CDSEO Pro and Disabled URLs
 

Hi Jon,

I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but am trying to setup 'disabled' URLs in CDSEO Pro.

I have items that I'm discontinuing, and know the URL that I want these items pointing to, when they sell out, and I put them into disabled mode in X-cart.

I have put in the fully qualified URL of the 'new URL' in the 'disabled URL' for the product on the CDSEO Admin screen. The URL holds until I cycle out.

When I run the 'auto-populate' I have been selecting the option

"Delete and re-populate all CDSEO fields (WARNING: Not reversible!" which has always succeeded, though maybe this is wiping out the new URLs I have been putting in the 'Disabled URL field'. I have been changing the meta tags on my products within X-cart, so thought this was the best option to run.

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks

Re: CDSEO Pro and Disabled URLs
 

When you select "Delete and re-populate all CDSEO fields" it will do exactly as it states and delete all of your CDSEO fields. This will delete any customizations including anything entered into the disabled url field.

The "Delete and re-populate" setting shouldn't be used on live stores for the most part.

Re: CDSEO Pro and Disabled URLs
 

Simply it's a one time use tool, after you install CDSEO and fill in or import your products.

Re: CDSEO Pro and Disabled URLs
 

Thanks Jon,

I thought I had seen some sort of problem with changes not being applied unless I did the DELETE and REPOPULATE option -- but something else must have been going on.

So, after I have initially setup CDSEOPro for my items -- any changes I make to the items (meta tags, add disabled URL, etc), I just make the change in X-cart admin, and then just 'generate the SITEMAP' in CDSEOPro admin (I'm not having a cron job do the sitemap generation automatically yet).

Thanks.





Peggy

Re: CDSEO Pro and Disabled URLs
 

After you initially setup, you can modify them however you wish inside the CDSEO Admin section, but never delete and repopulate. Only populate empty fields. This is useful for when new items are added.

If a field can't be filled in automatically, there must not be information available for it and it will need to be entered manually.

If you haven't already, I'd recommend installing this addon so you can modify CDSEO values in the X-Cart admin instead of the default values that CDSEO replace:
http://www.x-cart-seo.com/cdseo-pro-for-x-cart/xcart-admin-addon.php

Re: CDSEO Pro and Disabled URLs
 

Thanks Jon,

I think that's the missing piece I needed.

Have a great evening!

Re: CDSEO Pro and Disabled URLs
 

I am overhauling my website (virtually all products) and in most instances, changing the product description (!PRODUCT) because in many cases it is wrong or poorly presented. In addition to that, the manufacturer information, meta-tags and meta-descriptions are also undesirable. If I "Delete and re-populate all CDSEO fields" , will that screw up the links to products that have have not yet been changed?

Re: CDSEO Pro and Disabled URLs
 

The most important part for SEO is the page title and the URL; you don't really want to change the url unless you absolutely have to.

The meta keywords don't factor into rankings so really aren't an issue. The meta description doesn't factor into rankings but is important to be written in a way that will convert the user by enticing them to want to click on your link instead of somebody elses.

If you want to just change the meta keywords and meta descriptions, you can clear them all and then re-populate those empty fields instead of deleting and repopulating which may cause various problems.

You can clear the meta keywords and descriptions with the following SQL Patch which can be run from the X-Cart Admin -> Tools -> Patch Upgrade section:

Re: CDSEO Pro and Disabled URLs
 

My main concern is breaking links of products that have not had a change in their (!PRODUCT)product name. For an example, currently the url from the renamed product is:

http://www.industrialhardware.com/hager-door-hardware-3215-us10b-sfic-less-core-deadbolt-lock-2-3-8-backse...3215-8840.html

but I want it to reflect the changed description, which is:

Hager Deadlock 3215 2-3/8 US10B NC FP1RC IC ( SFIC ) ( 148304 ) UPC 798550483045

BUT if I have not changed the description, I would think that re-constituting the url's (by deleting and re-populating) should not have any effect on existing links. Am I correct? If I am correct, I plan on doing this continuously until I have completed restructuring my site. Is that a problem?

Re: CDSEO Pro and Disabled URLs
 

If you delete and repopulate, the links that haven't changed will be the same as long as they haven't been customized after autopopulation, however there won't be 301 redirects in place from the old urls to the new urls for the urls that change. If you export, modify in CSV, and import, then 301 redirects will be in place. Alternatively, contact me via our support desk at http://www.websitecm.com/support/ and I can send you a file that will write all current links to the url history so they will 301 redirect however they get changed, and then you could use the delete and re-populate (though I would discourage the use of it on a live site still).