X-Cart forums

[elmirage001]

I'll be very interested on what Jon has to say on this when he has time.

This is not just happening on x-cart. I manage 4 other WordPress sites and I'm see this on them as well. I assumed that Google is now doing a better job of checking old links. What I don't know is if the old links are just in Google's database or if they are external links from other sites. Because they may be links from other sites I always use a 301 redirect to a new page so I don't miss out on any possible link juice. This is why I mentioned Jon's new module in my post above.

Now to wait for Jon's response

[tam10]

elmirage001, Jon tried to find the reason for that with my site with no solution.
Steve (clfsystem) on the other hand said it is Google's issue..

[Jon]

It's great that you guys are watching your 404 errors closely. To best answer the question I'll give some information about linking, and then try to explain how these components work together.

The Google penguin algorithm has a huge impact on rankings. The Penguin algorithm monitors links to your website, and uses them as a ranking factor. In simplest forms, links from quality sites improve your ranking, links from bad sites hurt (or in extreme cases destroy) your ranking, and 404 links hurt your website quality score.

It's important to know all of the sites that are linking to you and what those links are. There's software that help automate this process. I use a combination of moz, ahrefs, majesticseo and Google webmaster tools. Using all of the sources and then consolidating them into a master list helps create the most complete list.

Links from bad sites need to be contacted to have those links removed. If the link can't be removed then the bad site needs to be disavowed.

If a bad site is linking to a 404 page, it is still best to try and have that link removed. If it's the only site linking to a page and the link can't be removed, you can 301 it AFTER you disavow the bad site.

If a 404 link is from a quality site, indexed in Google, or has a high volume of links to it, then it is best to either create content at that URL or 301 redirect it to new content. In the case of 301 it would be best if quality sites could be contacted to update the link so it doesn't have to 301.

In looking through Google webmaster tools, sometimes 404 links can be years old. You want to look at the date beside the URLs. If the link is old, and doesn't appear to be linked, and the page that Google saw the link on is also old, it is very likely the error is just left over in Google Webmasters. The page can be "marked as fixed."

On the sites I do SEO for, I go through the linking profiles on a monthly basis. Part of that process is making sure everything in Google Webmasters tool has been marked as fixed. This makes it easier going forward to know what is new and an actual problem. In the case of Tammy's site, at the time of review I couldn't find any linked references to any of the links in question which is not something I had experienced for any client before that time or since.

[voodoo1967]

I have xcart 4.6.6 CDSEO Pro - and the Page Title format seems to append itself.

I want to use CDSEO for everything and I want to switch off the Page Title format - but it seems there is no way to do that - all I get is the various product - category - shop name , category - product name etc

[Jon]

Originally Posted by voodoo1967

I have xcart 4.6.6 CDSEO Pro - and the Page Title format seems to append itself.

I want to use CDSEO for everything and I want to switch off the Page Title format - but it seems there is no way to do that - all I get is the various product - category - shop name , category - product name etc

If you specify CDSEO titles, which default with autopopulate to "Product Name - Custom Text" and can be changed to whatever you want, then CDSEO should be displaying those titles.

[voodoo1967]

I think I may have found a bug then

I have a product for example - with all he CDSEO fields filled out - and xcart appends my storename to the end of the page title - I'll send you a PM if you want to see it

[Jon]

CDSEO appends the "Custom Text" from the CDSEO Admin settings which defaults to the store name. You can change it in the CDSEO Settings under the "Add to Page Titles:" area.

[voodoo1967]

Argh..... - cant believe I missed that !!!!!

Thanks Jon

[Jon]

Originally Posted by voodoo1967

Argh..... - cant believe I missed that !!!!!

Thanks Jon

Not a prob

[Vacman]

Would it make more sense to have the web site name or your company name?