Safely change canonical URL many times

[JulienLetellier]

Hi,

We are actually working on a new product information section for our network of websites (site A, B, C and D) where product landing pages allow to download information in pdf format and are active for downloads during a period of two months (active form for commercial reasons) with a unique URL (the case today). Here is a possible scenario for these product landing pages in the near future:

1. Product is promoted in website A during 2 months (January to February) so canonical URL = A/page. Once expired, the product info. download form disappears.

2. Customer decides to promote the same product in the same site A as well in site B from April to May so canonical URL will still be A/page. Canonical URL of B/page will point to A/page.

3. Customer decides to relaunch his product promotion this time in site C from July to August so canonical URLs of pages A/page and B/page will now point to C/page as the latter will be the only product campaign active with a download form

4. At the end of the year the customer does another campaign for the same product this time in website D so we will change the canonical URL of pages A/page, B/page and C/page to D/page as the latter will be the only product campaign active with a download form

The obvious question here is: will this way of changing canonical URLs dynamically hurt the SEO of the section, pages, one particular website or the whole network ?

Would it be better and safer to just keep the first canonical URL forever? A/page in this example

Thanks so much for your input on this.

[RyanPurkey]

The central idea of canonical is that it's the source while the iterations are iterations... so I'd avoid moving canonical around.  What you're also is describing within your network is a little hard for me to wrap my head around.  Why are sites A, B, C, and D different?  Are they localized? Are they in different verticals? Are they talking to different channels or interests?  If there are differences like these the content should likely be unique enough to address the different market being served by the different site.

If not selecting one as your resource center and handling campaigns as campaign variables seems like the way to go, ergo: Site A/Resources.  Link from Site B = Site A/Resources?v=campaign_ids_promotions_timing_etc. Google even has a tool for doing just this: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867. And why this is helpful here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033863. Cheers!

[JulienLetellier]

Hi Ryan, thanks for you answer. Sites A, B, C and D are verticals usually in a same industry (let's say pubs, hotels and restaurants that belong to the hospitality industry). They all cover different areas with original editorial content but product information (usually technical papers, case studies, etc.) can be the same and apply for any of those verticals. Therefore, a client can run a campaign for its product on site A one month and then on site C two months after. The main goal of moving canonical URLs is having the latest campaign URL indexed by search engines so we deliver results to the client for the latest campaign he is paying for (site C/product_page) and not the original campaign he did months ago (site A/product_page).

We know this is a particular way to do things but that's why we ask for advise.

Cheers.

[RyanPurkey]

Hi Julien. Got it. The method you're describing sounds contradictory to the designed uses of canonical and as such will be difficult to make work in this approach.  Here's a few reasons...

1. You're relying on the search engines to recognize the changes and apply them in a distinct time frame. While Google tends to be quick there's no guarantee that the changes will be applied in a fashion that lines up with your campaign dates.
2. The thing you want to make canonical (the product) is moving from location to location. Canonical is specifically an attribute for URLs and ones that are supposed to stay static. It seems like it would make more sense to have the product be on a dedicated, canonical URL and just change the promotion around it.
3. A redirect could better serve your purposes. With conditional time frames and offers you're probably best served by using 302 redirects.

Cheers!