Unlimited Product Pages
-
While browsing through my Moz campaign, I noticed that my site is pulling up unlimited numbers of product pages even though no products appear on them. i.e.
http://www.interstellarstore.com/star-trek-memorabilia?page=16
http://www.interstellarstore.com/star-trek-memorabilia?page=100
http://www.interstellarstore.com/star-trek-memorabilia?page=200
I have no ideal how to resolve this issue. I can't possible 301 an unlimited number of pages, and I can see this being a big SEO problem. Any thoughts?
-
Everett, you've been incredibly helpful - thank you!
-
This is a deeper issue that will probably require the help of a developer, though it shouldn't take them long to fix. Basically, paginated category pages that have ZERO products should return a 404 status code because they really shouldn't exist. The fact that any content appears on those URLs is a bug that needs to be fixed, because they should show "Page Not Found". Also, as you mentioned, the very last page in the set should NOT have a Rel "Next" tag, and there should be no links, (whether href or javascript) to subsequent pages beyond the last one with products on it.
-
Oh I understand now, thank you!
_**Re #1: **_Would putting Rel Prev on the last page in the set resolve the issue? Or is this a deeper issue within my website code which needs to be resolved by not allowing pages to be created beyond the end of the paginated set?
-
#1. The way you're handing paginated URLs with products on them is fine, but the problem is when you get to the end of the paginated set and the system continues to make pages even though there are no more products to show. That is the issue I was trying to help you resolve, which is not the same as paginated pages that show products.
#2 Yes, the canonical for the brand pages should be the URL listed above as "Category". Thus both the "Category" URL and the "Brand" URL in your example should list the Category URL as Canonical.
I agree that this is likely the cause of your duplicate title issues.
-
Thank you for the link, but I'm still unsure about these two specific issues.
Issue One:
So I have say the two below links, which are the same category but just page 1 and 2.
Page 1: http://www.interstellarstore.com/star-wars-memorabilia
Page 2: http://www.interstellarstore.com/star-wars-memorabilia/page/2/
Should Page 1 be the Canonical for all subsequent pages, or by their own rights is Page 2 and onward considered their own page? From what I understand of the former this would cause a Duplicate Title problem. The latter however would surely cause problems for Google as it would ignore all of the products on Pages 2 and onward?
Currently I have Rel Canonical and Rel Prev/Next in place, am I correct in thinking this is the correct way to do this?
Issue Two:
One of the below links is the main category (Canonical) while the other is indirect from the Brand option available on our site.
Category: http://www.interstellarstore.com/star-wars-memorabilia
Brand: http://www.interstellarstore.com/star-wars-memorabilia?page=2%2F
Am I correct in thinking that the Canonical URL displayed on the Brand page should in fact be the Category URL above?
I'm sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to make heads to tails of the issue. Currently there are over 20,000 Duplicate Title issues and I'm thinking this may be the cause.
-
It means the page has a Rel="Canonical" tag that tells search engines it is the right page to show in search results -- as opposed to one that says another page should show up instead. You can learn more here.
-
What do you mean by ''self-referencing Rel ="canonical" tags''?
-
Google may have figured out that they don't want those pages in their index, but the problem still exists and needs to be fixed. The pages show a 200 status code, do not have a robots Noindex tag, and have self-referencing Rel ="canonical" tags. All of these things are problems, but if you just have the system return a 404 status code on those pages that don't list any products you should be fine.
-
Hello Everett, according to Oleg these pages aren't being indexed, so the resulting soft 404's aren't a problem, correct?
-
Hello Oleg. I noticed by accident. Instead of entering page 2, I entered page 20 and then noticed the problem. I then entered 200, 1000 and so on and found no matter what number I entered a page with no products always showed up.
Thanks for letting me know about Google not picking up on them, that makes me feel a whole lot better!
-
Hello Spacecollective,
Your shopping cart is throwing Soft 404 errors on paginated URLs that don't exist. These pages need to return a 404 status code in order to be removed from the index and to address this issue. And yes, it can be a big problem.
I did a quick search for "OpenCart soft 404 errors" and here's a forum post that might help you out:
http://forum.opencart.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=102748
Good luck!
-
I can see the links working in reverse (page=200 links to page=199 via rel="prev" code) but what is the largest number and where did that link come from?
Good news is that Google isn't picking up on those urls so you should be find rankings wise (its a Moz crawler issue) - https://www.google.com/search?q=site:http://www.interstellarstore.com/star-trek-memorabilia%3Fpage%3D&start=0
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
-
Why Is this page de-indexed?
