New Site Migration: Handling 5,000 Orphaned URLs
Hello everyone,
We’ve recently completed a migration of our Hong Kong site from M1 to M2 and encountered an interesting challenge.
The M1 Scenario
On the original M1 platform, product page internal links included the file path. For example:
example.com/football/football-goals/6-x-4-football-goal
These URLs had canonical tags pointing to:
Enter M2
With the move to M2, all internal links now direct straight to the root URL:
This means that both internal links and canonical tags are consistent.
The Issue: Orphaned and Redundant URLs
The complication is that M2 still maintains the old URLs, resulting in multiple URLs per product with varying file paths. These URLs are orphaned and do not appear in site crawls.
The Dilemma
Should we implement 301 redirects for these old-style product URLs, given that they all reference the canonical root version?
I’m inclined to think implementing 301 redirects is beneficial. However, getting approval for this requires an understanding of the potential SEO impact.
Additionally, if a link points to a lengthy URL but uses a canonical pointing to the root, does the link equity transfer to the canonical URL?
I’d appreciate your insights on this matter. Thank you! 😊
2 responses to “New Site has about 5,000 orphaned URLs – but the canonical to non-orphaned URLs – is it an issue?”
Certainly! Let’s explore the nuances of your situation regarding the migration of your Hong Kong site from Magento 1 (M1) to Magento 2 (M2) and the implications of handling orphaned URLs with canonical tags. Here’s your question, broken down and addressed in detail:
Understanding the Context
Your situation involves the presence of multiple URLs for the same product, resulting from a migration from M1 to M2. While using M1, your product pages included directory paths within their URLs. Upon migration to M2, all internal links now point directly to the root product URLs without such paths. However, the older URLs still exist, albeit orphaned and not linked internally, leading to multiple URLs with canonical tags all pointing to the root URL.
The Role of Canonical Tags
Canonical tags are often used to indicate the preferred version of a webpage when there are multiple URLs serving similar or identical content. By doing so, they help prevent issues with duplicate content and consolidate link equity. In your case, the canonical tags on your older, orphaned URLs are set up correctly, pointing to your new M2 root URLs, effectively telling search engines which URL you want to prioritize for indexing.
The Need for 301 Redirects
Despite having canonical tags in place, implementing 301 redirects from your old URLs to your new root URLs could be beneficial for several reasons:
Improved User Experience: Visitors who may have bookmarked the old URLs or reach them through external links will be seamlessly redirected to the correct page, improving their browsing experience.
Enhanced SEO Signals: While canonical tags consolidate indexing signals, 301 redirects also pass on link equity (or “link juice”) from the old URLs to the new URLs, ensuring that any ranking value or authority associated with your old pages is preserved and transferred.
Mitigation of Crawl Waste: Search engines may spend time trying to index these old orphaned URLs, potentially wasting crawl budget. Redirecting them will signal to search engines to focus on your live, updated URLs.
Link Equity and Canonical Tags
As for your question on link equity, canonical tags do guide search engines to consolidate signals, but they do not redirect users or pass on link equity as effectively as 301 redirects. The link equity from external sources pointing to non-canonical URLs may not fully benefit the preferred URL. Implementing 301 redirects ensures any link equity is directly passed on to your canonical URL.
Conclusion
Thank you for sharing this interesting challenge! Migrating to a new platform often presents unique hurdles, especially with URL management. Implementing 301 redirects for your orphaned URLs seems to be not just beneficial but essential for several reasons.
Firstly, 301 redirects help preserve any existing link equity from the old URLs. Even if the canonical just points to the root URL, search engines consider links to the longer, old-style URLs, and having the redirects in place can enhance the chances of ranking for those terms. This is crucial, especially if those URLs have had historical traffic or backlinks.
Secondly, from a user experience standpoint, maintaining access to the orphaned URLs through redirects can prevent 404 errors, which can lead to frustration for users trying to access your products. This also helps bolster overall site health, as a high number of 404 errors can negatively impact your SEO.
Regarding your concern about link equity, yes, link equity can transfer effectively with the right implementation of 301 redirects. While it may not be a one-to-one transfer, the benefit of retaining user trust and authority from the old URLs can still have a positive impact on your site’s overall performance.
Lastly, consider using tools like Google Search Console to track the performance of the old URLs post-redirect. This can provide valuable insights into how the transition is affecting your site’s visibility and engagement.
In summary, implementing the 301 redirects seems like a strategic move, and I would encourage you to push for it with the decision-makers by emphasizing these