Should I remove the ?replytocom variables in wordpress?

[NoahsDad]

I'm using Yoast's wordpress plugin and there is an option to remove the replytocom variables. I'm curious what everyone's thoughts were on that, and if I should do it.

Here's the site if you need to see it.

Thanks!

[AgentsofValue]

Yup - removing those will save you the trouble of duplicate content - since Google by default is crawling those as different URLs.  By default, if you have comments enabled, there's a link at the bottom of posts with that parameter in the url (the same as the blog post url - see here ---> http://noahsdad.com/treadmill-training-progress/?replytocom=22729#respond ).

Noah is cute!

[NoahsDad]

Thanks for the kind words, I agree, he is a cutie. Will blocking those cause the comments not to be indexed though?

[RyanKent]

I understand the logic behind blocking removing the variables. They are a lot of extra links on the page which some webmasters might prefer to manage.

What I would prefer is to reform the link so it was something like: http://noahsdad.com/treadmill-training-progress#replytocom=22729

I am guessing the "respond" portion of the URL acts as if someone pressed the reply button which seems unnecessary. If someone clicks the link whether in search results or otherwise and is taken directly to the comment, they should be quite happy. If they wish to reply they can hit the reply button.

Google ignores anything after the # character in a URL. Therefore Google would see these as simply a link to the page which should already be indexed.

Perhaps you can ask Yoast about his thoughts.

[NoahsDad]

hmm..thanks for the feedback. So do you suggest not blocking those? (and I'll message yoast also and see what his thoughts are.)

Thanks.

[RyanKent]

I just took a look at Yoast's site and I now better understand the option to remove the variables. I recommend selecting that option. From the Yoast site:

method remove_reply_to_com [line 939]

string remove_reply_to_com( string $link)

Removes the ?replytocom variable from the link, replacing it with a #comment- <number>anchor.</number> Tags: access:   public Parameters: string   $link   The comment link as a string.

Example: http://yoast.com/user-contact-fields-wordpress/#comment-110294

[NoahsDad]

Thanks for taking the time to check into it. One I'm concerned with is how this will effect long tail seo / indexing of the comments. How will this effect my organic traffic? (will it hurt it?)

I don't see these sorts of pages coming up in google now, so I'm not sure what selecting that option does (and how it effects the site.)

Yoast does a few things different with his site, and I don't always follow his lead. For example he suggets making new pages instead of new posts for your blog posts. He's the only one I've ever heard say this, or do this.

[RyanKent]

Regarding the new pages instead of posts idea, do you have a link to share?

Regarding the comment url, the page with the comment should be fully indexed either way. By changing the link, you are helping search engines better understand your site. The comment links do not represent a new page or new information.

Google clearly understands WP sites exceptionally well. I am confident you can choose various options and they will still understand those links represent comments. With that said, I would still go with Yoast on this one.

Actually, SEOmoz does it too. Take a look at their blog comments.

[NoahsDad]

I''ll try to find the link where he talks about using pages instead of posts and share it. Curious to hear your thoughts on it.

I'll go ahead and select that option, thanks for your help. (On a side note, what do people not using this plug in do? I'm assuming not many people do this, right?)

You think there is any benefit to doing it, or just one of those "hey why not" sort of things?

[RyanKent]

What do people not using this plug in do? I'm assuming not many people do this, right?

I presume they accept the WP default options. Our practice and understanding of SEO is what allows us to analyze and make decisions regarding tidbits such as the one you mentioned.

You think there is any benefit to doing it, or just one of those "hey why not" sort of things?

I do think there is a benefit. You are impacting a LOT of links. Every comment on your site. It may be a tiny 1% benefit type of thing, but the change applies site wide and will presumably be in place for years.

[NoahsDad]

Thanks Ryan! Have a great 4th of July!

[Esaky]

Mine is not indexed in the Google Search, but in Google Webmasters and SEOmoz they showed the error !

Should i remove those links via URL parameters ?

https://www.google.co.in/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=inurl:replytocom+site%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.animhut.com%2F&oq=inurl:replytocom+site%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.animhut.com%2F&gs_l=serp.3...3014.5998.0.6281.12.12.0.0.0.0.105.1059.11j1.12.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.5.psy-ab._Cw8cbYn4UA&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=22e7cbac4256cbc1&biw=1536&bih=764&ion=1

Not indexed, someone here told me some plugins are helping you, i have All-in seo plugin and removed the comluv plugin(for more spam in my blog). other plugins are like share social network  That's it.

Any help for me and my blog will be much appreciated !

[BlueprintMarketing]

Hey, guys, this is a very old post but because it might be useful to people in the future I thought I would update the URL that Ryan did a. great job posting but no longer goes to the correct place. No one can control what I third-party site changes there URL structure to rite?

you can use this plug-in called

https://infolific.com/technology/software-worth-using/real-time-find-and-replace-for-wordpress/#pro-version

?replytocom= replaced with #replytocom=