I'm having a duplicate entry/url issue

#1 / Nov 03, 2011 2:27am

getrightmusic
19 posts

Hello,

I was just taking a look at my Google Webmasters and I noticed that I have over 800 “Duplicate meta description” and over 3000 “Duplicate title tags” warnings.

I basically have 3 channels that I post entries to:

“mixtape”
“video”
“blog”

They get placed on my site in these templates
http://www.getrightmusic.com/mixtape
http://www.getrightmusic.com/videos
http://www.getrightmusic.com/blog

The errors seem to be that my entries are getting duplicated in other channels somehow.

For example this is a correct post url: http://www.getrightmusic.com/videos/post/apathy_check_to_check

But this page is getting indexed by Google and warned for duplication of the above url: http://www.getrightmusic.com/mixtape/post/apathy_check_to_check

Is this something the “canonical tags” can fix?

I do run NSM’s Better Meta addon for meta data.

I had a feeling something was wrong with my SEO, this seems to be it. Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction?

Thank you so much!

Jesse
My EE build is 2.1.3
#2 / Nov 03, 2011 5:56pm

Dan Decker
7338 posts

Hi Jesse,

There are a couple of things you can check. Have you enabled Strict URLs? Have a look in Design-> Templates-> Global Preferences: Enable Strict URLs Another helpful thing would be if you could share some of your template code for each of your channels so that we can have a look at them.

And the last thing… If you get the chance, I would strongly recommend updating to the latest version of ExpressionEngine, 2.3.1 There have been numerous bug fixes, security enhancements and new features added since 2.1.3

Thanks!
#3 / Nov 03, 2011 6:15pm

getrightmusic
19 posts

Dan,

Thank you for the reply!

I just enabled “Strict URLs”. It wasn’t enabled before.

I attached a screenshot at my Template Manage and the “Mixtape” group. I’m not really sure which template you’d like to see code from though. If you let me know I’d be more than happy to copy and paste it in this thread to look at.

Thanks so much!

Jesse
#4 / Nov 03, 2011 6:26pm

Dan Decker
7338 posts

Hey Jesse,

Now that you have enabled Strict URLs, are you still able to bring up pages at URLs that otherwise shouldn’t work?

Let’s have a look at one of your “post” templates, since that’s what was referenced in your initial question.

Thanks!

#5 / Nov 03, 2011 6:37pm

getrightmusic

19 posts

Thanks Dan.

Here is the code form my “mixtape-post” template:

<html>

<head>
[removed][removed]
[removed][removed]
<link href="{path=css/_ee_saef_css}" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" media="screen" /> 
{exp:jquery:script_tag ui="datepicker"}

</head>

<body>

{if logged_out}
Sorry you need to be logged in to submit a mixtape. 
{/if}

{if logged_in}
{exp:safecracker channel="mixtape" include_jquery="no" return="mixtapes/post/ENTRY_ID"} 

<label for="title">Mixtape Artist</label>
<input type="text" name="title" id="title" value="{title}" size="50" maxlength="100" /></p>

<label for="mixtape_name">Mixtape Name</label>
{field:mixtape_name}

<label for="mixtape_description">Mixtape Description <span>*Limited to 200 characters</span></label>
{field:mixtape_description}

<label for="mixtape_files">Mixtape Files <span>*Select files and then upload, please use MP3 format</span></label>
{field:mixtape_files}

<label for="mixtape_url">Mixtape Download Link <span>*Please also add full Mixtape url if hosted on sites such as Rapidshare etc. <strong>Do NOT Submit DatPiff links here. The post will be deleted.</strong></span></label>
{field:mixtape_url} 

<label for="cover">Mixtape Cover <span>*Upload a square image, will resize on entry</span></label>
{field:cover}

<label for="related_mixtapes">Related Mixtapes<span>*Select Mixtapes similar than yours.</span></label>
{field:related_mixtapes}

<div>
<input type="hidden" name="allow_comments" value="y" /></div>
{/exp:safecracker}
{/if}

</body>
</html>

The strict URL enabling didn’t seem to do anything:

Here’s an original video post:
http://www.getrightmusic.com/videos/post/saigon_enemies/

And here’s a bad url that didn’t seem to redirect to the homepage:
http://www.getrightmusic.com/mixtape/post/saigon_enemies/

Thanks so much Dan!

#6 / Nov 04, 2011 7:34pm
Dan Decker
7338 posts
Hi getrightmusic,

Thanks for sharing those links, they gave me a better sense for what is going on. What I would suggest is using {if no_results} in your cannel entries loop. You could try something like this:
```
{if no_results}
 {redirect='site/404'}
{/if}
```
Let me know if that suggestion helps you out, or if you still require assistance.

Thanks!
#7 / Nov 06, 2011 5:19pm

getrightmusic
19 posts

This worked!

Thanks. I had to fix it on my other channels to make it work across the board, but now I am getting proper 404 errors on the faulty urls.

Now I just need to make a sweet 404 page!

Thanks for all the help.

Jesse
#8 / Nov 07, 2011 8:07am

Sue Crocker
26054 posts

Glad Dan was able to assist. Feel free to start a new thread if you have any more questions.

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