Impact SEO - Learn Technical SEO Factors Easily

Why HTTP Status Codes are Important for SEO

2020-07-07T10:00:00.406+05:30

What is the HTTP status code?

HTTP status code is the server's response to a web browser's request. When you search for something on the internet, your browser sends a request to the destination website's server and the server responds with a three-digit code. The response is nothing but a confirmation that the requested file is available or not.

There are different HTTPS status codes, but 301, 404 & 200 are there most common ones used.

What HTTP status codes say

During internet browsing, you may have encountered error 404 pages and redirected pages.

To understand all these, you need to understand how a webpage loads when you try to open them.

Let's give you an overview

You type an URL of a website

⬇️⬇️

Your browser sends a request to the web site's IP address for the requested webpages.

⬇️⬇️

The website's server responds with an HTTP status code embedded in the HTTP header (It tells the browser the result of the request).

⬇️⬇️

If everything is fine, then the server sent the requested page

to the browser with a successful status code added to it.

The HTTPS status codes simply represent the location or situation of the requested file or webpage.

There are different HTTP status codes for different instances.

For example, 200 is for the successful delivery of the file.

301 or 307 indicates that the file has been moved to a different location or URL and many more.

Now all these different status codes belong to different classes of HTTP status codes.

So let me show you different classes of HTTP status codes.

Classifications of HTTP status codes

There are 5 distinct classes of HTTP status codes and each of them describes different possibilities.

1xx - Informational: It means your browser is still processing your request and the process is in perfect order.
2xx - Successful request: It means your request is successful & the file is located at the destination URL.
3XX - Redirection: You are redirected to some other location or URL.
4XX - Client error: It simply means that there is something wrong with the requested file or URL. Like the file does not exist in the destination URL anymore.
5XX - Server error: The reason behind this kind of error could be anything like there is something wrong with your server, or maybe because of exceeding traffic.

Important HTTP status codes in SEO

Now, if you are running a website or you are an SEO professional, you clearly need to understand the very importance of HTTP status code responses.

If you are working with these codes or will work in the future, you will know that there are several important HTTP status codes that need your attention.

Whenever you face any issues with your website you need to look at these codes to realize if the problem arises from your end or the server's end. So you can respond accordingly.

Out of all those, I shorted out the most important ones. So here is the list of HTTP status codes important in SEO.

HTTP status code 200 - OK / Success

It is the most perfect status code anyone can ask for, not only for users but also for the bots. Because of this, all the link equity passes through like a charm.

A URL with 200 status code

All the status codes under the 2xx range represent a successful request.

HTTP status code 301 - Permanent Redirect

It is one of the most common codes out there. It simply means that the URL or file has moved to a different location.

For example, when you type blog.ahrefs.com you will be redirected to https://ahrefs.com/blog/.

URL with 301 status code

And for SEO purposes the 301 redirect passes all its link juice to the redirected URL.

Google says they treat all 3xx redirects the same way, but using the 301 redirects will always be the first choice for permanent redirects.

HTTP status code 302 - Requested file found

Similar to the 301 status code, the 302 is also a redirect. It says the requested content has been found but at a different URL.

But still, it is not recommended when it comes to permanent redirect because it doesn't say why it is moved to a different location and it also doesn't say the redirect will be temporary or permanent.

A URL with 302 status code

That is why in 302 redirects the crawlers don't pass any link equity. Because there is a chance you might use this URL again.

Only use this if the redirect is temporary or your site is under maintenance for a brief period.

HTTP status code 307 - Temporary redirect

Similar to 302 status code, but a more precise version of it as it tells the search crawlers the redirect is temporary.

Crawlers don't pass any link equity as they are notified that the action is temporary.

HTTP status code 403 - Forbidden

This is a status code shown when the credential used to enter the file or the webpage is not correct or the user is forbidden from entering the page.

HTTP status code 404 - Error

404 is the most heard and seen status code. You can see this code for many reasons, like if the content does not exist in the destination URL anymore or you may have a type in the wrong URL.

URL with 404 status code

Every website always holds a chance to show one or more 404 pages. But it is not a good thing for SEO at all, probably the worst.

Google or every other search engine sees the 404 pages as a poor sign of website health. It will certainly affect the site traffic thereby ranking possibilities.

That's why specialists redirect these pages to a custom 404 page or much more relevant content or even the homepage.

Important: Make sure if not homepage, then redirect it to somewhere relevant.

410 status code - Gone / Deleted Permanently

Similar to 404 but much more precise as 410 status code tells the search crawlers that content is not found and it is deleted permanently.

Search crawlers will no longer crawl or index the page. Make sure to remove these pages from your sitemap also by missing a no-index tag.

If these dead pages are getting backlinks from different websites. So it makes sense to ask them to update the links otherwise, the crawlers will be taken to a dead resource.

HTTP status code 500 - Internal Server Error

It is the most significant in the 5xx range of HTTP status codes. It can happen because of some maintenance work or any disturbance in the server.

It will resist the bots and users from accessing your site. So you might want to fix this as soon as possible.

HTTP status code 503 - service Temporarily Unavailable

Another one from the 5xx range. 503 status code says that the server is going through a breakdown and it may be due to some maintenance issue or overloading.

But unlike 500 it will tell the search crawlers that it is temporary, please come back soon. So it is much more precise.

HTTP status code checker

By this time you may have got an idea about these codes and how it can affect your site's performance. Now let me show you how to see the existing status codes on your website.

Use this tool from convertcsv to download all the URLs associated with the website.

Copy & paste these URLs in this URL status code checker & done.

To check the redirects and 404 error pages you can also use some chrome extensions like SEO minion. All you have to do is go to any webpage if the page is redirected or not available (404 pages), you will see that in the extension icon.

