URL Parameters & Page Titles

[Karma]

Hi,

I have a the following URL:

mywebsite.tld/games/game-name

The above requires a URL parameter or it won't work, so we actually get:

mywebsite.tld/games/game-name?level=1
mywebsite.tld/games/game-name?level=2

The actual game remains the same, but the questions are completely different depending on the level URL parameter.

In the above example, should I

<A> Generate a unique page title for each level:

<title>Game Name (Level 1)</title>
<title>Game Name (Level 2)</title>

<B> Have one page title for the actual page:

<title>Game Name</title>

The above are actually linked from different "level" pages/list (E.g level-1-games.html and level-2-games.html)

Many thanks

[phranque]

mywebsite.tld/games/game-name?level=1
mywebsite.tld/games/game-name?level=2

these are actually 2 unique urls and google would crawl and index those as separate pages.
normally you would do what works best for the site visitor and that is usually a unique and meaningful title for each page.

[Karma]

Thanks Phranque :)

[Karma]

Giving this some more thought, I'm not sure this is going to work for me.

Is it possible to pass a parameter (level) and not have Google treat it as an individual page? Maybe as an anchor link or something similar?

[topr8]

.... but as you say yourself ... different levels get asked different questions - so the page is actually different?

i think at one timne you could log into webmaster tools and ask google to ignore certain perameters, i'm not sure how effective that is. (i've never done it)

also maybe set a cookie instead of using a parameter.

[Karma]

You're right - they do ask different questions - I'll describe the problem in a bit more detail then:

At the moment, these games are linked from list pages

mywebsite.tld/level-1-games
mywebsite.tld/level-2-games
etc

These lists then link to the games:

mywebsite.tld/level-1-games ---> mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain?level=1 
mywebsite.tld/level-1-games ---> mywebsite.tld/games/reflex-test?level=1 

mywebsite.tld/level-2-games ---> mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain?level=2
mywebsite.tld/level-2-games ---> mywebsite.tld/games/reflex-test?level=2
etc

The problem I now have (and didn't think of before) is I can't link to these individual games directly from the homepage (or other pages/adwords), because the "level" isn't set yet, though it'd be great to feature these games from the homepage.

mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain

I thought the solution was to have the games ask for the level themselves (if the level wasn't defined), but then I'd have many multiple links for each game and I'm already finding it difficult to give these pages any weight [webmasterworld.com].

[lucy24]

Are the URLs carved in stone? With a link pattern like the one you show, above, I'd expect URLs along the lines of

example.tld/games/level2/reflex-test

Why does the overall link list give primacy to level rather than name? (I realize this may be tricky to answer without going into site-specific detail.)

In general, when parameters are an integral part of the URL, you should have some kind of content linked to the parameter-less version. In fact doesn't Google request this kind of thing as a matter of course? You would think so; it's the kind of thing they do. So there really ought to be something for

example.tld/games/train-your-brain

Reminder: Get in the habit of using "example" for the domain name. It's perfectly OK to say ".tld" (or, ahem, any made-up tld) if you don't care for ".com".

[Karma]

Thanks for the reply. The URLs aren't carved in stone, it's a new site so I think I could get away with changing them if need be.

The problem with having...

example.tld/games/level2/reflex-test

...Is that I still won't be able to link to the game 'reflex-test' from the homepage (or adwords etc) without the level.

I need to find a way of giving the weight to:

mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain

Without creating multiple URLs for the game, like the following would:

mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain?level=2
mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain?level=3
mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain?level=4

[phranque]

I need to find a way of giving the weight to:

mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain

Without creating multiple URLs for the game, like the following would:

mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain?level=2
mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain?level=3
mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain?level=4

perhaps it would be appropriate to use the link rel canonical element on all the level pages:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain" />

however this means you would also have to serve appropriate and similar content to requests for mywebsite.tld/games/train-your-brain since that is the url that will be indexed.

you should read this...
Use canonical URLs - Search Console Help:
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/139066?hl=en [support.google.com]

[Karma]

Thanks, the content would unfortunately be different (though it's Js) so I guess it isn't worth taking the risk of assuming Google wouldn't figure that out.

I feel like there isn't really an ideal way to do this, it might be easier/better to just not have any links to the root game - which is a shame.

[topr8]

what are the levels? do users progress through them? or do they choose to do a certain level?

[Karma]

Hi, they choose to do a certain level.

[lucy24]

Now, wait. Isn't there a level=1 ? Seems like that should be the default, and then you just have to decide whether the canonical for each game is
train-your-brain
or
train-your-brain?level=1
with the non-canonical being redirected to the canonical.

While you're at it, make sure there's a redirect in place for non-valid values of "level". (They may never really be requested, but better safe than sorry.)

[Karma]

No there isn't really a level 1, it's hard to explain (I tried to send you the URL but your inbox is full).

Good point about the invalid values.

[Karma]

Edit: There is a level 1, but it's not the default (each game has multiple levels but none are the default).

[lucy24]

but your inbox is full

What, again?

:: wandering off to mass-delete last 2 pages of Stickies ::