Why are my website pages listed twice in WebSite Auditor?

When building your project in WebSite Auditor, you might notice your page URLs listed twice. At first glance, it may seem like these are duplicates of the same page, but their SEO factors will differ. In this article, we’ll uncover why this happens and provide troubleshooting steps to address it.

Example Scenario

Here is an example of the collected pages:

All instances refer to the homepage, but if you hover over the rows, you’ll see they are different versions of the homepage:

https://www.domainname.com
https://domainname.com
http://www.domainname.com

You can also have versions with and without a trailing slash, such as:

https://www.domainname.com/
https://domainname.com

This is completely normal.

Why This Happens

WebSite Auditor treats HTTP and HTTPS versions, as well as www and non-www versions, as separate instances. If your site has links to several variations of the same URL, they will all be listed in the project.

The Importance of Redirects

Having different versions of the same page is not an error, but one version should redirect to another. Typically, HTTP should redirect to HTTPS. If both return a 200 status code and use the same content, this will be indicated in the summary report under "Issues with HTTP/HTTPS site versions."

Similarly, if you don’t have correct redirects set up for www and non-www versions of a page, WebSite Auditor will notify you in the summary report under "Fixed www and non-www version."

This issue can occur not only on your homepage but on any page of your website.

How to Fix This

Handling Homepage Variation URLs:

Having different versions of a homepage is not an error, as long as you specify the canonical URL properly and let Google index your pages correctly. Ensure all redirects are in place by navigating to Site Audit > Redirects.

Handling Random Page Variation URLs:

Identify which pages on your website link to the 'incorrect' version. This can be done by going to Site Structure > Pages, clicking a page, and looking at the 'Links to page' section.
Replace the existing links on those pages with a link to the correct version or remove the link.

By following these steps, you can ensure that your site is properly indexed and avoid potential SEO issues related to URL variations.