For any errors associated with HTTP status codes can also be seen from Google Search Console.

Conclusion

Understanding HTTP status codes are very helpful and also important for maintaining a website's health. In SEO you will see these codes every day so knowing this can be very helpful in tackling those.

This is it for me. Please let me know if I have missed something. Connect with me on Facebook for any quires or please comment below. I will definitely respond to your queries with the best of my abilities.

Redirects | The Ultimate Guide to 301 URL Redirection

2020-06-16T17:43:00.084+05:30

Redirects

Redirection is the process of sending one URL to another URL. The most common redirects are 301 & 302 redirects.

What is a 301 redirect?

A 301 redirect is an HTTP status code. It is used to permanently transfer a web page URL to another URL in the eyes of users and the search crawlers.

Example

When you type http://iconosquare.com/ you will be redirected to

https://pro.iconosquare.com/.

Now before moving further you need to see what will you learn in this 3500 long article. So please fasten your seatbelts!!

Why redirects are used in SEO?

Redirects are one of the most essential tools to create a healthy SEO friendly website.
There are different reasons behind why you should definitely use redirects like

Redirecting 404 pages to other pages.
Moving your website from non-www to www and vice-versa.
Redirecting your domain from HTTP to HTTPS.
Redirecting a deleted page to any other page to avoid 404 pages.
Redirecting your old domain to your new domain.
Changing the URL structure of a page or post.

Type of redirects

In 301, 302 & 307 redirects, the numbers 3xx here represent a range of HTTP status codes.

And you also have an idea about 404 pages. This 404 error is also a part of the HTTP status code range 4xx. There are a total of 5 ranges of HTTP status codes.

Now let's take a brief look at the types of redirects and how it influences your site health & SEO.

The information below is just for an overview and the detailed information will be provided in the later section of the blog.

301 redirect

A redirect that redirects a URL to a different URL permanently. That means no use of the old URL again.

When used
1. Redirecting 404 pages.
2. Moving the entire domain from non-www to www.
3. Moving from HTTP to HTTPS.
4. Merging similar blog post pages.

Impact on SEO
There will be no page rank loss after you redirect your pages to a different URL or similar content.

302 redirect

A 302 status code is used when the redirection is not permanent.
That means you can use the URL again later.

For the user, it will show the requested content moved to a different URL but it doesn’t say why it moved.

When used
When your own site is under any maintenance and you want users to get redirected to a different location for a short period of time.

This redirect is not recommended when you are
1. Moving your site to a new domain.
2. Making a permanent redirect.

Impact on SEO
This redirect doesn’t pass any page rank value because this is a temporary redirect.

307 redirect

307 redirect is the precise version of 302 redirects.

Unlike 302 it clearly tells the search crawlers that the redirect is temporary and will be back after some time.

When used
Same as 302 redirects.

Impact on SEO
No passing of link authority as crawlers will be notified that it’s temporary and the URL can be used later.

Meta refresh redirects

Meta refresh redirects are client-side redirect and other redirects like 3xx redirects are server-side redirects. It's the alternative to server-side redirects such as 301 & 302.

Examples - "If you are not redirected in ten seconds, click here."

When used

Redirecting URLs after a certain amount of time.
Updating dynamic content in web pages after the refresh.

Caution. Do not use it if you are making a permanent redirect.

Impact on SEO
It is never recommended using this redirect, as it is really bad for user experience.

Because the user may not want to get redirected to a different page which may result in dissatisfaction and security concerns.

There is another one which is 308 redirect and it is hardly used. Similar to 301, it simply means that you follow the redirect page and never return to the old URL.

Now you might be wondering what’s the difference between 301 & 308 redirect?

compared to 301, the 308 redirect is relatively new and it is still unsupported by so many browsers and search crawlers.

So there is a chance these redirects can be treated as empty pages by Google hence 404.

Not redirects but similar

410 deleted content

Showing 404 pages is not only bad for user experience but it also affects your site health in the eyes of crawlers.

So, it is recommended to redirect them to the homepage or any relevant pages.

But if you don’t have any option but deleting it, then using a 410 status code instead of 404 makes total sense.

This simply tells the search crawlers that the page is deleted and should be removed from indexed pages of your website.

451 removed for legal reasons

If you are facing any legal issues for any content on your page, then using 451 headers instead of deleting makes sense.

Caution: I am no expert in this 451 status code. This is just to tell you what it actually means.

How to Create a URL Redirection

There are multiple ways to redirect pages like using Cpanel and for WordPress websites using some 301 redirect WordPress plugin.

The most common method is Redirecting by editing your .htaccess file in your site's root folder.

So first thing first, let’s see how you can reach the .htaccess file.

.htaccess file

To get access to your .htaccess file you need to follow these steps

Open “File Manager” in Cpanel.
Now open the “Root” folder of the preferred website.
Open “public_html” and here will find the ".htaccess” file.

Important. If you can't see the .htaccess file, click on “show hidden files” in the settings and save. Now you will find the .htaccess file.

Now if you still can’t see it, you have to create one by yourself. To do that click on “File” on the upper left corner of the window and create a new file with the name .htaccess and click on “Create New File”.

Create .htaccess file

Next, save the file as .htaccess and click "Create New File".

Create new .htaccess file

After creating select that .htaccess file & click on the “Edit” button.

Edit .htaccess file in cpanel

A new window will open and you may find some codes in there.
Ignore all the codes and go to the bottom section & paste the redirection codes that will be provided in the later section of the article.
Save it & Done.

Now if you are still confused about how to get access to .htaccess file. Then this video will surely help you.

Important. .htaccess file is only accessible to the Apache webserver. If you are using Nginx then see this source and if you are Windows/IIS then this source will help.

