Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. Research & Trends
    3. Algorithm Updates
    4. Google is forcing a 301 by truncating our URLs

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    Google is forcing a 301 by truncating our URLs

    Algorithm Updates
    3
    7
    1337
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • mmac
      mmac Subscriber last edited by

      Just recently we noticed that google has indexed truncated urls for many of our pages that get 301'd to the correct page.

      For example, we have:
      http://www.eventective.com/USA/Massachusetts/Bedford/107/Doubletree-Hotel-Boston-Bedford-Glen.html

      as the url linked everywhere and that's the only version of that page that we use.

      Google somehow figured out that it would still go to the right place via 301 if they removed the html filename from the end, so they indexed just:

      http://www.eventective.com/USA/Massachusetts/Bedford/107/

      The 301 is not new. It used to 404, but (probably 5 years ago) we saw a few links come in with the html file missing on similar urls so we decided to 301 them instead thinking it would be helpful.  We've preferred the longer version because it has the name in it and users that pay attention to the url can feel more confident they are going to the right place.

      We've always used the full (longer) url and google used to index them all that way, but just recently we noticed about 1/2 of our urls have been converted to the shorter version in the SERPs.  These shortened urls take the user to the right page via 301, so it isn't a case of the user landing in the wrong place, but over 100,000 301s may not be so good.

      You can look at: site:www.eventective.com/usa/massachusetts/bedford/ and you'll noticed all of the urls to businesses at the top of the listings go to the truncated version, but toward the bottom they have the full url.

      Can you explain to me why google would index a page that is 301'd to the right page and has been for years?

      I have a lot of thoughts on why they would do this and even more ideas on how we could build our urls better, but I'd really like to hear from some people that aren't quite as close to it as I am.

      One small detail that shouldn't affect this, but I'll mention it anyway, is that we have a mobile site with the same url pattern.

      http://m.eventective.com/USA/Massachusetts/Bedford/107/Doubletree-Hotel-Boston-Bedford-Glen.html

      We did not have the proper 301 in place on the m. site until the end of last week.  I'm pretty sure it will be asked, so I'll also mention we have the rel=alternate/canonical set up between the www and m sites.

      I'm also interested in any thoughts on how this may affect rankings since we seem to have been hit by something toward the end of last week.  Don't hesitate to mention anything else you see that may have triggered whatever may have hit us.

      Thank you,
      Michael

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • mmac
        mmac Subscriber @LynnPatchett last edited by

        Lynn,

        We had a few "site:" queries that we were watching as the full URLs came back replacing the truncated ones, for example: site:eventective.com/usa/Georgia/Atlanta.  When we discovered the original problem, almost every listing page in those SERPs had a truncated URL, but by the start of last week it had gradually cleared up to only 6 or 7 listings with truncated URLs while all others had the full URL.  Then suddenly we had 5 pages (50 listings) of truncated URLs and now almost 300 of them for that one query have the truncated version indexed.  It appears to be continuing.

        Another detail I noticed was in Webmaster Tools.  All of our listings are in our sitemap with the full URL.  When we had this problem before only about 50% of our pages listed in our sitemap were indexed, assuming that is because the truncated ones were in the index instead of the full URLs that were in the sitemap.  As the truncated URL problem cleared up that ratio improved to the point where it was pretty steady at about 96-97% of our pages in our sitemap were indexed.  Once this problem started to reappear that number dropped down to 90% and kept going down to the point where it is at 77% now.

        The only real change we made was an upgrade to our server hardware at our hosting company.

        I've considered disallowing the truncated URL pattern in the robots.txt, but I really shouldn't have to do that with the 301.

        I'm starting to wonder whether google is sending us a signal that they like the shorter version of the URL better.

        Thanks for taking the time to take a look at it.

        Michael

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • LynnPatchett
          LynnPatchett @mmac last edited by

          Hi Micheal,

          When you say you started noticing it again, this is through webmaster tools or through your own monitoring? I ask because having a look at the site I can see no technical reason why those truncated urls would be getting indexed again at first glance. Maybe it is just a matter of waiting a bit more for the last of them to get removed? If all of a sudden they have started creeping up again, it suggests some variable in the mix has changed  again, but I cannot see anything that stands out.

          mmac 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • mmac
            mmac Subscriber @LynnPatchett last edited by

            Lynn,

            Thanks again for helping us out with this back in May.  After we made the corrections you pointed out it cleared up over the course of a few months.  There were just a few truncated urls left until suddenly this week we noticed it starting again.  I've looked at our 301s, our canonical/alternates, and made sure we are not linking to the truncated version anywhere, yet google continues to index the truncated version.  I'm tempted to disallow the truncated version in my robots.txt file, but hesitate to do that because of the possibility of some unexpected side effects.

