Support » Fixing WordPress » 404 error when linking from Google

  • Hi guys

    I have a slight issue. I have recently moved a clients WordPress site from 1 host to another. Now when you do a Google search, you get the site, but the sub page list below that google supplies has broken links. So if you go straight to the Engineering page from Google for instance, I get a 404 error.

    I notice that the URL Google has is simply:
    http://greenwoodmotorsport.co.uk/engineering.php

    But the actual URL is:
    http://greenwoodmotorsport.co.uk/category/engineering/

    I know this is not technically a page, I have added a category to a menu. But is Google wanting to see it as a page? and is unable to?

    I guess my question is, how do you make Google recognise that a menu item is a category, and not an actual page?

    I am guessing that there is a chance that once Google logs the new location of the site, it will all update? Is this possible?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Cheers

    Ben

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Hi motionltd,

    It sounds like you’re having some caching issues with Google. Google has cached a page “engineering.php” that no longer exists. I would suggest setting up a 301 re-direct so any traffic from that page will be directed to the correct one.

    Eventually, Google will pick up on the re-direct and it’ll resolve the issue.

    I hope this helps!

    Thanks

    Tim

    Thread Starter motionltd

    (@motionltd)

    Hi Tim

    Thanks for that. I just installed the plugin Simple 301 Redirects. I put the first redirect in, its not currently working. Does it take a while to propogate? Also, does it matter that the actual url I want to be the correct one is actually a path to a category list? and not an actual page?

    Thanks again for your help.

    Cheers

    Ben

    Hi motionltd,

    Re-directs do not have propagation time associated with them since no DNS records are used. Redirects are handles by your .htaccess file. I’m not familiar with the plugin, so its tough to advised you on that. Linking to a category listing should be fine.

    Let me know if you need anything else.

    Tim S

    looking forward to this.

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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