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    4. Duplicate Title Tags and Meta Desc even with the correct Canonical Tag

    Duplicate Title Tags and Meta Desc even with the correct Canonical Tag

    Technical SEO Issues
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    • bhalverson
      bhalverson last edited by

      I show a large/growing number of duplicate title tags and duplicate meta descriptions in my webmaster tools.  I look at both pages

      Link 1 - http://www.thatsmytopper.com/wedding-cake-toppers/theme-cake-toppers/beach-theme-cake-toppers/where/color/petal-pink.html

      Link 2 - http://www.thatsmytopper.com/wedding-cake-toppers/theme-cake-toppers/beach-theme-cake-toppers/where/color/petal-pink/limit/16.html

      Both pages have the following canonical url:

      <link rel="<a class="attribute-value">canonical</a>" href="http://www.thatsmytopper.com/wedding-cake-toppers/theme-cake-toppers/beach-theme-cake-toppers.html" >

      Why does this show up as a duplicate title tag and description to Google still?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • irvingw
        irvingw last edited by

        this should not be an issue at all since both pages are noindex, nofollow

        i suggest you change them to noindex, follow though for better spidering

        this is way too spammy too. google may suppress your rankings for "cake toppers"

        [http://www.thatsmytopper.com/wedding-cake-toppers/theme-cake-toppers/beach-theme-cake-toppers.html](view-source:http://www.thatsmytopper.com/wedding-cake-toppers/theme-cake-toppers/beach-theme-cake-toppers.html)" /> 
        
        danatanseo bhalverson 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • danatanseo
          danatanseo last edited by

          I believe this is happening because Google bot is interpreting these as two separate pages. Sure there's a canonical on one, so Googlebot might consider that one the source of the original content, however it's still seeing two pages and those pages do have identical Title and Meta Descriptions. In other words, just because there's a canonical tag doesn't pre-empt Google from identifying the duplicate content as a duplicate.

          I know it seems counter-intuitive, but I am fairly certain this is the case. Interested to know what others have to say.

          Dana

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • danatanseo
            danatanseo @irvingw last edited by

            Hi Irving,

            Doesn't this seem like an instance where Googlbot is not adhering to the "no index, no follow" suggestion? What do you think of my comment below? Is that scenario a possibility in this case?

            I ddisagree that this page is spammy. I don't think that the content is an issue. It is, after all, a wedding cake topper. Just my two cents 🙂

            Thanks,
            Dana

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • bhalverson
              bhalverson @irvingw last edited by

              Hello! I took into consideration both of your suggestions. I cant really do much with the cake toppers part because the products are what they are. I did try to reduce the number of time it was stated in the content but other than the product titles are trying to be descriptive.

              In regards the noindex nofollow issue thank you for clarifying!

              Ben

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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