Affecting Google Search Results

  • Resolved tinevdh

    (@tinevdh)


    7 years, 9 months ago

    Hi,

    I noticed today that the info in this widget is being taken into the google search result and linking people to the wrong page.

    For example if you have a recipe page and this widget (where you for example mention a book) is shown on the sidebar, if you google the title of the book you have in the sidebar you’ll get the link to the recipe page as well. How can we prevent this tool from affecting Google Search Results?

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Plugin Author mrwweb

    (@mrwweb)

    Hi there, @tinevdh! Thanks for using the plugin. I hope it’s served you well otherwise.

    The way search results are computed is an extremely complicated and somewhat vague-to-the-public matter. You might benefit by reading this WordPress SEO primer I’ve written.

    It’s hard to say without seeing links to the pages and search results, but as long as your recipe is showing up first in the results, this is probably pretty normal behavior for the web/search. If the result snippets or result order seem really off, then my guess is that there’s a bigger problem than this plugin. (Also, keep in mind that Google customizes your search results order when you’re logged in to account for your location, search history, etc.)

    Generally speaking, internal links (those from one page of your site to another), are a good practice and help search engines index and understand your site better. Therefore, I don’t expect that I’ll ever update to the plugin to hide them.

    That said, if you’re still really concerned about this, the only thing I can think to do would be to create a custom template for the widget and add “nofollow” to the widget links. However, the widget content would still be there, so I don’t know what impact that would have.

    Plugin Author mrwweb

    (@mrwweb)

    I haven’t heard back so am marking this issue as resolved. Feel free to open a new ticket if you have additional questions.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
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