to the tertiary categories, that we’d turn them into filters which can be applied at the secondary level. Thus, there is not actually a direct link to the 3rd level categories on the site. An important side note, I did check and confirm they are still included in the sitemap file. My initial thoughts were to forget any further optimization of those 3rd level categories, but as it turns out we still have rankings for some of them. Now the question… Because some of these pages are ranking and are found in the sitemap, should I include them in my SEO plan to build up and optimize, or because they are no longer linked to directly on the site will they eventually fizzle out (and I shouldn’t do anything further). This is such a unique situation that I am really looking for some insight from the community. Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | M_D_Golden_Peak0 -
Problem: Magento prioritises product URL's without categories?
HI there, we are moving a website from Shoptrader to Magento, which has 45.000 indexations.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | onlinetrend
yes shoptrader made a bit of a mess. Trying to clean it up now. there is a 301 redirect list of all old URL's pointing to the new one product can exist in multiple categories want to solve this with canonical url’s for instance: shoptrader.nl/categorieA/product has 301 redirect towards magento.nl/nl/categorieA/product shoptrader.nl/categorieA/product-5531 has 301 redirect towards magento.nl/nl/categorieA/product shoptrader.nl/categorieA/product¤cy=GBP has 301 redirect towards magento.nl/nl/categorieA/product shoptrader.nl/categorieB/product has 301 redirect towards magento.nl/nl/categorieB/product, has canonical tag towards magento.nl/nl/categorieA/product shoptrader.nl/categorieB/product?language=nl has 301 redirect towards magento.nl/nl/categorieB/product, has canonical tag towards magento.nl/nl/categorieA/product Her comes the problem:
New developer insists on using /productname as canonical instead of /category/category/productname, since Magento says so. The idea is now to redirect to /category/category/productname and there will be a canonical URL on these pages pointing to /productname, loosing some link juice twice. So in the end indexation will take place on /productname … if Google picks it up the 301 + canonical. Would be more adviseable to direct straight to /productname (http://moz.com/community/q/is-link-juice-passed-through-a-301-and-a-canonical-tag), but I prefer to point to one URL with categories attached. Which has more advantages(?): clear menustructure able to use subfolders in mobile searchresults missing breadcrumb What would you say?0 -
What to do when Demoted Sitelinks appear on search results under my main link?
Hello all, I had some links that i didn't want them to appear under search results (under my main domain) . Using websmaster 'sitelinks' i demoted those links and it has been almost a month and i can see those unwanted links on SERPS. Those pages don't even have high traffic, I am not quite sure why even they appear on Google. Is there anything else i can do to remove them under main domain search results. Thanks Seda
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Rubix0 -
Two websites in different niches. Should I create separate G+ authorship profiles?
I have two different websites. One of them is one of the most authoritative e-commerce websites in its niche. I own forums, installation resource websites and various other sites that provide excellent user information and customer interactions. There is another e-commerce website that I own which is very young and not as authoritative. I am about to start building it out like I did for my other site. My question is about whether I should link my G+ profile and become a "contributor/author" to the new e-commerce site(s) or if I should have someone else in the company be the "face" of this website. Since they're in two completely different niche's, I didn't know if it will give mixed signals to Google if my G+ profile is all about niche A, and then I start throwing in rel=author and being a contributor to other sites that have nothing to do with the original niche. Should I create another G+ profile to contribute to all of the guest posting & 2nd tier site creation for the new niche site or just use the one I have now for the time being?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | SWWebTeam2 -
Do search results differ greatly when you search on mobile?
If you have a site with responsive design, is Google likely to look upon you more favourably and dramatically change rankings?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BlueLinkERP0 -
What Makes Good Content for Category Pages
Hello, We're putting (roughly, depending on the category) 500 words under the products or categories under category pages. We're having a writer do these who has to learn the products from scratch. With over 100 categories, it's not possible for the client to write 500 words for each one. We're wondering, 1. What should go into a category description? 2. How do you prep a writer to write these, and is it possible to do so and get good content? I'm afraid that we're writing just words for long tails, and I know on the product pages, home page, and articles that it has to be the best content, probably written by the client himself if he is knowledgable enough. Open to your suggestions on what should be in these, how long they should be, and who should write them.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BobGW0 -
Language Attribute - does changing it make a difference to SEO and Search?
I am an SEO newbie, but learning fast. 🙂 I am based in London, UK and have a website: www.twofourseven.co.uk. I noticed that the language attribute was set to 'en-US'. I work in London as well in international locations in the Middle East and Asia. Thinking of this I wanted to ask the experts if given that I am based in the UK, would changing the language attribute make a difference to search results? If so, would 'en' be better than 'en-GB', which might be too specific? Thanks in advance!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | twofourseven0