Now as we have the .htaccess file so let’s see how to do a 301 redirect.

1. 301 Redirect from one URL to another

Two ways to do this

1. 301 redirect with .htaccess

Think of it this way, you want to redirect an old page in your site to a new page.

Old page URL - https://impactseo.blogspot.com/canonicalization.html

New Page URL - https://impactseo.blogspot.com/canonical-url.html

Paste the code below at the bottom of your .htaccess file. And save.

Make sure to change your details before pasting the 301 redirect code.

Redirect 301 /old-page.html /https://yoursite.com/new-page.html

Important. Now you can notice that in the old page URL section I only have given the later part of the URL, not the full URL of the old page and in the new page URL section, I have given the full URL.

So make sure if both pages are in the same domain, then for the old URL which you will redirect, you only have to put the later part of the URL, not the full URL.

So for the above case, it will be

Redirect 301 /canonicalization.html https://impactseo.blogspot.com/canonical-url.html

2. 301 redirect in WordPress

For WordPress websites redirecting is much easier. Use plugins like Redirection.

WordPress redirection plugin

3. Redirect a domain to another domain

Use the code at the bottom of the .htaccess file & save.

Make sure to edit it with your details before pasting it.

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^oldsite.com [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.oldsite.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://newsite.com/$1 [L,R=301,NC]

Important. In some cases, the  “RewriteEngine on” could be in the  .htaccess file beforehand. If yes, then you don’t have to use it again. Just copy the rest of the code and paste.

4. Redirect from Non-www to www and vice-versa

It’s easy to redirect your domain from non-www to www. Just copy the 301 redirect code and replace it with your credentials and paste it in the .htaccess file & save.

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.example.com/$1 [L,R=301,NC]

Similarly for www to the non-www version

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.example.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://example.com/$1 [L,R=301,NC]

5. Domain redirect from HTTP to HTTPS

Google always prefers HTTPS over HTTP. They also consider it as a ranking signal. Now if you are still using HTTP, your site will be marked as "not secure" by browsers as well as the crawlers, which is not recommended at all.

So it is always recommended to use HTTPS over HTTP.

Important. You have to make sure you have an SSL certificate before you move from HTTP to HTTPS. Otherwise, it will show a “Not Secure” message.

So, to redirect from HTTP to HTTPS, Just copy the code and paste it in the .htaccess file & save. No changes required in the code.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

6. Redirect entire Domain from non-www to www & HTTP to HTTPS in a single time

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\. [NC]
RewriteRule ^ https://www.%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
RewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} !https
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Does using 301 redirect result as page rank loss?

PageRank is one of the top essential ranking factors of a website.

Question
So now the question is when you redirect from page 1 to page 2 and the PageRank of page 1 that passes through to page 2 after redirection, will it be the same as before or there will be loss of PageRank after redirection?

Answer
Before 2016 it was said an estimated 15% of PageRank loss after reduction. Although the number may not be exact. This video published in 2013 gives a hint on this topic.

But in 2019 it becomes official there will be no PageRank loss after redirection.

Here is the official announcement.

30x redirects don't lose PageRank anymore.
— Gary 鯨理／경리 Illyes (@methode) July 26, 2016

So if you today redirect Page 1 to page 2, page 2 will receive all the PageRank page 2 had.

How to fix 301 redirect problems in your website

I guess by this time you have an idea about redirects that are not limited to only two URLs linked to each other. It’s much much more.

It is associated with your site’s health & SEO vividly.

Now let’s see the most important 301 redirect issues that need your attention asap.

So let's show you how to fix 301 redirects and how does 301 redirect affect SEO.

1. Remove 301 status code pages from your sitemap

Talking about sitemaps, sitemaps are used by site owners to tell the search crawlers which pages to crawl & index.

Now when you permanently redirect an old page to a new one. That old page technically no longer exists. So it does make sense to remove it from sitemap,

Because every time search engine crawlers will have to visit the old page to implement the redirect.

And this will hit your crawl budget, as that will be wasted on pages that are not necessary to crawl.

Don’t worry the redirect will still work for the users if the users type in the old URL.

How to find all the redirected URLs in your site & remove them from sitemap?

To find what are the URLs that are using the 301 HTTP status code in the header

You can simply use this tool from convertcsv to download all the URLs on your website.
Just paste in your URL and bingo!!
Copy those URLs.

URL extractor tool

Now to check the status codes of all the URLs. To do that go to this HTTP status code checker and paste it.
Now to remove them, you will have to add a noindex tag to all those pages which you have already redirected. In this way, crawlers will never index those pages.

2. Fix 301 redirect chains & loops

Redirect Chains problem

Page 1 > Page 2 > Page 3

As you can see when a user visits page 1 first they will be redirected to page 2 and then to page 3.

This will not only affect your website user experience but also increases the loading time.

Redirect loops problem

Page 1 > Page 2 > Page 3 > Page 1 > Page 3 >[…]
Look how confusing these.

This not only kills the link but also the search crawler will be confused during crawling and thereby redirect will be counted as a 404 error.

Now how to find these redirect chains & loops on your website?

Use the HTTP status code checker to check your site’s URLs and to find their HTTP status codes.

Now to identify them you can simply look for this

For the redirect chain, it will look like this.

Redirect chain

For the redirect loop, it will look something like this.

Redirect loop

How to fix redirect chains & loops error?

There are several ways you can fix this issue like

Replace it with a single redirect

Replace the redirect loop or chain with a single 301 redirect to the final URL and to avoid confusion for the crawlers.

Implement a Canonical tag instead of redirecting

If you have 2 - 3 articles on the same topic and you want to redirect them to a single URL to avoid duplicate content.

