Dynamic contents causes duplicate pages

GBCweb

How do we solve it?

max.favilli

You can just add a canonical tag to signal google which version is the one to index.
Or add meta "noidex"to the versions you do not want to be indexed.
Or just do nothing and let google pick his preferred version for its index.
Or you can teach google what those url parameter do and instruct him to do not index those versions.

I would programmatically add meta noindex.

GBCweb

1. I think I will go with a canonical tag.
2. I believe noindex will not work as this is a template used in multiple page.

3. Done that, but then MOZ reports them as duplicate content, which drives me crazy

4. Done that too. But don't know how to tell MOZ

max.favilli

Moz doesn't pick, just signal the duplicate content. If you add the canonical Moz should understand and un flag it as duplicate.

GBCweb

Oh!!! Just now realized a different problem with canonical.

The same template is used with different URLs, for example, http://www.georgebrown.ca/immigranteducation/programs/ is the same template as http://www.georgebrown.ca/liberalarts/programs/, just with a different set of programs. We have 22 schools, each page creates 4 versions of itself (depending on the ordering of the programs).

So there is no way to program ONE url on the template level. Do I understand that correct?

max.favilli

I don't know which CMS/framework you use but it's unlikely you can set canonical at template level.

GBCweb

Ektron CMS. Yah, will have to go with the noindex somehow.

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