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Is having my WP categories indexed a problem?

by Vlad Shelest
9 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Something I haven't been paying a lot of attention to in the past is whether or not having categories indexed by search engines is hurting my ranking in some way.

Basically I have a situation where a Wordpress post gets indexed at its own URL and it also gets indexed at one or more categories URLs. I wonder if Google would see it as duplicate content and have my rankings affected as a result. Or, are search engines smart enough to recognise that this is not in fact duplicate content?

Vlad
#categories #indexed #problem
  • Profile picture of the author grimace_86
    I wouldn't imagine it being a problem.
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  • Profile picture of the author alamest
    I don't think google will have problem with it but I do not index my category, neither my tags url..

    Think as search user, if somebody lands on a tags or category the high possibility is that they will go back and the bounce rate will increase and if the bounce increase than Google will think that this website have some problem and all the algorithm will says not to rank my website.. so that is the reason I do not index my category neither my tags.. I hope this helps..
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  • Profile picture of the author Vlad Shelest
    That's a good point alamest about the actual visitors to the site. I might just look at not having the categories indexed even for that reason alone.

    Vlad
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  • Profile picture of the author imgeek2727
    Niche specific categories definitely help but in addition to that, have you changed you permalink structure to incorporate the category word? If you haven't done this, you should do it now because it will really help improve your search rankings for those categories.
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  • Profile picture of the author Vlad Shelest
    It's funny how even such seemingly simple question can have totally opposite ways of looking at it. Trouble is, they both make sense! :confused: Maybe there simply isn't a definitive answer to this one...

    Vlad
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
    Depends on the type of blog, but for general purposes Google's Matt Cutts recommended this permalink structure:
    /%category%/%postname%/

    Is it better to have keywords in the URL path or filename? - YouTube

    Jeffery 100% :-)
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    • Profile picture of the author Vlad Shelest
      Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post

      Depends on the type of blog, but for general purposes Google's Matt Cutts recommended this permalink structure:
      /%category%/%postname%/

      Is it better to have keywords in the URL path or filename? - YouTube

      Jeffery 100% :-)
      Thanks Jeffery,

      I guess Matt Cutts' opinion is as "definitive" as it gets.

      Now, I have a flow on question. If my permalink structure on a relatively new site with say, 25-30 pages, is /%postname%/, is it wise to make the change to /%category%/%postname%/ ?

      Vlad
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      • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
        Originally Posted by Vlad Shelest View Post

        Thanks Jeffery,

        I guess Matt Cutts' opinion is as "definitive" as it gets.

        Now, I have a flow on question. If my permalink structure on a relatively new site with say, 25-30 pages, is /%postname%/, is it wise to make the change to /%category%/%postname%/ ?

        Vlad
        Your welcome.

        Yes, it is okay since it is a new site and only 25-30 pages. Some or all of the posts/pages may have already been indexed which means the new links would need to be submitted to Google. To do it properly just use your Google Webmaster Tools account. Also, you could use the Platinum SEO Plugin.

        Jeffery 100% :-)
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      • Profile picture of the author seotrafficsearch
        Originally Posted by Vlad Shelest View Post

        Thanks Jeffery,

        I guess Matt Cutts' opinion is as "definitive" as it gets.

        Now, I have a flow on question. If my permalink structure on a relatively new site with say, 25-30 pages, is /%postname%/, is it wise to make the change to /%category%/%postname%/ ?

        Vlad
        I guess the "/%category%/%postname%/" part is better to go with. This would make sense and define the structure of your site.
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