But the URL that you want to redirect to the new URL has a good engagement history which can be useful for the users. so, it is better to use a canonical tag in the old URL instead of redirecting them and hiding them from search results.

In this way, the search crawlers will only see the new article but in the eyes of users, both the articles will be available.

Thus you will not only prevent duplicate pages, but you will also get some link juice from the previously published article.

More on canonical URLs in this source.

Replace redirected internal link

Everyone uses internal links in their site’s content.

But if the internal links are also redirected to some other URL, make sure to change those links with the final URL.

3. Fix Broken redirects & 404 pages

Broken redirect problem

Broken redirect means when you redirect a page to a URL that is dead or no longer exists. Then it is called a broken redirect.

In HTTP status code checker these redirects will look something like this

Broken redirect

Solution

In this case, you need to remove those links or redirect them to some other URLs.

Problem with 404 pages

You already know that having 404 pages on your site is not preferred.

So you need to redirect them to the homepage or some other relevant content.

But what if someone types in the wrong URL of your site?

It will still show the 404 error, right?

But don’t worry it will not affect the health of your site because 404 pages are only harmful when they are crawlable and part of your sitemap.

And a wrong URL is never crawlable.

Caution. Make sure to redirect 404 pages to relevant pages, not to any pages you want.

If the redirect is not relevant, then Google will treat it as soft 404’s.

Google recommends if the 404 page has a good amount of high-quality backlinks, then it is much better to republish the content at the same URL rather than redirecting it somewhere irrelevant.

4. 404 pages with backlinks

404 pages are a problem when they have backlinks.

If your 404 pages have any quality backlinks from other websites then make sure to redirect it somewhere relevant otherwise it’s just a waste of link juice.

You can also republish the content at the same dead URL that has backlinks instead of redirecting.

5. Redirected pages with traffic

If your 3xx redirect pages are still getting traffic, that means Google hasn’t recognized them yet.

But if you are in a hurry, paste that URL in Google Search Console for fast indexing.

How 301 redirects can increase your site's organic traffic

I hope by this time it is clear for you, how essential the 301 redirect is for SEO and site maintenance.

If yes, then let’s see how you can use 301 redirects to increase your site’s organic traffic.

There are two ways available

1. Combine similar content

For example, let’s assume you have two similar content on your website which are much similar in terms of information.

Content 1 - “6 things to keep in mind before buying any Hosting”

Content 2 - “How to choose the best hosting provider for your site”

And both of them have average traffic and they also get traffic for the same keywords.

They also have some do-follow backlinks.

Now all you have to do is, merge the information of both the content in a single improved article and publish it in any of the two URLs.

And redirect the other URL to this new content. And done.

It will increase your traffic because

Combined page authority

As 301 redirects don’t affect your PageRank anymore, one content will pass its page authority to another one. But it only works for similar contents. Otherwise, Google will treat it as a soft 404’s.

Improved Content

If both the articles you choose are good content then merging them will only increase their value. So it kinda deserves the traffic.

Caution. To keep the relevance factor high make sure to change the anchor link of this merged article if you interlink them in your site.

Use this link analysis to get anchor text of links on your site.

2. Merge similar domains

You need to buy a similar website to yours.
Merge the content of both the site with 301 redirects.

Here’s what happened to a website after they used this technique.

Image Source - ahrefs.com

It sounds easy, just to redirect one with another. But it isn’t.

Your job is not done here. You have to redirect each of the content from your purchased websites to your existing website.

So let me show you how to do this step by step

Step 1
Combine similar content and redirect them only if these conditions applies

Content has organic traffic
The content is relevant to your existing website
Merging them will make the combined version more improved. Otherwise, you can also rewrite the content.

Step 2

Delete or redirect pages that aren’t necessary.

Pages like “About Us” & “Contact Us” in your purchased website has nothing to do with your existing site.

So it does make sense to delete these pages with 410 status code.

Redirect those pages from your purchased site to the existing site if they have no traffic or very small traffic. Redirect them to any similar content.

Step 3

Now if you do not find any similar content to redirect, then it makes sense to redirect those content to the home page.

But what about soft 404’s here for irrelevant redirecting?

The thing is if you do not redirect them to any page, Goggle will anyhow consider them as soft 404’s.

So it isn’t a bad idea here to redirect them to the homepage.

Important. Do not redirect content that has low-quality backlinks to the homepage.

Then it will harm your site rather than improving. So it’s best to keep those in 404.

Now to analyze your backlinks you can simply use this online tool by Seoprofiler.

301 redirect checker for any websites

You already know how to check 301 redirects of a website by the HTTP status code checker that was mentioned earlier.

But if you have no bulk requirement of checking the HTTP status codes, you can simply use this chrome extension SEO Minion.

You just enter any page in your browser and if the page has been redirected to somewhere else it will show something like this.

I typed blog.ahrefs.com but the URL was redirected to https://ahrefs.com/blog/.

Check redirects through chrome extension

The best part is not only all kinds of redirects, but you can also check a lot of information about your On-Page SEO.

Final thoughts

Redirects are one of the most important assets when it comes to SEO & organic traffic. But before using it to its full potential, you need to make sure you fix the existing 301 redirect issues first.

This is it for me. Please let me know if I have missed something. Connect with me on Twitter for any quires or please comment below. I will definitely respond to your queries with the best of my ability.

6 Simple Ways to Change Facebook Page Name (2020)

2020-05-30T14:32:00.029+05:30

Five years back, it was near impossible to change the name of a Facebook page. But with the recent updates, it is now possible to change your page name easily.

But still, there are some restrictions that can't be overlooked. These restrictions may be causing the rejection of your Facebook page name request.

So in this blog, I will try my best to tell you how you can change your Facebook page name in the easiest way possible.

So let's see how we can help you.

