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www.domain.com
www.domain.com/
www.domain.com/index.html
domain.com
domain.com/
domain.com/index.html
So, when obtaining an inbound link, what you really need to do is set a standard for the actual href.
For example, in dmoz I have two listings, one in the main category and one in regional. One is linking to "www.domain.com/" and the other to "www.domain.com/index.php".
The PR transferred is to the two different URL's (both of whcih are in the google index as duplicates) rather than being concentrated on one. I don't want that.
Is there anything I can do with .htaccess? I guess there's no harm in me, for example 301 redirecting all of the possible URL's for the index page to one.
Thanks,
TJ
If your server is configured properly, google *should* know this!
>More than one way to skin a cat...
trillian, don't skin cats or i'll go out, search you, find you and skin you! ;)
I know that google indexes them seperately, that's the problem. It's the resolution to the problem that I need!
TJ
If your server is configured properly, google *should* know this!
OK Yidaki, it's this "proper" configuration that I maybe need some help with. Can I 301 reidrect them all to one place?
TJ
(Skinning cats is just an expression, but threaten me again and I'll start skinning kittens.... lol)
Can I 301 reidrect them all to one place?
I've had a 301 from widgets.com to www.widgets.com for a long time, and (before dominic) it had done the job of merging listings as one would wish.
trillian,
what kind of server are you using? Apache? 301 seems to be the right thing to do here.
>threaten me again and I'll start skinning kittens
ya know, there have been jedi's in the history that had a very hard time surviving. ;)
And how about:-
domain.com
domain.com/index.php
www.domain.com
All being redirected to:-
www.domain.com/
Is that possible/acceptable?
Any problems with doing it like that?
Thanks,
TJ
Yes, it's Apache.
I figured if the 301 redirect will work like this, it must be the way forward. At the moment we have inbound links coming in all different formats and I'll like to concentrate them onto one page.
Many thanks,
TJ
you should prob read here:
[httpd.apache.org...]
[httpd.apache.org...]
>Any problems with doing it like that?
Not at all. Google recommands using 301 - this way, pr and backlink counting will get transferred to the one and only index page (at least it has been so before dominic). Avoid 302 redirects!
The way I see it, it doesn't matter what Apache serves up pagewise, it's the link by which google got there that gets the PR.
So I actually need Apache to give googlebot a 301 error so that the PR gets transferred to the page that I want it transferred to.
I think that's right anyway!
TJ
I think that's right anyway!
To the best of my knowledge that is correct. However I have not given a 301 from widgets.com to widgets.com/ before, but have never seen duplication of pages with and without a trailing slash in the index (is this actually there?)
I did redirect widgets.com/index.htm to widgets.com/index.php using a 301 before and that didn't hurt my PR once it was picked up. Not quite the same as redirecting widgets.com/index.php to widgets.com/.
I think that's right anyway!
Edited to fix the quote tags, argh!
www.domain.com/
and
www.domain.com/index.php
So you're right - nothing in there without the trailing slash, although I suspect the bulk of our inbound links are without it.
So I take it google either ignores or replaces the trailing slash?
i.e. "www.domain.com/" and "www.domain.com" to google are one and the same link?
TJ
afaik, yes!
As far as whether Google knows index.php is your default index file or not has nothing to do with the correct set up of your server. In Apache you can do something like
DirectoryIndex blah.html foo.php bar.asp index.html
Apache will then look for blah.html first when a request it made to just a directory, such as www.domain.com/ or www.domain.com/directory/
I'm looking at directing PR and backlink data from google to a particular *link* not any particular *page*. Google see's these differently.
For example:-
www.domain.com/index.php
and
www.domain.com/
Are two different links to google, although they point to the same page (because Apaches serves index.php to both links).
I want to tell google that www.domain.com/ is now moved to www.domain.com/index.php so that all the backlinks and therefore PR get transferred to one link.
Hope you follow me now.
TJ
erm, yes and this means that blah.html foo.php bar.asp index.html are the default index pages of your server ... but there's allways ONE page returned by your server if "domain.com/" is requested (as long as you don't play with your htaccess / rewrite settings). If this page is identical to a linked "domain.com/index.php" page, google in fact knows that this is your main index page. The identical results will get "merged" (best case, in general) and only one of these identical pages will get listed - usually the one with the highest pr and the most backlinks.