            Do you or anyone else reading this have any idea why google would index:

            http://www.eventective.com/USA/Massachusetts/Bedford/107/

            rather than:

            http://www.eventective.com/USA/Massachusetts/Bedford/107/Doubletree-Hotel-Boston-Bedford-Glen.html

            when all links point to the latter and the former is even 301'd to the latter.

            Any and all help is appreciated.

            Thank you,

            Michael

            LynnPatchett 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • mmac
              mmac Subscriber @LynnPatchett last edited by

              Lynn,

              You nailed it.  That's exactly what the problem was.  Since we were using the same URL pattern for m. and www., we had created the canonical by swapping the "m" out of the current url and replacing it with "www".  Since the truncated versions for mobile were in the index, they were all pointed to a truncated version for desktop.

              As you pointed out, this should resolve itself over time.  Now I can focus on just the ranking issue.

              Thank you both Lynn and Jesse for your help.

              Michael

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • LynnPatchett
                LynnPatchett last edited by

                Hi Micheal,

                I suspect the mobile site might be responsible for the indexed urls issue. Your mobile site has loads of indexed pages with the shorter urls: https://www.google.com/#output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=site:m.eventective.com&oq=site:m.eventective.com&fp=9861fb8dc6b3e7c

                Before the 301 redirects on the mobile site were created, were the rel canonical links pointing to the truncated urls on the main site? Seems to be the case on this random page I grabbed:

                view-source:http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2AwUe7jXqvMJ:m.eventective.com/Canada/Ontario/Ottawa/569913/

                So a kind of odd mixture of 301s on the main site, and a well indexed mobile site saying the rel canonical on the main site is the shorter url. Seems maybe the rel canonical won! Are you sure this is a recent issue? Maybe it has been like this for a while and just not noticed much?

                I would think that with the 301s and rel canonicals now properly implemented on the mobile site then the index will slowly sort itself out. I suppose you could put a rel canonical on the main site page also referencing itself, might speed up the process a bit more.

                Agree with Jesse that it is not likely a major worry and wouldn't think this alone would cause a ranking issue.

                mmac 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • jesse-landry
                  jesse-landry last edited by

                  I'm responding to this in a semi-rushed matter as something is coming up but I just want to mention that the most likely reason for Google to index this version of your URL is because of the links pointing to it. Those which caused you to put a 301 in place, those that were 404ing prior... They are clearly demonstrating to be the authoritative URL to Google.

                  I'm not sure why you're worried about what the customer/user sees for URL. They are most likely looking more at the Title/Description in the SERPs well before the URL string. Most people only read the domain portion of a URL string and it's more used for the search engines purposes.. (my opinion) Also, once the user clicks your title or page they are taken to the redirect and the full URL string will be visible in the address bar of their browser.

                  As for why your rankings are affected... I'd be surprised if it had anything to do with this, honestly. If anything redirecting should help especially if you had links pointing to a broken page. The only exception would be if those links were poison, of course.

                  Okay got to run hope I was helpful. Good luck!

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • 1 / 1
                  • First post
                    Last post

                  Got a burning SEO question?

                  Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                  Start my free trial


                  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.

                  • See all categories

                  Related Questions

                  • rwat

                    Can 'Jump link'/'Anchor tag' urls rank in Google for keywords?

                    E.g. www.website.com/page/#keyword-anchor-text Where the part after the # is a section of the page you can jump to, and the title of that section is a secondary keyword you want the page to rank for?

                    Algorithm Updates | | rwat
                    0
                  • Jenny1

                    301 redirect to URL plus anchor tag???

                    Hi - my company has just had a site redesign completed, and our "old" site we have landing pages for a full product line. The new design has taken the content from those landing pages and placed them into one long scrolling page. We currently rank well on the "old" landing pages but now all that content is contained in a single page with anchor tags throughout attached to the headings. Can you set up 301's to anchor tags? Example: old site www.mysite.com/products/automotive/auto-parts.html new site: www.mysite.com/products/automotive#auto-parts

                    Algorithm Updates | | Jenny1
                    0
                  • rubennunez

                    How long for google to de-index old pages on my site?

                    I launched my redesigned website 4 days ago. I submitted a new site map, as well as submitted it to index in search console (google webmasters). I see that when I google my site, My new open graph settings are coming up correct. Still, a lot of my old site pages are definitely still indexed within google. How long will it take for google to drop off or "de-index" my old pages? Due to the way I restructured my website, a lot of the items are no longer available on my site. This is on purpose. I'm a graphic designer, and with the new change, I removed many old portfolio items, as well as any references to web design since I will no longer offering that service. My site is the following:
                    http://studio35design.com

                    Algorithm Updates | | rubennunez
                    0
                  • businessowner

                    Google Index

                    Hi all, I just submit my url and linked pages along with xml map to index. How long does it take google to index my new pages?

                    Algorithm Updates | | businessowner
                    0
                  • projectassistant

                    Does a KML file have to be indexed by Google?