Basic methods to change the Facebook page name

1. From Desktop

It is probably the easiest way you can change your Facebook business page name. So here how it's done.

First, you will go to your Facebook page through desktop, and on the left side tab, you will click on the "About" section.

Important: You have to be an admin to perform this action.

After clicking, you will see the option "Name" under the "General" section. Now click on the "Edit" button.

Facebook Page About Section

Now you can simply put your preferred page name here.
Then click on the "Continue" button.

Now Facebook asks for the confirmation before you change the name of the FB page.

Make sure you double-check the spelling before submitting it.

After confirming, click on "Request Change."

And finally, it's done. You will get a pop up which will look something like this.

Now, remember if the page is new and the page has no history of name changing, then the name will be changed immediately.

But if it takes 3-7 days, don't be surprised. It happens.

2. Facebook's mobile website

Now, if you don't have access to a desktop. You don't have to worry about changing the Facebook page name.

You can do the same using the Facebook website.

Now, you might be saying why am I using a website instead of the Facebook android application.

The reason is according to the latest update in Facebook android application, you won't be able to change the Facebook page name through their app.

Although you get the option of changing the page name.

But every time the screen will end up looking like this.

Screenshots from Facebook Mobile App

The Facebook mobile app may be a fail, but you can simply do it by the Facebook mobile website.

All you have to do is open any browser on your phone and type "m.facebook.com."
Log in using your id and password.
Click on the menu bar at the top right corner of your screen.
Now go to your page and click on "More."
Click on "Edit Settings."
Next, click on "Page Info."
Now you will get the option of changing your Facebook business page name.

If you are facing any issue regarding this step, here is a video to help you out.

Now let's show you the 3rd conventional way you can change Facebook page name.

3. Facebook Pages Manager App

Published in 2014, the Facebook Pages Manager app is only designed to operate pages.

It does what the Facebook mobile application doesn't do. So let's see how it's done. It's pretty easy.

After installing the app, log in with your credentials.
After that, you will get access to your business page.
Now go through the "Tool" icon in the bottom right corner.
Click on the"Settings."
Now click "Page Info."
Now under the "Edit name" section, you can simply put your preferred page name and click "Save."
All done. Now all you have to do is to wait for 3 - 7 days for Facebook to approve it.

Here how it actually looks.

Why Facebook is rejecting your name change requests?

Now the hardest part and probably the most essential element for which you are here.

If any of the previous methods don't work for you, there could be so many reasons behind that.

You need to know these reasons to make a successful change.

I have tried my best to explain these in a small and meaningful way.

This is will surely help you to make sure your preferred page name doesn't violate Facebook's policies.

Facebook's recommendation

Words / Symbols Used

Do not use words that are abusive and violate someone's rights.
Avoid using the word "official" unless it's an official page of a brand organization or public figure. The same goes for the ® symbol.
Improper capitalization like "tHe BEst fAShion StOre." Use correct capitalization with accurate grammar.
Avoid using any variation of the word Facebook.
Stop using slogans like (The Best Tomato ketchup - We serve the best salsa in the town). Save it for the page's "About" section.
Do not use "Generic words" like Coffe, Burger unless you are the official representatives.
Do not use Generic location like London or New York. unless this page is created for an organization that represents a geographical location. (New Delhi - President's Office)

All these are Facebook's recommendation.

But if you think your page name doesn't violate any of the these but still getting rejected, then my friend, you may have to do something out of the box.

But believe me, it will still work like a charm. But before that, it's essential to know what is causing the problem.

Here, after so many experiments and asking countless people, we have to write down these points for you.

The reasons behind your Facebook page name rejection

Admin Access - You are not given "Admin" access for the page, which is preventing you from changing the page name.

To get the Admin access, you need to go the page role and have to change it from there.

Global Page - If your page falls under a "Global Page," then you will not be able to change the name of that page.

Example: "Netflix" is a global page, but this global page has its regional versions like "Netflix UK" or "Netflix India," etc.

If you check each of the Netflix Facebook pages URL, you will see both names are the same, but the URL and username for both are different.

For more details on "Global Pages," you can check out this source.

Too many Facebook likes - Too many likes on your Facebook business page can also be a headache in the changing process as Facebook count that page name change as confusing for users. As well as very spammy if done continuously. So after so many changes, it may stop taking your requests.
Lack of similarity - Lack of similarity between the names is one of the main reasons behind the rejection. Make sure both the names complement each other, not only interns of words also in terms of relevancy.
Too many requests - If your page has too many names changing history in the past, chances are your request, maybe not me ever excepted (My situation).
Admin Authenticity - Having an admin that has so many policy violations against him/her could also be a reason.

So we are done with reasons let's talk about solutions. Yeah!!

Possible ways to fix if you can't change Facebook page name

All these are tasted with different accounts and have a higher percentage of success rate with a little bit of patience.

1. Wait after every request

With every request you make, you have to wait at least 7 days to get a clarification from Facebook.

It's hard but still better than ruining the chances by making too many requests in a short time.

This is the mistake I had made, and you don't want to hear the consequences.

So with each request, wait a minimum of 7 days to apply for it again.

2. Change Facebook Page name little at a time

Sounds like a trick?

It is a trick and probably one of the most useful methods you can use if your current page name and new page name has no similarity between them.

Here's how it will take place

Let's assume your current page name is "Patel Mobile Store," and you want to change it to "Rahul's Clinic Store."

Then what you have to do is

Step 1: Change the current name to "Patel Mobile Clinic."

Step 2: Then again, change it to the "Patel Mobile Clinic Store."

Step 3: Then to "Patel Clinic Store"

Step 4: Finally, to "Rahul Clinic Store" and done.

Caution: Make sure you wait at least 7 days after making each request. Make sure only to change a single word or, in a rare case, 2 to avoid getting rejected.

