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A/B Testing and SEO concerns

by TeamJ
1 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hello there,

A client of mine A/B tests and I don't believe they are following best practices but would like to clear a few things up before I provide recommendations.

Their B page will have a slightly different URL, for example:

Page A (www.example.com.) Page B (www.example.com/test1)

At this moment and time, they place Page B under their robots.txt file; however, Page B's canonical tag is www.example.com/test1. I understand they need to change their canonical tag to always point to the primary page (Page A) and avoid placing Page B in their robots.txt file.

However, I need to explain what the dangers are of placing their Page B testing page in their robots.txt file, rather than just canonicalising.

From what I understand, there is a risk that the testing page could be indexed by Google if the page accumulates links, which could then lead to duplicate pages existing in Google? Furthermore, any link equity established from Page B will not be spread to other pages on the site, as Page B resides in the robots.txt file?

Are there other signals apart from links that could result in Google indexing the page such as a large amount of traffic?

Also, since testing page B has a different URL, will the traffic equity garnered from Page B benefit Page A, or solely support Page B?

Thanks
#a or b #concerns #seo
  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Originally Posted by TeamJ View Post

    Hello there,

    A client of mine A/B tests and I don't believe they are following best practices but would like to clear a few things up before I provide recommendations.

    Their B page will have a slightly different URL, for example:

    Page A (Example Domain.) Page B (www.example.com/test1)

    At this moment and time, they place Page B under their robots.txt file; however, Page B's canonical tag is www.example.com/test1. I understand they need to change their canonical tag to always point to the primary page (Page A) and avoid placing Page B in their robots.txt file.

    However, I need to explain what the dangers are of placing their Page B testing page in their robots.txt file, rather than just canonicalising.

    From what I understand, there is a risk that the testing page could be indexed by Google if the page accumulates links, which could then lead to duplicate pages existing in Google? Furthermore, any link equity established from Page B will not be spread to other pages on the site, as Page B resides in the robots.txt file?

    Are there other signals apart from links that could result in Google indexing the page such as a large amount of traffic?

    Also, since testing page B has a different URL, will the traffic equity garnered from Page B benefit Page A, or solely support Page B?

    Thanks

    If you are using the canonical tag, everything should be fine. Even if somehow Google indexes both pages, the tag is telling Google which one is the primary copy of the page and which should appear in search results. You could always add a 'noindex' tag to Page B if it is a concern.

    As far as Page B gathering links, I would just 301 redirect that page to Page A at the end of the testing period. Takes care of that problem.

    Your question about "traffic equity" between the pages doesn't make any sense. There is no such thing. Traffic is not a ranking factor. There is nothing to be concerned with there.
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