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I want to permanently delete some pages in my site using 410 status. I'm not sure of correct syntax of removing pages using 410.

I've found one syntax and I've a page( duplicate product page content) to remove : http://www.creditcardpaymentgateways.in/indiapay-payment-gateway-frequently-asked-questionsfaq.html

so will this syntax do?

RewriteRule ^indiapay-payment-gateway-frequently-asked-questionsfaq.html$ - [G,L]

In my site I have a couple of duplicate product pages which I want to remove as my site is getting penalized.

AgA
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2 Answers2

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Your rewrite rule is fine for the page that's been deleted. It will return a 410 error for that page only.

If there's a good reason to keep any of the duplicate pages, you can use a canonical link tag in the head of the duplicate page, containing the preferred URL you want Google to use when indexing those pages. e.g.:

<link rel="canonical" href="http://www.yoursite.in/payment.html" />

Nick
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  • If I keep them using this technique suggested by you( rel=canonical) are your sure there won't be any duplicate content penalty for it? – AgA Jul 13 '11 at 08:58
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    @John No. Indicating the preferred URL for essentially-identical pages is the entire purpose of rel-canonical. – Su' Jul 13 '11 at 09:29
  • @John Google explains clearly how duplicate content works here. If you're duplicating content innocently, and doing your best to tidy it/point crawlers to the canonical page, you shouldn't be penalised for it. – Nick Jul 13 '11 at 09:29
  • Nick I want your suggestion for the comment below from Kevin. – AgA Jul 14 '11 at 06:55
  • @John Kevin's advice is great (+1 from me). Use canonical links when the two similar pages are unique enough to be worth keeping. 301 redirect dupes that are very similar. 410 pages that don't have a duplicate to redirect to. – Nick Jul 14 '11 at 07:15
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If you have a duplicate page which you have no reason to keep, you should not 410 it, nor leave it up, but instead use a 301 (Moved Permanently) redirect to the other copy. In this way, any links or bookmarks to the removed page will not be broken.

Kevin Reid
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