Contact Facebook Ad support (Recommended)

Now finally, I am going to tell you the process that really worked for me.

It is the easiest and much more professional way of changing your Facebook page name.

All you have to is write a small mail to the Facebook page help center.

Believe me, they do reply to the query with an appropriate solution.

So, without wasting your time, let's see how it's done.

The step-by-step process of changing the Facebook page name

Step 1: Go to Facebook advertising support.
Step 2: On the bottom left, you will see an option of "Contact our support team." And there you can simply "Chat" with them by describing your issue.

Chat support from the Facebook Help centre

Important: The "Chat" option may be available every time. Instead, they will give you a choice of sending an "Email." Which is equally appropriate.

Email support from the Facebook Help center

In my case, I had to use "Mail." And it worked well. But chat is much better for a quick response.

Step 3: After clicking on Chat or Email, you will be given a basic form to fill. Which will look like this

Step - 4: Fill up the necessary details like name, email address, and chose your page.
Step - 5: In the form under "What is your question about?" section chose "Pages."

Step - 6: Then, they will ask for your "Ad account ID," "the title of your request."

Ad account Id is not mandatory, but make sure you give a title of your request, which similar to mail subject line.

Example - "Facebook Page Name Change Request"

Step - 7: Now, under "Pages requests," make sure you select "Request a page name change."

Step - 8: Now select your page for which you want to change your page name. And describe the whole situation like why you want the page name to change. Keep it clean, don't mess it up.

Step -9: Now, you can upload any documents that clearly mention your preferred page name.

If you don't have the documents, it will still work. Not mandatory.

Step 10: Click "Request Support." And done.

Your work is done for now, but it doesn't mean it will change your Facebook page alone

After submitting the form, Facebook will send you a confirmation mail. and you have to wait till the time Facebook check your complain and return to you for more details.

Don't worry, the responses are quick.

After sending the request, Facebook will surely ask for some documents that you have to provide.

Documents accepted by Facebook for a page name change

A press release or news article about the rebranding.
Articles of Amendment for a name change.
A link to your official website that clearly states the change.
A link to a post on your Facebook Page that announces the change (Easiest).

If you have the documents, then it's ok.

But most of us don't. In that case, "A link to a post on your Facebook Page" is the best option.

All you have to do is go to your Facebook page publish a post in the text format where it needs to be written that your page name will be changed very soon. Yes, as simple as that.

Example Facebook post

"Hi everyone, hope you guys are doing well during this lockdown. I'm here just to let you know we will be changing our Facebook page name "Current Name" to "New Name." Both will represent the same page. Till then, stay safe".

Finally, after submitting any of the documents above, you have to wait until Facebook confirms your Page name change.

Between all these Facebook support teams will keep updating you about the progress.

Now please keep in mind changing your Facebook page name will not change your Facebook page URL.

URL entirely depends on page username. Now, if you have any questions regarding how to change the username of a Facebook page, drop it in the comment box.

I will personally help you with that.

Conclusion

No doubt changing your Facebook page name is much easier compared to what it used to be.

But still, there are some limitations. But if you are lucky enough, which I believe you are, you will be able to do this successfully.

I really hope this blog really helps with your problem with "how to change the Facebook page name."

But if you still have any questions, write it in the comment box or connect with me on Facebook.

And if you like the article, please share it with your friends.

Kindly subscribe to my blog using the newsletter for non-irritating Digital Marketing updates.

What are Canonical URLs & How to Create One (2020)

2020-05-06T22:33:00.138+05:30

URL Canonicalization

What is a canonical URL?

A canonical tag (aka rel= "canonical") is a simple HTML code that tells the search engines which version of the URL they should pick for indexing and therefore showing it in the search results and this target URL is called canonical URL. In other words, you will set up this canonical URL to tell the search engine crawlers that this particular URL represents the original copy of a page.

Canonical URL sample
Now let me show you an example of this canonical tag.

Why is URL canonicalization used in SEO?

So what is canonical tag in SEO? Started in February 2009 by Google & other search engines, the canonical link element or rel=canonical tag is used to avoid duplicate content, which may result in a penalty.

Now you might be thinking, what are these duplicate contents and why I would even create one?.

The thing is you don't always create one intentionally. Let me show you simply how it works. But first, let's show you what the problems are that forcing everyone to use the canonical tag in their pages or posts.

Problems solved by URL cannibalization

Problem type - 1
For example, let's assume you have a website whose URL(Home-page) is this www.example.com.

Now when the search crawlers enter your site to crawl, they can enter your site through different URLs like

http://www.example.com

https://www.example.com

http://example.com

http://example.com/index.php

http://example.com/index.php?r

Now you know that all these URLs are the same in terms of content, and when crawlers enter through each URL, they will find the same content every time. Now, what seems to be wrong with this?

The problem is these URLs may be the same in your eyes, but for search crawlers, all these 5 URLs are different and unique. If the crawlers find all these five different URLs leads to the same content, then it will be bad for your SEO and Google will penalize you based on the Google Panda algorithm.

Now to solve the issue, we use canonical tags. It tells the search crawlers to index only one version of the URL, which we mentioned as the original copy earlier.

Problem type - 2

let's consider in an eCommerce website a particular product page URL is

http://example.com/products.html (Original copy)

Now we know that for the Print version, PDF version, and AMP version, the similar product page URL will be different. As follows

Print version - http://example.com/products_print.html

PDF version - http://example.com/products.pdf

AMP version - http://mobile.example.com/products.html

Now Google crawler will consider these URLs as different, so you need to apply the canonical tag, which will consist of the original copy of the URL in the Print version, PDF version, as well as in the AMP version individually. Here's the canonical tag will look like this

<link rel="canonical" href="http://example.com/products.html"/>

Link advantage passes through different URLs

Not only will it help the search crawlers to decide which page to index, but it will also provide a linked advantage to the actual URL of the product page that has been received from the other three different versions of the product page.

