Google Can List Old Legacy URLs In Search Results When...

Apr 8, 2015 - 7:40 am 2 by

Rahul asked Google's John Mueller on Twitter if Google would display an old URL of a site in the Google search results even if it is redirected to a new URL and if so, could that be a duplicate content issue. The answer is yes, Google can show the old URL in the search results and no, it is not a duplicate content issue.

Here is an example of searching for [seoroundtable.com], most people confuse this site with seOroundtable.com vs SEroundtable.com. The SEO version redirects to the SE version as a 301 and has done so for years and years. But if I search specifically for the SEO version, Google will show it:

Old Redirect Url Google Serps

But if you click on it, Google will first take you to seoroundtable.com and then the browser will follow the redirect to seroundtable.com.

Google's John Mueller said this happens when a searcher specifically searches for the old URL:

And no, it won't be a duplicate content issue, John added:

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

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