How do duplicate title & description tags affect in SEO

Started by jennypretty, 03-20-2013, 11:40:20

Previous topic - Next topic

jennyprettyTopic starter

Hello,

I checked on my Google webmaster tool sitemap today and found some duplicate title tags. The reason is that I changed the seo friendly URLs a few months ago and now both new and old URLs are indexed, which show duplicate title tags and description tags.

For example:

domain.com/dating/united-states/ (old)

domain.com/online-dating/united-states/ (new)

They both have the same title and description tags.

Do you think the old urls (domain.com/dating/united-states/) will automatically deindex in the next few months?

If not,

Should I DISALLOW domain.com/dating/ from my robots.txt file to deindex it from Google?

Thanks very much!
Life is short, try to do something good
newbielink:http://www.asiafuns.com [nonactive] & newbielink:http://www.single123.com [nonactive]
  •  


gomez

First, it's important to note that Google's indexing and deindexing process can vary in timing and results. In some cases, old URLs may naturally deindex over time as Google crawls and updates its index. However, if you want to expedite the process, you can implement a few strategies.

One option is to set up 301 redirects from the old URLs to the corresponding new URLs. This signals to search engines that the content has permanently moved to a different location. Over time, search engines should prioritize the new URLs and deindex the old ones.

Disallowing the old URLs in your robots.txt file may prevent Google from crawling them in the future. However, this won't necessarily guarantee their deindexing. It could take a while for the search engine to recognize the disallow directive and remove the old URLs from its index.

To ensure a smooth transition, consider implementing 301 redirects and updating internal links on your website to point to the new URLs. Also, make sure your sitemap is updated with the correct URLs. Additionally, using canonical tags on the new URLs can help communicate to search engines which version of the page is preferred.

suggestions to help with your situation:

1. Monitor the situation: Keep an eye on your Google Webmaster Tools and search results to see how the indexing and ranking of the new URLs progress over time. This will give you insights into whether the old URLs are being deindexed or if further action is necessary.

2. Update internal links: Make sure all internal links on your website point to the new URLs instead of the old ones. This helps Google understand that the new URLs are the preferred versions.

3. Submit a sitemap: Submitting an updated sitemap to Google, which includes only the new URLs, can help search engines crawl and index them faster. This can be done through Google Search Console or other appropriate tools.

4. Monitor crawl budget: Pay attention to your crawl budget, which refers to the number of pages Googlebot crawls and indexes on your site during a given timeframe. If the old URLs are still being crawled frequently, it might be impacting the crawling of new URLs. Prioritize the crawling of the new URLs by promoting them through internal linking, submitting a sitemap, and updating canonical tags.

5. Monitor user behavior: Keep an eye on user behavior metrics, such as bounce rate and time on page, for both the old and new URLs. If users are consistently favoring the new URLs, it sends positive signals to search engines and can contribute to the deindexing of the old URLs.

few additional suggestions:

1. Implement canonical tags: Use canonical tags on the new URLs to indicate to search engines that they are the preferred version of the content. This can help consolidate indexing signals and prevent duplicate content issues.

2. Monitor index coverage: Regularly check the Index Coverage section in Google Search Console to see if the old URLs are being flagged as duplicate content. If they continue to be indexed, you may need to take additional action to deindex them.

3. Request removal through Google Search Console: In Google Search Console, you can submit a removal request for specific URLs. While this is not a guaranteed way to deindex the old URLs, it can help expedite the process.

4. Update external links: If you have control over external websites that link to your old URLs, reach out to them and request that they update their links to the new URLs. This can help redirect any traffic coming from external sources to the correct pages and signal to search engines that the new URLs are more relevant.

5. Monitor crawl errors: Keep an eye on crawl errors in Google Search Console to ensure there are no issues preventing the indexing of your new URLs. Fix any crawl errors that might be preventing Google from properly accessing and indexing your content.
find hair salons [nofollow]
review salons [nofollow]
  •  


Cathrine

                   Yes,duplicate Title tags may affect your rankings,as Google wants every page to have its individual genuine and relevant Title's or in simple words,you can understand as every page has its own importance like services.HTML will describe about services being provided by that company,in about-us.HTML it will be about the company itself,etc,As every page has its individual importance,it is understood that each page has its own Title's,etc.Same is applicable to the description also.

amardeep

Your question is elaborating two different scenario that are actually linked with each other. As you mentioned your GWT account is showing duplicate title & description tags that's because you have both your older pages and new pages live at the same time. The best solution is to re-direct 301 older pages over new ones. Doing this your both problems would be solved out.
Web design Company [nofollow] India
Website Designing Company - TIS India [nofollow]
  •  

seo123

Title will not create any problem but description will surely create problems though it is not sure that you will have to face penalty for it but google webmaster will show errors for this and which is not good in seo prospective. 


frankdevine

When a webpage used duplicate title tags and meta description it will be indexed once for two pages. It is critical because title tags give an impact to Click through Rate (CTR). Also, this is considered by Google as a violation because it can trick search engines and manipulate ranking results. Any form of duplication can affect the website performances.

Astropsychic

Duplicate title and description tags can have a bad influence on web optimization for various reasons:

Confusing Search Engines: When search engines crawl your website, they depend on special title and description tags to apprehend the content material of every page. Duplicate tags can confuse search engines and make it tougher for them to decide the relevance and exceptional of your pages. This can end result in decrease search engine rankings.

Reduced Click-Through Rate (CTR):
Duplicate title and description tags can lead to a couple of pages in search engine effects pages (SERPs) showing the equal or very comparable information. This can make it much less probably that customers will click on on your hyperlinks due to the fact they can not without difficulty distinguish between the pages. A compelling and special title and description are necessary for attracting customers to your site.

Cannibalization: Duplicate tags can lead to content material cannibalization, the place more than one pages on your web site are competing for the identical keywords. This can dilute the search engine optimization electricity of person pages, making it tough for any single page to rank nicely for its goal keywords.

Indexing Issues: Search engines may additionally pick out to index solely one of the replica pages or, in some cases, none at all. This ability that necessary content material can also now not show up in search results, decreasing the visibility of your site.

User Experience (UX) Impact: Duplicate title and description tags can additionally confuse customers when they go to your site. They may additionally click on on a hyperlink watching for one kind of content material however locate some thing absolutely different. This can lead to a negative person trip and might also end result in greater soar rates, which can in a roundabout way have an effect on your SEO.
  •  

digitalaachrya

"Duplicate title and description tags can hurt SEO (Search Engine Optimization) because they make it harder for search engines to understand the relevance and substance of your web pages.

According to the following, repeated title and description tags can harm SEO: Search engine rankings are downgraded: Title and meta description tags are used by search engines like Google to interpret the content of a web page and show consumers relevant search results. It is difficult for search engines to decide which page on your website is the most relevant for a particular search query when numerous pages use the same title and description tags.

Duplicate title and description tags may cause keyword cannibalization, in which several pages on your website compete for the same keywords. Your SEO efforts may be diluted as a result, which will make it harder for any of those pages to rank highly.

Lower Click-Through Rates (CTR): For search results to be clicked on, title and description tags must be attractive and unique. "
  •  


anilkh7058

:)
  •  


rahul verma

Having duplicate title tags on your website can negatively impact your search engine rankings. Search engines like Google prefer unique and relevant title tags that describe the page's content. Duplicate title tags confuse search engines, and they may not index your website's pages or rank them in search results.