Wordpress: Tags generate duplicate Content - just delete the tags!?
-
Asking people, they say tags are bad and spamy and as I can see they generate all my duplicate page content issues.
So the big question is, why Google very often prefers to show in SERPS these Tag-URLS... so it can't be too bad! :)))?
Then after some research I found the "Term Optimizer" on Yoast.com ... that should help exactly with this problem but it seems not to be available anymore?
So may be there another plugin that can help... or just delete all tags from my blog? and install permanent redirects?
Is this the solution? -
I don't understand the question. Perhaps submit a new question to create a new thread, and elaborate on the issue.
-
It should take care of the duplicate content issue as it relates to tag pages, but not it will not show as a 404 because the page will still be there, just removed from Google's index.
If you adjusted the settings in Yoast it should apply to all future posts and tags.
-
My blog provides articles for technical queries and repair options. Almost many keywords does have the same sort of steps to define and we are into problems now..
CASE1: We have replaced the keywords and created the same content for all posts.
CASE2: To solve the above SEO loop hole, I have added these tags for relevant steps which follow the same troubleshooting.
Now again tags are bothering me.
What should I do for my work?
-
Hi,
I also have this problem with our site with 50 duplicate pages recorded on Moz, If I do a no index, follow on Yoast will it create 404's or will I only get a 404 if i remove the tags completely?
Also is there a way to set this up for all future blog posts on yoast or will I need to do this every time I submit a new post?
Thanks
Jeh
-
I said the same thing! I couldn't figure out why it wasn't the default either. We've had the blog up since before I worked for my current company, and so there were a bunch of duplicate pages I'm trying to fix now... frustrating!
Best of luck,
Tyler
-
Hi Tyler,
yes I ended up with the simple checking of the "noindex,follow" option for Tag within the YOAST Plugin (Taxonomies-Tab).
Now all the duplicate Content Issues are gone... so why is this option not set per default? hmmm
Thanks
Holger -
Hey!
I was just looking into this same issue for myself, and I figured I'd share the URL from Yoast that ended up answering most of my questions. It's in section 3, gives you some solutions to the duplicate page issue.
Hope this helps,
Tyler
-
Does that validate?
I'm no expert, but I think the trailing slash shouldn't be used with meta elements, except maybe if the declared DocType is XML or XHTML? If you do, leave a space just before it, like in your rel canonical line, for compatibility's sake (old stuff but just in case, it won't hurt).
And shouldn't it be a space between the comma and follow in "noindex, follow"?
-
Yes, thanks,
I'm curious ... and hope it works. and yes it looks fine...
<title>Christo | INLINEAR Digital Marketing & Brasilien Blog</title>
-
Yes, that happens sometimes, just make sure the plugin has implemented the tags correctly and that the head of your pages don't contain any other misplaced meta tags or invalid code, since this could cause the issue.
Then give it a try, it usually works, you'll have to wait until the site is re-crawled dough, so give it some time. Then, if it doesn't work, you could take more drastic measures.
Good luck, and follow Alan's advice of using 'no-index, follow' in your tag if you want to make sure of keeping the link flow.
-
Hi Branagan,
yes I can set noindex, follow in the yoast plugin, but this seems that google does not obey this metatag? See the comment of a User from a blog:
Peter Hinson October 25, 2012 at 7:22 am
Hi, I’ve been using the Yoasts SEO for years now, but unfortunately it does not prevent Google from indexing pagination all the time.
Matt Cutts. the Google technical expert and representative says in his video that the ‘noindex’ meta tag is a weak method in trying to prevent Google from indexing a page, since Googlebot will not always obey this tag.
-
If you are using similar tags for almost every post, yes it will create duplicate content, but If you are using them separately it wont create duplicate content.
For an example I had a movie site, I used tags for the Movie Cast, since every movie has different cast it never created any duplicate content, my that site was SEO miracle.
-
the sites that have tag pages ranking usually have onpage problems or a penalty. Instead of the page, they usually show that tag page....or the privacy page....or maybe the keyword is just not competitive and google has nothing better to put there. Ive seen all these cases.
It's up to you, you can noindex them or whatever you want. As long as you dont go crazy and put 1000 tags on your post and spam links to those tag pages, they shouldnt be a problem. At least in my case.
-
Make sure that is a no-index, follow tag so that you get your link juice back
-
I guess tags are there because they fulfill a function, but if they aren't useful for your users it shouldn't be a problem to erase them, as long as you take the necessary measures not to get tons of nasty 404s, although if what worries you is duplicate content, you could just noindex the tag pages, I think most SEO plugins for WP have this option, else it shouldn't be hard to include the noindex tag in tag.php or whatever file generates it's pages, then you wouldn't have to deprive your users of an useful function (if that's the case, off course).
About your question of Google's preference, I'm not aware of it, but couldn't it be because there are many internal pages linking to tag pages and also with the same anchor?
-
I would get rid of the tags, I don't think users use them, they are more like a gimmick.
Search engines are more likely to rank your primary page now, rather then the pages produced by tags
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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
-
Duplicate content or an update ???
