Multiple product list pages (will they cause problems in google?)

Multiple product list pages

[elgar]

A site I maintain includes a "product and services" page that lists all the products and services the company offers. This is the main method of finding a product on the website.

For ease of use we have three separate version of this page, one that groups the products by category, one alphabetically, and one by brand (as there are 3 legacy brands).

Will Google penalize for this?

[ciml]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld, elgar.
(Make sure to read paynt's excellent welcome post [webmasterworld.com])

None of us is in a position to tell you what Google will or will not penalise, except for one member who's not likely to spill the beans. We can relate our experiences, though, and I this doesn not sound like something that will attract a Google penalty.

In this case, I would be surprised if Google spotted the duplicates and merged the listings, so you won't get the benefit of merged PageRank I'm afraid.

[elgar]

Thanks for you reply. That's what I was looking for. I understand it's just an opinion - but much appreciated.

[elgar]

Another question:

Currently the meta keywords and description on the content pages is being fed from a database (CMS solution). In the hope to increase the content that focuses on the product, that exact same keyword information has been inserted into the body of the same page as well, inside a hidden <div> tag.

Will this be considered spamming by Google or others?

[ciml]

Again, just opinion, but using a bunch of words in META keywords and a hidden DIV sounds very much like spam.

www.google.com/webmasters/dos.html

Don't:
[...]
Write text or create links that can be seen by search engines but not by visitors to your site.
[...]

www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html

Trying to deceive (spam) our web crawler by means of hidden text, deceptive cloaking or doorway pages compromises the quality of our results and degrades the search experience for everyone. We think that's a bad thing.

One of the checkboxes on that page is "Hidden text or links".

I'm not suggesting that you would or would not get caught, just that to me it looks like Google wouldn't be too keen on it.

In my opinion, properly titling pages, using descriptive body text and using good link text should be integral to any CMS or ecommerce application server that is to be used in a public Web environment where you want to attract visitors.

[Alby]

For ease of use we have three separate version of this page, one that groups the products by category, one alphabetically, and one by brand (as there are 3 legacy brands).

Will Google penalize for this?

I have the same set-up and have not had a problem, though my product pages are only repeated in two categories.

[elgar]

Cheers - this information is most helpful.

The redundant text has been removed.