Adding Rel Canonical to multiple pages

[jdossetti]

Hi,

Our CMS generates a lot of duplicate content, (Different versions of every page for 3 different font sizes). There are many other reasons why we should drop this current CMS and go with something else, and we are in the process of doing that. But for now, does anyone know how would I do the following:

I've created a spreadsheet that contains the following:

Column 1: rel="canonical" tag for URL

Column 2: Duplicate Content URL # 1

Column 3: Duplicate Content URL # 2

Column 4: Duplicate Content URL # 3

I want to add the tag from column 1 into the head of every page from column 2,3, and 4.

What would be a fast way to do this considering that I have around 1800 rows.

Check the screenshot of the builtwith.com result to see more information about the website if that helps.

Farris

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[rmontanez]

Farris,

This is the way I would do it.

You have the following columns created:

• Column A: "canonical" tag for UR
• Column B: Duplicate Content URL # 1
• Column Duplicate Content URL # 2
• Column Duplicate Content URL # 1

Follow the next steps:

1. Create three more columns with to duplicate columns B, C, D
2. Use the following formula on column B "**=CONCATENATE(A1,B1)" **
3. Copy the same formula for columns C & D
4. Replace the “B1” in your formula for the respective columns (i.e. Column C should have C1.)
5. Copy & Paste the content of columns E, F, G (The copied columns with formulas)  to all the rows.
6. Once copied, the information in columns E, F, G should look like the end result that you want.
7. if data is correct, copy columns E, F, G and paste in the same location but use Paste Special and paste values only.  This will remove your formulas.

I hope this helps.

[jdossetti]

Roberto, Thank you for your answer. I just realized that I was unclear when I asked the question. I already have the link containing the canonical tag for each of the URLs ready. That is what column A already contains. I need to add that into the section of the pages in column 2,3, and 4. I'm just unsure how to do this for 1800 rows each containing the correct URL in column A, and in column 2,3, and 4 the URLs of the duplicate content pages that need the link added to the section. Check the image below to see what I mean. I appreciate the effort though Farris

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[rmontanez]

Following the same concept:

1. Create a column (Column E) with the following information "then another column (Column F) with ""/>"
2. In column G enter the following formula: =CONCATENATE(E1,Cell of Duplicate URL, F3).

The end result will have Column A with the Domain in it.  Follow steps 6 & 7 to complete the process.

Feel free to send me a sample spreadsheet with some info and I can set it up for you.

[Dr-Pete]

Could you provide an approximate example that matches your real situation (a fake domain is fine, but with the same basic format)? This is a situation where fake examples that don't match the real situation probably won't help us (or you) much.

Once you have the spreadsheet, how are you going to translate that into tags? If this is a dynamic site, it would be better to be able to code rules to set the canonicals - and potentially much easier.

[jdossetti]

Here's a spreadsheet sample. I did what Roberto suggested. I have a column with the ready for every duplicate content URL.

The site is dynamic. That was the main problem I was facing, I'm not sure how to set the canonicals on each page without having to go into the html and copy the tag from the spreadsheet to the manually.

I added the screenshot of builtwith.com in the main question hoping it would give anyone insight as to how I would code rules to set the canonicals.

P9ygx

[Dr-Pete]

Unfortunately, the rules may differ from page to page and will be entirely dependent on how your pages are generated. If it's just a matter of the "index.cfm" version vs. root ("/") versions of pages, those canonical should be straightforward. For the other parameters, though (like "i", "fs", etc.), it depends entirely on the function of those parameters.

I know ColdFusion reasonably well, and even given that, I couldn't give you a one-size-fits-all rule that would solve the problem. It really has to be guided by your site structure and code/data logic. Personally, I'd start with the pattern that generates the most problems and solve that one first. In other words, if one template (like "/press-releases") generates dozens or hundreds of duplicates, deal with that first. If you solve the top 3-4 problems, you may clean up quite a bit. That could be more effective than trying to fix everything at once.

[jdossetti]

That's what I thought. I need to find someone in the company who knows cold fusion and go through it.

Thanks for your help though. I appreciate it.

Farris

[Dr-Pete]

Yeah, wish I could give you a simpler answer, but I'm afraid it might end up being a little tricky. Hit the biggest problems first, and at least you can manage time/money a bit. The one bright side is that the rules should be no harder to code in ColdFusion than anything else (PHP, ASP, whatever). It's just the core logic that's tricky.