Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: To slash or not to slash

Webmaster Central Blog

Official news on crawling and indexing sites for the Google index

http://example.com/foo/http://example.com/fooDifferent content on / and no-/ URLs okay for Google, often less ideal for userswww.google.com/webmasterswww.google.com/webmasters/http://example.com/parent-directory/child-directory/Your site’s configuration and your options

http://<your-domain-here>/<some-directory-here>/
(with trailing slash)

http://<your-domain-here>/<some-directory-here>
(no trailing slash)

200 response coderedirects

If only one version can be returned (i.e., the other redirects to it), that’s great! This behavior is beneficial because it reduces duplicate content. In the particular case of redirects to trailing slash URLs, our search results will likely show the version of the URL with the 200 response code (most often the trailing slash URL) -- regardless of whether the redirect was a 301 or 302.

If both slash and non-trailing-slash versions contain the same content and each returns 200, you can:

Consider changing this behavior (more info below) to reduce duplicate content and improve crawl efficiency.
Leave it as-is. Many sites have duplicate content. Our indexing process often handles this case for webmasters and users. While it’s not totally optimal behavior, it’s perfectly legitimate and a-okay. :)
Rest assured that for your root URL specifically, http://example.com is equivalent to http://example.com/ and can’t be redirected even if you’re Chuck Norris.

Steps for serving only one URL versionhttp://<your-domain-here>/<some-directory-here>/http://<your-domain-here>/<some-directory-here>rel=”canonical”

Choose one URL as the preferred version. If your site has a directory structure, it’s more conventional to use a trailing slash with your directory URLs (e.g., example.com/directory/ rather than example.com/directory), but you’re free to choose whichever you like.

Be consistent with the preferred version. Use it in your internal links. If you have a Sitemap, include the preferred version (and don’t include the duplicate URL).

Use a 301 redirect from the duplicate to the preferred version. If that’s not possible, rel=”canonical” is a strong option. rel=”canonical” works similarly to a 301 for Google’s indexing purposes, and other major search engines as well.

Test your 301 configuration through Fetch as Googlebot in Webmaster Tools. Make sure your URLs:
http://example.com/foo/
http://example.com/foo
are behaving as expected. The preferred version should return 200. The duplicate URL should 301 to the preferred URL.

Check for Crawl errors in Webmaster Tools, and, if possible, your webserver logs as a sanity check that the 301s are implemented.

Profit! (just kidding) But you can bask in the sunshine of your efficient server configuration, warmed by the knowledge that your site is better optimized.

Written by Maile Ohye, Developer Programs Tech Lead

Google

Etiketter: crawling and indexing , intermediate

Hey! Check here if your site is mobile-friendly.

Etiketter

accessibility 10
advanced 195
AMP 13
Android 2
API 7
apps 7
autocomplete 2
beginner 173
CAPTCHA 1
Chrome 2
cms 1
crawling and indexing 158
encryption 3
events 51
feedback and communication 83
forums 5
general tips 90
geotargeting 1
Google Assistant 3
Google I/O 3
Google Images 3
Google News 2
hacked sites 12
hangout 2
hreflang 3
https 5
images 12
intermediate 205
interstitials 1
javascript 8
job search 2
localization 21
malware 6
mobile 63
mobile-friendly 14
nohacked 1
performance 17
product expert 1
product experts 2
products and services 63
questions 3
ranking 1
recipes 1
rendering 2
Responsive Web Design 3
rich cards 7
rich results 10
search console 35
search for beginners 1
search queries 7
search results 140
security 12
seo 3
sitemaps 46
speed 6
structured data 33
summit 1
TLDs 1
url removals 1
UX 3
verification 8
video 6
webmaster community 24
webmaster forum 1
webmaster guidelines 57
webmaster tools 177
webmasters 3
youtube channel 6

Archive

2020
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2019
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2018
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2017
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2016
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- jan.

2015
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2014
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2013
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2012
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2011
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2010
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2009
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2008
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2007
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.
- juli
- juni
- mai
- apr.
- mars
- feb.
- jan.

2006
- des.
- nov.
- okt.
- sep.
- aug.

Feed

Give us feedback in our Product Forums.

Subscribe via email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Google
Privacy
Terms