Apply Canonical Tag for similar content or pages

Let's consider you have a website, and in 2015 you published an article about "top 10 action movies of all time," and in 2020, you published a similar article but with very little difference in content.

Now let us consider that the article you published in 2015 has a lot of backlinks and share or engagement; therefore, the good amount of link juice. Now you want that link advantage in your newly published content.

To do this, you can put the URL of the latest content in the previous post as Canonical URL. What it will do is, it will tell the search crawlers that both of the material are the same, but I want to index the latest published content.

Thus you will not only prevent duplicate pages, but you will also get some link juice from the previously published material.

Whats makes it worse
The content management system (CMS) increases these duplicate content problems even worse, especially for E-commerce websites. The E-commerce websites are dynamic and code-driven, and they automatically add tags and create multiple URLs for the same content by adding URL parameters for searches, sorts, and different currencies, etc.

Why are canonical URLs essential for SEO?

If you have more than one URL for a single piece of content, you will make it harder for such crawlers to choose

Which version of the URL you want to index

Whether they should provide "link juice" to one page, or split it between multiple versions of that URL.

What if you don't canonicalize your duplicate contents?
If you have the right amount of duplicate pages or contents in your website, it can

Affect your "crawl budget." (It will end up crawling similar pages multiple times due to multiple URLs thereby it will avoid other essential contents in your website)

In search engines, it may index a URL that is not your preferred URL.

Manipulate your Analytics data like Google Analytics will only choose one URL for a single webpage so if your webpage has different URLs it will only pick one URL and will avoid the data received from other URLs.

How to create canonical URLs easily

Process - 1

Using rel="canonical" HTML tags

Now, as you have learned, what canonical tag or canonical link element is, so let's see how you can make one for your website.

Let's assume you have two different versions of the same web page, and the content in them is entirely the same. Still, the only difference is that they are placed in two different parts of the website, and both of them have links from other websites, so clearly, the content is valuable. So how can you decide now which version you want to show in the search results?

Let's say the two URLs are

https://example.com/hollywood-action-movies/
https://example.com/movies/hollywood/action-movies/

Now you choose one between these two options. Confuse about choosing the right URL for you? see the step - 1 below

Step - 1
Choose the one that is the latest in terms of information. If you are still confused, then you simply choose the URL that looks clearer or has a higher number of likes and shares. Whichever one you like but choose any one of them.

Step - 2
Let's assume you have chosen the second URL(https://example.com/movies/hollywood/action-movies/) as your canonical URL or preferred URL, and you want to show this URL in the search result. Now the canonical URL will look like this.

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/movies/hollywood/action-movies/"/>

Step - 3

Now all you have to do is take the code and paste it just after the <head> section of the duplicate webpage, for example, the duplicate page here is

https://example.com/hollywood-action-movies/

Step - 4

What? Your work is already done. Step - 3 was the last step.

Process - 2

Canonical Tag Using Yoast SEO in WordPress

This is probably the easiest way you can create canonical URLs. All you have to do is install the Yoast SEO plugin. What it will do is, it will automatically add self-referencing canonical tags to every page and post.

Here self-referencing canonical tag is nothing, but the tag consists of the original copy of the URL that you want search results to show out of those different URLs that are created due to the modern Content Management System (CMS).

But if you want to create the tag manually, all you have to is go to the duplicate content page in WordPress and click "Edit," and at the bottom, in the "Advanced" section, you will get an option to put your preferred canonical URL. Just paste the URL of the original copy of the content and all done.

Yoast SEO Plugin

Make sure you put only the URL of the original copy, not a whole tag like this.

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/movies/hollywood/action-movies/"/>

When to use canonical URLs, and what are best practices?

A canonical tag is a potent tool if used correctly and carefully. So it is crucial to know when and what way you can use it to get the best result.

1. Self-referential canonical tags
Google recommends that it is best to use a canonical link element on every page, even though there may not be a possibility for a page to have duplicate content.

What you need to know is that if you have three URLs as X, Y, and Z

and all these URLs have the same duplicate content, and X is the canonical version, then it is entirely ok and acceptable to put the canonical tag on the X URL page. Although, it is pointing towards the same URL, which is also X.

So X pointing towards X. Sounds easy, but believe me, some people get confused.

2. 301 redirect or canonical tag What to use?
Let's consider you have two blog webpages like A and B with different URLs but similar content on them. Then

1st case

If the page authority, post engagement is the same for both pages, then it always makes sense to 301 redirects one page to another. As a result, the user and search crawlers will only see the redirected version of the page. The other version of the page will not be seen by anyone.

2nd case

Let's assume that the blog with webpage A was published in 2018, and it has a lot of comments, shares, and backlinks in it. Now in 2020, you post a blog with webpage B that is similar to blog A. Now, you might be thinking why not redirect the blog A to blog B.

But if you redirect A>B, then you lose the page authority or link juice you have received on Blog A. Also, this is not good for the user experience as the user in the new blog B will not be able to see the comments.

Now to prevent this, you can simply use the canonical version of the webpage B to webpage A. In this way, users will still be able to see both versions of the webpage.

Yet, search crawlers will only crawl and index the new blog post that is webpage B. And most importantly, the latest blog post will get some link advantage from the old blog with engagements in it.

3. Canonical tag for home-page

The home-page has a higher probability of creating duplicate URLs, so it is an excellent idea to canonicalize your home-page. As you can see in the picture that Moz is using the rel=canonical tag on the home-page.