                    I'm currently using the Yoast Local SEO plugin for WordPress to generate my KML file which is linked to from the GeoSitemap.  Check it out http://www.holycitycatering.com/sitemap_index.xml. A competitor of mine just told me that this isn't correct and that the link to the KML should be a downloadable file that's indexed in Google.  This is the opposite of what Yoast is saying...  "He's wrong. 🙂  And the KML isn't a file, it's being rendered. You wouldn't want it to be indexed anyway, you just want Google to find the information in there. What is the best way to create a KML?  Should it be indexed?

                    Algorithm Updates | | projectassistant
                    1
                  • MarshallThompson31

                    Geo Target Location in your URL Structure

                    Hello everyone at SEOMOZ      😄 I have a question if you would be as kind as to inform me of which direction that I should take on this matter would be the more desirable approach for my seo strategy I have been using my location in my URL structure since I started doing SEO 5 years ago and I have always benefited from including my city in the URL. My question is, since the SEO landscape has change so drastically over the past 2 years and the Search Engines have become much more end user friendly and list suggestions for users as they type would it be more beneficial in 2013 to have the "Keyword" before or after the Geo Targeted Location in the URL structure? I own a computer repair business for the past 6 years now and I know that when i check to see where I am ranking for a particular keyword phrase such as "Computer Repair" GOOGLE detects my location and provides suggestions as I start typing out "Computer Repair" for the search query. One of the suggestions is "Computer Repair Wilmington NC" so I am starting to wonder if placing the Geo Targeted City after the Keyword  would be the wiser choice instead of before it like a couple of years ago? Working Example: Here is a site that I am building out right now to re-brand my business. Currently I have one of the Silo Category Slugs set as seen below using the Location before the Keyword The First Example has the Geo Target Location before the Keyword and looks more natural to visitors on the site (at least to me) however I'm afraid that I may be shooting myself in the foot not placing the keyword before the Target Location? But if I do that, It does not read or flow fluently to the average looker so kinda confused and torn on how to deal with this>! FIRST EXAMPLE: Location Before Keyword Silo Parent Category  = "Computer Repair" http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/wilmington-nc-computer-repair/ Silo Child Category  =  "Laptop" http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/wilmington-nc-computer-repair/laptop-repair/ Silo Grand Child Category  =  "LCD Replacement" http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/wilmington-nc-computer-repair/laptop/lcd-screen-replacement/ **SECOND EXAMPLE: ** Keyword Before Location Silo Parent Category  = "Computer Repair" http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/computer-repair-wilmington-nc/ Silo Child Category  =  "Laptop" http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/computer-repair-wilmington-nc/laptop-repair/ Silo Grand Child Category  =  "LCD Replacement" http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/computer-repair-wilmington-nc/laptop-repair/lcd-screen-replacement/ Which would be the more favorable of the 2 examples that I have given please? Keyword before or After the Geo Targeted Location? thank you

                    Algorithm Updates | | MarshallThompson31
                    0
                  • hehhreh

                    Capital Letters in URLS?

                    Remove

                    Algorithm Updates | | hehhreh
                    0
                  • TuxedoCat

                    Why has my homepage been replaced in Google by my Facebook page?

                    Hi.  I was wondering if others have had this happen to them.  Lately, I've noticed that on a couple of my sites the homepage no longer appears in the Google SERP.  Instead, a Facebook page I've created appears in the position the homepage used to get. My subpages still get listed in Google--just not the homepage.  Obviously, I'd prefer that both the homepage and Facebook page appear. Any thoughts on what's going on? Thanks for your help!

                    Algorithm Updates | | TuxedoCat
                    0

                  Get started with Moz Pro!

                  Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                  Start my free trial
                  Products
                  • Moz Pro
                  • Moz Local
                  • Moz API
                  • Moz Data
                  • STAT
                  • Product Updates
                  Moz Solutions
                  • SMB Solutions
                  • Agency Solutions
                  • Enterprise Solutions
                  Free SEO Tools
                  • Domain Authority Checker
                  • Link Explorer
                  • Keyword Explorer
                  • Competitive Research
                  • Brand Authority Checker
                  • Local Citation Checker
                  • MozBar Extension
                  • MozCast
                  Resources
                  • Blog
                  • SEO Learning Center
                  • Help Hub
                  • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                  • How-to Guides
                  • Moz Academy
                  • API Docs
                  About Moz
                  • About
                  • Team
                  • Careers
                  • Contact
                  Why Moz
                  • Case Studies
                  • Testimonials
                  Get Involved
                  • Become an Affiliate
                  • MozCon
                  • Webinars
                  • Practical Marketer Series
                  • MozPod
                  Connect with us

                  Contact the Help team

                  Join our newsletter
                  Moz logo
                  © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                  • Accessibility
                  • Terms of Use
                  • Privacy

                  Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.