I have dropped out for all my first page KWDs for this page https://www.key.co.uk/en/key/dollies-load-movers-door-skates Can anyone see an issue? I am trying to find one.... We did just migrate to HTTPS but other areas have no problem
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | BeckyKey0 -
Category Pages
I'm debating on what the best category structure is for a recipe website and was looking to get some advice. It's a recipe/travel/health fitness blog but recipes reign on the site. Should it be: Option A website name\recipe\type of recipe\URL of specific recipe or Option B website name\type of recipe\url of specific recipe (and just cut out the 'recipe' category name) Any advise would be appreciated! Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Rich-DC0 -
Thinking about not indexing PDFs on a product page
Our product pages generate a PDF version of the page in a different layout. This is done for 2 reasons, it's been the standard across similar industries and to help customers print them when working with the product. So there is a use when it comes to the customer but search? I've thought about this a lot and my thinking is why index the PDF at all? Only allow the HTML page to be indexed. The PDF files are in a subdomain, so I can easily no index them. The way I see it, I'm reducing duplicate content On the flip side, it is hosted in a subdomain, so the PDF appearing when a HTML page doesn't, is another way of gaining real estate. If it appears with the HTML page, more estate coverage. Anyone else done this? My knowledge tells me this could be a good thing, might even iron out any backlinks from being generated to the PDF and lead to more HTML backlinks Can PDFs solely exist as a form of data accessible once on the page and not relevant to search engines. I find them a bane when they are on a subdomain.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Bio-RadAbs0 -
Why does our business directions page rank above business profile page
Hi All, We are having an issue at the moment where our business direction page is ranking above the main business profile page. Our website is zodio.com, similar to Yelp but for South East Asia. An example of each page is below: Business Profile Page - http://www.zodio.com/business/detail/126037914/chowking Business Directions - http://www.zodio.com/business/direction/126037914 On many of our long tail searches for particular businesses, the business directions rank above the business details. Does anyone have any idea of why this would happen? I have researched Yelp and they do not have this issue. A few search examples in Google are as follows (one is in Thai): agonos dental clinic เวิลด์ชาร์มมิ่ง kawanku elektrik I have been rattling my brain and search for answers but cannot find anything. The communities help would be much appreciated. Many Thanks, Neil W
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | zodiothailand0 -
Why Would This Old Page Be Penalized?
Here's an old page on a trustworthy domain with no apparent negative SEO activity according to OSE and ahrefs: http://www.gptours.com/Monaco-Grand-Prix They went from page 1 to page 13 for "monaco grand prix" within about 4 weeks. Week 2 we pulled out all the duplicate content in the history section. When rank slipped further, we put it back. Yet it's still moving down, while other pages on the website are holding strong. Next steps will be to add some schema.org/Event microformats, but beyond that, do you have any ideas?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | stevewiideman0 -
URL for New Product
Hi, We run an established website (mindflash.com) selling online training software. We are getting ready to launch a new section of the site where our users can sell their own online training programs. This will be branded as the 'marketplace'. This section will have a main page, category pages, tag pages, search and individual course pages. In our URL structure, I'd love to target the word 'training courses' but I don't want to neglect the product brand either. Is it better to use /training-courses in the marketplace urls or to use /marketplace? Or is it better to use both like /marketplace-training-courses or /marketplace/training-courses? Option 1: Example main section page: mindflash.com/training-courses Example category page: mindflash.com/training-courses/software-training Option 2: Example main section page: mindflash.com/marketplace Example category page: mindflash.com/marketplace/software-training Option 3: Example main section page: mindflash.com/marketplace-training-courses Example category page: mindflash.com/marketplace-training-courses/software-training Option 4: Example main section page: mindflash.com/marketplace/training-courses Example category page: mindflash.com/marketplace/training-courses/software-training Which option is better and why?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | mindflash0 -
Google Filter? Drop from top first page to bottom second page?
My site has dropped from the first page top spots to the bottom second page, about 2 month ago. From time to time it reappears in the first page, is this some kind of google filter? How do I solve this issue?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Ofer230 -
Deep Page is Ranking for Main Keyword, But I Want the Home Page to Rank
A deep page is ranking for a competitive and essential keyword, I'd like the home page to rank. The main reasons are probably: This specific page is optimized for just that keyword. Contains keyword in URL I've optimized the home page for this keyword as much as possible without sacrificing the integrity of the home page and the other keywords I need to maintain. My main question is: If I use a 301 redirect on this deep page to the home page, am I risking my current ranking, or will my home page replace it on the SERPs? Thanks so much in advance!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ClarityVentures0