Image credit - moz.com

4. Canonical URL of near-duplicate pages
We can also apply canonical tags for near-duplicate pages. For example, in an e-commerce website, a similar product page content can only differ by variation in currency, place, or any product attribute. So here setting up a canonical URL makes sense. But if the content of the pages is very different, google may ignore the tag.

5. URL Canonicalization of cross-domain duplicates
Assume that you are a blogger and you have your own website. You publish any blog on your own website, and you also post the same article on some other sites for some other domains for work purposes. So this increases the creation of duplicate content. So now, to avoid this, you can simply apply the canonical tag to other domains to your own websites.

This will

Increase your page authority.

Will prevent the non-canonical sites from ranking.

So use it carefully in a way that matches your business purposes.

Common mistakes to avoid during URL canonicalization

1. Assigning canonical tag to the subpages
Don't attach a canonical tag to the subpages of each post. For example, let's consider that a post name "F" has 5000 words in it, and for simplification, you split the 5000 words into 5 different posts like A, B, C, D, E.

Now do not assign the canonical tag from the 1st page A to 2nd page B and the 2nd page B to 3rd page C and so on. Because these pages (A-E) are not duplicate pages, they are the different unique parts of the 5000-word post "F."

Now what you can do is assign canonical tag of the complete post "F" to each subpage (A-E) individually.

2. Creating a rel= "canonical" tag without HTTP

In the above picture, you can clearly see the 1st URL is without HTTP/HTTPS attribute; therefore, it is not accepted as a canonical link.

But for the 2nd link, the HTTP/HTTPS is not mentioned, but it is still accepted because the link is represented here as the form of relative HTML, i.e., just cupcake.html for this target URL http://example.com/cupcake.html"/>

So you either mention only the relative HTML or write the whole URL with HTTP/HTTPS tag.

3. Using multiple canonical tags for a single post

As you can see in the above picture, two rel=canonical tags are used for a single post. It is the wrong thing to do as Google will accept any one of the two URLs.

So only one canonical URL for each post.

4. Assigning canonical tag to a category page
Consider you are running a food-related website, and you have a category only for Indian food and also for the other cuisines like Italian, Chinese. Now let's consider your site publish a featured post/blog related to new dishes every day.

Now you cannot use the Canonical tag in any of the category pages to redirect the category page to this featured post or blog.

Because if you use the canonical tag to redirect the user to the featured post or article, your category pages will never appear on the search result again, which is never recommended.

5. Putting canonical tag under <body> tag

In the above, you can see the rel"canonical" is placed inside the <body> tag, but it is entirely wrong.

The canonical tag will always place between <head> tag not under <body> tag.

The post should have been stopped here as I already have provided you with every bit of information about the canonical URL before, but there is still something left that might help you to increase your knowledge. Let's see.

How to check canonical URL of any website

When you use canonical tags in your website pages, it's worth double checking things like, if the page is pointing towards the correct URL or not. Do it for every page you have on your website.

Always make sure both the pages are crawlable and indexable. Because if you put any of the two pages under no-index or no-follow, then it will be a waste to use the canonical tag.

Because the search crawlers will not be able to see the pages and thereby they will never know which page to redirect or canonicalize.

Now let's see how you can check canonical URL of any website pages.

See Source code

In your browser on the right-click of the mouse, you will see an option that says "view page source" click on that, then the source code page will be open, or you can simply type (Ctrl + U).

Now search for the canonical tag within <head> section. It should look like this.

Or you can simply type (Ctrl + F) and then just type rel=canonical in the search bar if the page is using a canonical URL then you will find it.

MozBar chrome extension

MozBar chrome extension

MozBar from Moz is free and one of the most popular tools. All you have to do is install it and create a free account, then after logging in, open the page for which you want to see the canonical tag. In my case, it is Flipkart.com.

Now Click on the "Page Analysis" and then click "General Attributes." Nou you will get to see the canonical URL that has been used by the page.

Google's preference for canonical URLs

Google picks the Canonical URL based on two things

Sights preference

User's preference.

Now under site preference, which falls under the site owners category, Google always looks for these things.

1. rel=canonical tag used in the page
We already have mentioned in the top portion of the post how to set up canonical or rel=canonical URL, and it's the easiest way you can create a canonical tag so far.

2. Redirects
Suppose anyone can enter your home page through these URLs:

http://www.example.com

https://www.example.com

http://example.com

http://example.com/index.php

http://example.com/index.php?r

Now you have to choose one URL as the canonical URL and have to redirect the other URLs to the canonical URL.

3. Canonical tag through sitemaps
According to Google's recommendation in your sitemap, you always list those pages in the sitemap that have Canonical tags in it.

They never recommend you to list any web pages in your site map that does not have a Canonical tag in it because Google considers the sitemap page URLs as the suggested canonical URLs.

But to be fair, it's not completely real that google will select the pages listed in the sitemap as the site's preferred canonical URL. So calm down.

4. Internal linking
Google Webmaster also considers the internal linking in your website as a canonicalization signal. All they trying to say is that you have to be consistent with the interlinking.

It means that you always go for the same URL when your interlinking on your own website also use that same URL when you are creating the sitemap.

Just don't confuse the search crawlers as well as the Webmaster by using a different version of the URL each time.

5. Https URLs over Http URLs

Google will always prefer Https over Http URLs.

Uploaded in September 2019, this video on Google Webmaster Youtube handle gives us a hint of how Google chooses the canonical URL.

Final thoughts

To be fair, the canonical tag is a simple yet powerful tool. This can be very handy for larger websites like e-commerce or any dynamic websites. And if used correctly, it can be very fruitful for SEO purposes.

Any questions? This is the first time I am writing so, please do leave a comment if you have anything to say.

You can connect with me on social media - Facebook.