How do I direct users to site page when they search vanity URL?

[jarjarjarvis]

My company runs a contest via a landing page on our website. The full URL to the landing page is rather long so we have a vanity URL that we use for advertising purposes. I have a 301 on the vanity URL to the landing page URL so people visiting it directly end up where they should just fine. But if a user goes to Google and types the vanity URL into the search bar, the landing page is nowhere to be found in the results. What do I need to do to get the landing page to show in results when people search the vanity URL?

[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi there

As far as I know, this isn't possible because the page doesn't technically exist and it's not linked to at all on the site, correct?

A vanity URL isn't meant to be indexed by Google, it's just supposed to be printed or utilized where you need it to appear in advertising.

You can read more here. I would look into tracking that vanity URL so you can see how your campaign is performing overall!

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[jarjarjarvis]

I understand the URL won't get picked up by Google, but should a user search for the vanity URL I would like them to end up on the proper landing page.

[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi Christopher

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about that. Most people don't search URLs, so I don't know how likely you are to run into that issue.

Google will get users where they need to go, worst case to your homepage.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[Linda-Vassily]

What I have done in a similar situation is to make the vanity URL the preferred URL. I created the vanity URL as an alias of the landing page URL and used a canonical to indicate that the vanity URL is the one to index.