Buying Guide and Product Category page competing for the same keyword ? Got a “nuts and bold website” selling basic stuff. Imagine selling simple nuts, bolts and washers (the little ring that goes in between) in different metals. Imagine a website with a very wide and deep line of these simple products. For long tail keywords we rank well (Example: 0.25 inch bolts). For the keyword: “Nuts bolts” our main category page use to rank well low 1<sup>st</sup> page to second page up against the big guys (Amazon, Walmart, Target, Costco, some drug store who may have a mix pack of nuts and bolts, but still Google don’t see the difference and list 2 pages each for these guys). But then in mid-February there were an update and suddenly our “Buying guide for nuts and bolts” rank higher and started to compete with our own product category page. That was never our intention. These two pages now compete for the ranking on page 4<sup>th</sup>. Clearly there were more words on the buying guide page but no changes had been made to it for well months or years. To make up for it some more words were added to the category page, but of cause there is only so many way you can fraise words about “nuts and bolts” without sounding a bit duplicate/re-writing. So what do I do now ?? Clearly the product category page is the one we like to rank highest with the guide a close 2nd. Most customer don’t need the buying guide but it is good to have and great support as we got lot of good comments from customer who read it. Made a link to the buying guide from the category page and wise verses. The category page got an embedded video. Moz list the page authority for the category page to 16 and 1 for the buying guide but clearly G see it differently. Already tried to change the Meta Tag Title and Description a little but it is hard to do if the word “Nuts Bolts” is to appear in the description or people don’t know what to expect. Could just insert a “do not index” for the buying guide but not a good long term solution. Unfortunately I am out of imagination at this point. Any good suggestions ?? Thanks, Kim Any good suggestions ???
Technical SEO | | KimX0 -
Duplicate Content Brainstorming
Hi, New here in the SEO world. Excellent resources here. We have an ecommerce website that sells presentation templates. Today our templates come in 3 flavours - for PowerPoint, for Keynote and both - called Presentation Templates. So we've ended up with 3 URLS with similar content. Same screenshots, similar description.. Example: https://www.improvepresentation.com/keynote-templates/social-media-keynote-template https://www.improvepresentation.com/powerpoint-templates/social-media-powerpoint-template https://www.improvepresentation.com/presentation-templates/social-media-presentation-template I know what you're thinking. Why not make a website with a template and give 3 download options right? But what about https://www.improvepresentation.com/powerpoint-templates/ https://www.improvepresentation.com/keynote-templates/ These are powerfull URL's in my opinion taking into account that the strongest keyword in our field is "powerpoint templates" How would you solve this "problem" or maybe there is no problem at all.
Technical SEO | | slidescamp0 -
Do mobile and desktop sites that pull content from the same source count as duplicate content?
We are about to launch a mobile site that pulls content from the same CMS, including metadata. They both have different top-level domains, however (www.abcd.com and www.m.abcd.com). How will this affect us in terms of search engine ranking?
Technical SEO | | ovenbird0 -
Duplicate content by php id,page=... problem
Hi dear friends! How can i resolve this duplicate problem with edit the php code file? My trouble is google find that : http://vietnamfoodtour.com/?mod=booking&act=send_booking&ID=38 and http://vietnamfoodtour.com/.....booking.html are different page, but they are one but google indexed both of them. And the Duplcate content is raised 😞 how can i notice to google that they are one?
Technical SEO | | magician0 -
Duplicate content - wordpress image attachement
I have run my seomoz campaign through my wordpress site and found duplicate content. However, all of this duplicate content was either my logo or images and no content with addresses like /?attachement_id=4 for example . How should I resolve this? thank you.
Technical SEO | | htmanage0 -
I use All in one SEO pack for wordpress and i i have 2 meta tags i need to delete them is this the meta description tag ?
add_option("aiosp_post_meta_tags", '', 'All in One SEO Plugin Additional Post Meta Tags', 'yes'); add_option("aiosp_page_meta_tags", '', 'All in One SEO Plugin Additional Post Meta Tags', 'yes'); add_option("aiosp_home_meta_tags", '', 'All in One SEO Plugin Additional Home Meta Tags', 'yes'); add_option("aiosp_do_log", null, 'All in One SEO Plugin write log file', 'yes'); */
Technical SEO | | fhnhockey0880 -
How do i deal with duplicate content on the same domain?
I'm trying to find out if there's a way we can combat similar content on different pages on the same site, without having to re write the whole lot? Any ideas?
Technical SEO | | indurain0 -
Duplicate content question with PDF
Hi, I manage a property listing website which was recently revamped, but which has some on-site optimization weaknesses and issues. For each property listing like http://www.selectcaribbean.com/property/147.html there is an equivalent PDF version spidered by google. The page looks like this http://www.selectcaribbean.com/pdf1.php?pid=147 my question is: Can this create a duplicate content penalty? If yes, should I ban these pages from being spidered by google in the robots.txt or should I make these link nofollow?
Technical SEO | | multilang0