I have a job board website with a domain setup like ca domain com, tx domain com, etc., for each state. Each subdomain has terms and privacy pages at paths like /terms, /privacy, etc. Google ended up indexing these, and now I’m getting warnings in Search Console for duplicate pages, like tx domain com/terms. We set up redirects to the main domain (domain com/terms), but now these subdomain pages are still showing up in Search Console’s “Page with redirect” section. What should I do to fix this? Should I switch to a 404 instead of 301 redirect? Should I remove each page with the “Temporary removals” tool? Any help would be great.
If you believe the problem has been resolved, please request a validated repair. The URL won’t be available on GSC after the problem has been resolved.
And if the problem has been resolved, there’s no need to worry about the alert.
@Smart
Nothing happens after I do that. It just shows the page has a redirect, but it stays in this list.
jordansmith said:
@Smart
Nothing happens after I do that. It just shows the page has a redirect, but it stays in this list.
Don’t worry, it should disappear on its own after a few days.
jordansmith said:
@Smart
Nothing happens after I do that. It just shows the page has a redirect, but it stays in this list.
You’ll probably have a bunch of pages in GSC that aren’t indexed. Just focus on the important ones that should be indexed.
If those URLs don’t need to exist anymore, the fastest way to remove them is using a 410 instead of 404. A 404 means ‘not found,’ but a 410 tells Google the URL is ‘gone.’ It helps them disappear faster.
A 404 will just hang around in your report. It’s fine though, doesn’t do any harm. Temporary removals will expire after a bit, so just 301 the page, and you won’t have to deal with it again.
Bright said:
A 404 will just hang around in your report. It’s fine though, doesn’t do any harm. Temporary removals will expire after a bit, so just 301 the page, and you won’t have to deal with it again.
I noticed that after submitting temp removal requests, those URLs don’t seem to come back to the warning list.
@jordansmith
If no pages link to them, they won’t come back. But if Google crawls something with the link again, they’ll return to the 404 list unless it’s 301’d. Simple as that!
If the page still has value or good links pointing to it, use a 301 to another relevant page.
If you need it gone fast, 410 is the way to go.
Otherwise, leave it as a 404. It’ll eventually disappear on its own.