Using http: shorthand inside canonical tag ("//" instead of "http:") can cause harm?
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HI,
I am planning to launch a new site, and shortly after to move to HTTPS. to save the need to change over 5,000 canonical tags in pages the webmaster suggested we implement inside the rel canonical "//" instead of the absolute path, would that do any damage or be a problem?
oranges-south-dakota" />
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I agree,
you should avoid them at all.
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Hi Peter,
That is true, it appears however the question is if it is okay to use relative paths.
In which Google says:
"...Avoid errors: use absolute paths rather than relative paths with the
rel="canonical"
link element.Use this structure:
https://www.example.com/dresses/green/greendresss.html
Not this structure:/dresses/green/greendress.html
).."REF: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/139066?hl=en
I always side on the better to be safe side of things.
Cheers,
Don
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Don,
this isn't relative path. This is "protocol free". So if domain is blah.com HTTP page will have canonical as http://blah.com and HTTPS page will have canonical as https://blah.com.
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Hi Po,
No, you can not or should not use "relative" paths in the URL. They are not properly indexed you should use the absolute path.
Ref: Google: https://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2013/04/5-common-mistakes-with-relcanonical.html
You can use parameters in ASP or PHP to get the path for you.
PHP example: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6768793/get-the-full-url-in-php
ASP example: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/567590/asp-net-absolute-path-of-a-urlHope this helps,
Don
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