Trillian, like allready said: a 301 redirect does what you want (pr transfer).
As suggested above, putting a 301 redirect from index.php to / would work as desired.
You may be right about them getting merged anyway, but it's easy enough so I'll do the 301 to make sure.
TJ
4. I'm changing my URL. How can I maintain my rank?Regrettably, we cannot manually change your listed address at the same time you move to your new site.
That said, there are steps you can take to make sure your transition is a smooth one. Google listings are based in part on our ability to find you from links on other sites. To preserve your rank, you will want to inform others who link to you of your change of address. One way to find out who is linking to you is to try a link search. Enter "link:[your full URL]" into the Google search box. You may not find every page that links to you with this method, but it should help you begin redirecting the links leading to your site. (Please note: we do not serve link queries for all of the sites in our index, so this may not produce any results for your site.) Once your new site is live, you may wish to place a permanent redirect (using a "301" code in HTTP headers) on your old site to inform visitors and search engines that your site has moved.
[google.com...]
Yes, but the PR is separate for both pages.
Yes I know - hence the reason for my original question.
I think you follow me now anyway, and I have the answer I needed.
Thanks guys,
TJ
link:http://somedomain.com
link:http://www.somedomain.com
link:http://somedomain.com/index.html
link:http://www.somedomain.com/index.html
They all give the same number of links. I think that this shows google treats all 4 variations the same. Therefore page rank should be transfered as if the links all point to the same location.
If you repeat this with the other SE some give differant results
Maybe you already know it, but I wanted to point up that both www.domain.com/index.html and www.domain.com/index.htm are always considered "pointers" to www.domain.com , even if there isn't a page named "index.html" or "index.htm".
Maybe you already know it, but I wanted to point up that both www.domain.com/index.html and www.domain.com/index.htm are always considered "pointers" to www.domain.com , even if there isn't a page named "index.html" or "index.htm".
Thanks lowlevel - I didn't know that.
Presumably this is not yet the case for index.asp or index.php?
TJ
I think what you're saying ties in with LowLevels post.
But I don't have "index.html" - I have "index.php".
These are treated differently by google.
TJ
Good information LowLevel.
Google obviously either maps requests for link:www.domain.com/index.html to link:www.domain.com/ or maps the original links.
Looks to me like it maps the original links. I have an old straight html site, backlinked with both syntax and there is only "domain.com/" indexed - no "domain.com/index.html".
TJ
- index.php vs. domain.com [webmasterworld.com]
- How does GoogleBot treat 301 redirect? [webmasterworld.com]
- Is 301 safe with google? [webmasterworld.com]
- Changing index.htm to index.php [webmasterworld.com]
- Trailing slash increases my pagerank (?) [webmasterworld.com]
- Inktomi Search doesn't do Directories [webmasterworld.com]
- Inbound Links - full url for max pagerank? [webmasterworld.com]
- PHP Homepage and Page Rank [webmasterworld.com]
- PR of PHP pages [webmasterworld.com]
- Is it ok to redirect the home page to internal page? [webmasterworld.com]
- Changing Page Url [webmasterworld.com]
- Changed all my URLs [webmasterworld.com]
- changing htm page to php [webmasterworld.com]
- changing .cfm to .html? [webmasterworld.com]
- Effect of changing main page name? [webmasterworld.com]
- An Introduction to Redirecting URLs on an Apache Server [webmasterworld.com]
... could be continued quite infinitely ...
if ya can't convince 'em, confuse 'em. :)
I don't think I'll trawl through those however - I think I have the answer I need (301 redirect)?
Your post points out a flaw in webmasterworld though relating to the importance of content.
The strength of this website is the people that come here.
The content, being a constantly evolving moving target means that the easiest policy is to come here and ask questions. That devalues the content. It's here, but too hard to find without being indexed properly.
A good site search engine would fix that - the current one makes it very difficult to find what you need.
I know that a few members swear by using google to search this site - I might try that. But with no organisation of threads by genuine topic (only parent theme) it's very hard to find things.
I think that Brett et al do the site an injustice in this regard. A proper topics engine, with well named threads being moved into that as and when they appear would give this site the value that it deserves.
I'm not knocking ww by the way - I love it here! But we all keep talking about content, content, content. It's not just that - it's being able to locate it in an efficient and intuitive manner.
TJ
