?srsltid parameter in URL's. How to deal with them?

Ilia

Ilia

Newbie
Joined
Oct 20, 2016
Messages
36
Reaction score
1
Hey mates.

Almost all the pages on my website are being displayed in Google with URLs like domain.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooWgw8kNKrO1uxXSa3QM7uqwubqPvcDGxl3JwS-ibeKVyFEvVoU. I understand this is a Google bug, but it severely affects my rankings. All my pages have canonical tags, and I've configured my robots.txt file to block pages with the /?srsltid parameter. However, these pages continue to appear in the SERPs. Although Google Search Console doesn't show these pages as indexed, I can still see them in the search results. How can I prevent them from appearing in Google?
 
Last edited:
Advertise on BHW
Ensure canonical tags point to clean URLs, block parameterized URLs using a wildcard in your robots.txt file, and use the URL Parameters tool in Google Search Console to manage the `srsltid` parameter. Consider adding a noindex meta tag to these URLs and implementing 301 redirects to their clean versions. Use Google Search Console’s URL Removal tool to expedite their removal from the search index.
 
4440 said:
See this post.

TLDR. it does not affect ranking.

https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-srsltid-url-parameters-37875.html
Click to expand...
Thanks, but in reality, my keywords have started ranking for pages with the /?srsltid parameter. The canonical tags aren't working, and this mess has made it difficult to manage my website.
 
Ilia said:
Thanks, but in reality, my keywords have started ranking for pages with the /?srsltid parameter. The canonical tags aren't working, and this mess has made it difficult to manage my website.
Click to expand...
This happened to my sites as well. I just leave it as it is.

So if you are worried, you can do as what John Mu suggested in the posts to turn if off.
 
OnlineProxy said:
Ensure canonical tags point to clean URLs, block parameterized URLs using a wildcard in your robots.txt file, and use the URL Parameters tool in Google Search Console to manage the `srsltid` parameter. Consider adding a noindex meta tag to these URLs and implementing 301 redirects to their clean versions. Use Google Search Console’s URL Removal tool to expedite their removal from the search index.
Click to expand...
That is a great answer. You've covered all the critical aspects, including the use of wildcards in robots.txt and implementing 301 redirects, which are often overlooked.
 
I have had similar problem with a client before. Even after having canonical tags, some urls with query strings were getting indexed. To solve that, we added some robots rule and after another recrawl, the problem was solved.

In your case, add the following to the end of your robots.txt:
Code: 
Disallow: /*?srsltid=*
Let google recrawl your robots. After that, googlebot should not crawl those urls anymore.
 
I believe you're using shopify,
I've seen some random youtube video recently adressing the exact same problem & solution,
And indeed it was a key change for them to recover the traffic & rankings,

You might want to check youtube,
Best of luck!
 
Ilia said:
Almost all the pages on my website are being displayed in Google with URLs like domain.com/?
Click to expand...
This parameter is added when a user clicks on a product within shopping listings within Google Merchant.

So your products are appearing in the Shopping list on SERPs. A user clicks on your listing and Google appends this parameter.

Ilia said:
I understand this is a Google bug
Click to expand...
It´s not a bug

Ilia said:
, but it severely affects my rankings. All my pages have canonical tags,
Click to expand...
If you´re using canonical how they are affecting your rankings?

Ilia said:
and I've configured my robots.txt file to block pages with the /?srsltid parameter.
Click to expand...
Do you mean, implementing a disallow directive as @Gogol is showing below? If that´s the case, you´re good!

Ilia said:
However, these pages continue to appear in the SERPs. Although Google Search Console doesn't show these pages as indexed, I can still see them in the search results. How can I prevent them from appearing in Google?
Click to expand...
If GSC you´re fine, the fact they are still showing in the index, there´s nothing you can do.

Gogol said:
I have had similar problem with a client before. Even after having canonical tags, some urls with query strings were getting indexed. To solve that, we added some robots rule and after another recrawl, the problem was solved.

In your case, add the following to the end of your robots.txt:
Code: 
Disallow: /*?srsltid=*
Let google recrawl your robots. After that, googlebot should not crawl those urls anymore.
Click to expand...
 
Google sometimes takes its time to respect the robots.txt and canonical tags, especially with parameters like /?srsltid. One thing that’s worked for me in a similar case was to create a URL removal request in Google Search Console for the /?srsltid parameter.
 
Advertise on BHW
You must log in or register to reply here.
Sign up now!

Main Menu

Home Main Forum List Black Hat SEO White Hat SEO BHW Newbie Guide Blogging Black Hat Tools Social Media Downloads

Marketplace

Account Selling Content / Copywriting EBooks / Methods Hosting Misc Proxies For Sale SEO - Link building SEO - Packages Social Media Social Media - Panels Web Design More

Making Money

Affiliate Programs Hire a Freelancer IM Journeys Making Money Pay Per Click Site Flipping Want to Buy

BlackHat World

Dispute Resolution Forum Suggestions & Feedback Introductions Lounge
Back
Top