How to Fix Canonical URL Issues – Duplicate Content
Are you concerned about duplicate content? Do you know how search engines see your URL structure? Take a quick look at the URL’s listed below. They all look pretty much the same right, but search engines see 8 different URLs and to them each URL deliver completely different content.
http://www.example.com
http://www.example.com/ (with trailing slash)
http://example.com
http://example.com/
www.example.com
www.example.com/
www.example.com/index.html
example.com/index.html
This is called Canonicalization URL and can cause duplicate content issues from within your site.
What is Canonical URL?
Canonicalization is the process of picking the preferred URL that you want your website to be presented under when there are several to choose from and it usually refers to the URLs homepage.
Listed below are a few steps you can take to solve the problem of having the same content indexed under different URLs
- If you have a WordPress blog you can use the Canonical Link Element Plugin: You can download the Wordpress Canonical URL Plugin by clicking on this link and once activated it places the code <link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.yourdomain.com/” /> between the head tags <head>. . . </head> of your site. This tag is supported by Google, Yahoo, Microsoft & Asked.com.
- Use Google’s webmaster tools to specify the URL structure you prefer to use – www or non-www
- Check to see if your web hosting company allow you to pick the URL structure you perfer to use via their control panel
- Stay consistent when setting the URL structure when linking throughout your website from the begining
- You can also use permanent 301 redirect
To learn more about canonicalization check out SEO Book’s website on URL Canonicalization: The Missing Manual.
To learn how to set the perferred domain features visit Google Webmaster Central Blog.
Boost your Social Web Presence with a Professional Facebook Fan Page
If your focus is on increasing your company’s social web presence consider using a Business Facebook Fan Page as one of your options.
With a business page you can connect with prospects, customers and your fan base on one of the largest social networking site and receive highly targeted results for your business. A fan page is an excellent way to socially connect, increase visibility and grow your social web presence.
Unlike Facebook groups which have a followers limit of 5,000 with a Professional Facebook Fan Page there’s no cap on how many fans you can have the fan base is unlimited. A business fan page allows your company or brand to easily reach out and communicate, interact and engage with fans. Any updates you post to your wall which may include links, video, photos or blog post will become viral once posted and appear in your fans Facebook news feed, which are visible to your fans friends as well. Any feedback, whether someone comments or likes an update will appear on your pages wall beneath that post.
Your fans also have the option to subscribe to your page’s RSS feed to receive updates through a feed reader similar to Google reader keeping them updated about what’s happening without visiting your page. A quick and easy way to subscribe by RSS is to visit the fan page and click on the RSS icon located in your browsers URL box, you are given several options to choose from.
You have complete control over your fan page. You can create a custom design so it has the look and feel of a mini website. By adding a custom banner (200px X 600px) for your wall. Custom tabs i.e. Welcome, About Us, Contact whatever information you want to share the sky’s the limit. If you have 25 fans you have the option to create a shorter URL for your page known as a Vanity URL. Check availability by visiting www.facebook.com/username and click on set a user name for your page. If you haven’t reached 25 fans create a memorable web address by adding this application to your page.
Virtually enhance your fan page by adding applications to pull in your blog RSS feed and Twitter updates. And of course let’s not forget Fan Pages are public which mean they are search engine friendly and can be indexed by the major search engines like Google & Yahoo and appear in search engine results pages.
Once your page is up and running getting fans take time, so promote your page on a regular basis by adding relevant updates to keep you fans coming back and also commenting on any feedback from your fans. If you own a website add a fan box to the side bar. You can also add your fan page URL to your business card, just another great way to get the word out.
With all the affordable benefits of a Facebook Fan Page every small business owner should take advantage and have a Facebook Fan Page professionally designed to help boost their social web presence.
Feel free to leave comment and if you have a moment stop by Virtually Dynamic’s Facebook Fan Page to become a Fan.
How can a Social Media Virtual Assistant help Increase your Visibility Online
Social Media Solutions for the Dynamic Entrepreneur
Solo entrepreneurs (Internet Marketers, Coaches, Speakers, Authors, Personal Trainers), small business owners and non-profit organizations, you can benefit greatly by utilizing the professional skills of a Social Media Marketing Specialist.
A Social Media Virtual Assistant can help you create, promote and keep your web presence updated using a variety of tools and resources.
Helping you to effectively utilize what the social web has to offer gaining a 24/7 online exposure so you standout from the crowd and connect with your target audience at the right time and place when they are ready to do business.
- Help you brainstorm, map out and setup a strategic Social Media Marketing Plan for long term success.
- Monitor, manage, review and revise your social web presence as needed
- Social Media Networking Profile Creation and Management – help you build a positive “top of mind awareness” so your existing customers and prospects can connect with you through a variety of Social Networking and Media Channels: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Squidoo Lens and a variety of others while at the same time helping you create positive buzz for your online reputation.
- Online Reputation Management Support – keeping track of what’s being said online about you and your business.
- Help you stay on top of your existing Online Marketing Campaigns via Internet Marketing and Social Media using a variety of online tools and resources that will keep your online visibility stay fresh and updated.
- WordPress Blog Development and Promotion
- Landing Page Design & Optimization (which includes Sales Page & Thank You Page) for targeted traffic with integration of shopping cart and auto responder
- Google Analytics Setup with proper installation of java script code
- Google Analytics Customized Detailed Reports Summary
- E-Commerce shopping cart set up and management
- Email Marketing Campaigns
- Affiliate Marketing Programs
- Internet Research and more
A Social Media Virtual Assistant can save you time, money, help you to stay connected online.
Show off your Twitter Followers with 2 Great Twitter Widgets
Twitter Remote and Twitter Friend
TwitterRemote (beta) features:
- You can easily design your widget: set the width, number of Twitter users you want to see(number of rows), the color of your user name text, hyperlinks, border.
- Displays your Twitter avatar and number of followers
- When you click on a follower it takes you to their Twitter homepage
- Reply button – Clicking on the reply button launches your Twitter page and places text in the 140 character box for you to @reply to the follower avatar you clicked on
- Search button - when you click on the search button next to a follower you are directed to all their @replies
- Follow button – you can follow a follower from the widget by clicking on the follow button, once clicked on a popup window will open with the following info:
Twitter Friend – What I like about Twitter Friend Widget:
- Option to set the width of your widget: I like the way the columns and rows line up, more compact, you can view more followers.
- Set how many followers you want to display, (100 max)
- Allows you to choose if you want to add nofollow links and image alt text
- When you click on a followers avatar it takes you to the followers website not their Twitter page
I would love to see a twitter widget that gives you the option to choose the followers you want displayed on your widget. That would be very nice, don’t you think.
6 New Plugins for your WordPress Blog
- Featured Posts List 2 – Featured post list with images
- KNR Author List Widget – Displays a list of the authors on the blog
- Social Engine New Users – Will display your newest Social Engine users. Click here for a live demo
- Revision Diet -This plugin limits the number of post revisions that are saved on your blog. You can set the number of revisions you want to keep for each post and get rid of the rest.
- WP-Cycle – With this plugin you can upload images from your computer and create a slideshow with those images for your blog
- Wordpress Cleanup – An uncluttered blog database is always a good thing! Tidy up your WordPress blog database, get rid of unused, and wanted data you really don’t need, on your post and pages with this plugin
My WordPress word of CAUTION: When adding plugins to your blog it’s best to activate one at a time and test each one, just in case the plugin causes a problem with your WordPress Theme. Happy Plugin 
