Hi,

We have a regional directory website that uses url rewriting and I noticed recently that Google had cached hundreds of thousands more pages than we actually serve since it had a tendancy to pick up different versions of the same page. I went through and coded 301's so that only the current version of each page would be served and any old requests would be 301 forwarded.

The question is, since Google is going to suddenly see thousands of 301s coming through will our cached pages / ranking / referrals be affected? This would be an issue since probably 70% of our traffic comes from Google.

Cheers

Hi Jonno,

Welcome to the forums ;)

The question is, since Google is going to suddenly see thousands of 301s coming through will our cached pages / ranking / referrals be affected? This would be an issue since probably 70% of our traffic comes from Google.

Thats a difficult question to answer because it depends on a number of factors. What do you mean by "different versions of the same page?" how are the pages different? Do they contain the same content? Are the different versions cached and showing up in the SERP's, or are your Google referrals coming from one "version" of each page?

Hi Jonno,
Welcome to the forums ;)
Cheers, I finally bit the bullet and cried for help :D



What do you mean by "different versions of the same page?"
The url is generated by the name of the company in the directory so if the company name changes the URL changes. Also the directory didnt used to use rewriting so google still has the original ?company=N&category=N version

How are the pages different? Do they contain the same content?
Yes, theres loads of different versions cached. Google fluctuales between 150,000 and 500,000 pages cached. The website is probably no more than 60,000 pages. The pages have quite a few adverts and the ads rotate around the website so each page would appear to be different to a degree but Im not sure where the threshold would be

Are the different versions cached and showing up in the SERP's, or are your Google referrals coming from one "version" of each page?
Referrals come from different versions but the URL rewritten ones are the most prevalent.

Cheers for the help and interest

Jonno,

Can you PM me the URL. I am having a tough time following what you are trying to say. If I can help, I'm happy to. If I can't, I'm happy to point you in the right direction :)