Different urls to same page and redirect

Question

I have 3 urls leading to same page

// as most pages are in google, my previous website's version

http://mysite.com/1234.aspx

// shortcut

http://mysite.com/1234

// SEO url

http://mysite.com/1234/state/city/company-name

Should i put a permanent redirect in the first two urls so google considers it one page and not as 3 different pages?

Any tips welcome.

paulmorriss · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-13 15:53:18Z

5

Yes! That should be enough to make sure search engines treat it as one page.

answered Jul 13, 2011 at 15:53

paulmorriss

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Actually I have implemented 301 redirects and definetly this was enough. Google has changed the old links to the new ones
– Carlos Muñoz
Commented Jul 14, 2011 at 2:48

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John Conde · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-13 16:17:14Z

2

If you want to be extra certain they treat them all as one page, use canonical URLs. Just put this at the top of the page:

<link rel="canonical" href="http://mysite.com/1234/state/city/company-name">

answered Jul 13, 2011 at 16:17

John Conde♦

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In combination with the redirect? And also, which url to i send to google? (the name of the company could change, changing the url, but the one with just the id wouldnt).
– Jeroen
Commented Jul 13, 2011 at 16:35
1

If you're doing redirects you shouldn't need to use canonical URLs. But it doesn't hurt to do it as you never know when a redirect might fail or be ignored. If the odds of the company name changing are small use that one as it has good keywords it in. Then if it does change then just do a 301 redirect to the new URL and update the canonical URL. If they will change frequently then using the URL with just the ID might be the best way to go as it would simplify things tremendously.
– John Conde ♦
Commented Jul 13, 2011 at 16:41
1

The preferred method is server side redirect. Rel canonical is rather a hint what we might take in consideration, but it's not a guarantee. A 301 is clear signal.
– methode
Commented Jul 13, 2011 at 19:40

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2 Answers 2