: Changing Sitemap when moving a page permanently When moving an HTML page to another location, it is recommended to replace the URL in the Sitemap. But how does the search engine know that the
When moving an HTML page to another location, it is recommended to replace the URL in the Sitemap. But how does the search engine know that the new page is not a duplicate?
When I move /article/page1.html to /great-article/page1.html,
Google finds the new URL /great-article/page1.html in the Sitemap.
How does it know that it is not a duplicate of /article/page1.html without visiting the old URL?
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Google is generally good about identifying duplicate pages and treating them appropriately. When Google finds both pages, it will recognize them as duplicate and index just one of them. See: What is duplicate content and how can I avoid being penalized for it on my site?
If a URL has been in your sitemap in the past, Google will likely continue to visit it in the future. Google will know about both versions of your URL.
If only one of the two is in your XML sitemap file, Google will usually choose the one that is in your Sitemap as the "canonical" URL and index just that one. See The Sitemap Paradox.
It is also a good idea to let google know about moved pages by using 301 redirects or rel canonical meta tags. Google has a help document that has more information about this subject.
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