Dumb SEO Questions

(Entry was posted by Devin Peterso on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 01/09/2015).

Landing pages and organic SEO.

I have a particular conversion path on a website that involves 3 clickthroughs (3 different pages). Call them the (1) General page, (2) Specific Page, and (3) Convert Page. I want to use an SEM/Adwords campaign to direct users right to page 2 of the process, but I want the "SEM" version of page 2 to be slightly different, ie have a much more aggressive deal.

I do not want users to be able to find the SEM version of the page through organics or via the website.

The original version and SEM version of the page are almost identical in content except maybe the `deal` is 70% off instead of 25% or whatever.

What would be the best course of action for setting this up to obtain optimal results, ie avoiding duplicate content etc.... For example, I thought about using a Canonical tag (from SEM version to organic version) with hopes that Google would credit the organic version with the "quality" that the SEM  version delivers to users. Maybe use a block robot too? I would appreciate any suggestions, whether it`s things to avoid or things to do. Thanks in advance!?
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YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

  • Devin Peterson: I have a particular conversion path on a website that involves 3 clickthroughs (3 different pages). Call them the (1) General page, (2) Specific Page, and (3) Convert Page. I want to use an SEM/Adwords campaign to direct users right to page 2 of the process, but I want the "SEM" version of page 2 to be slightly different, ie have a much more aggressive deal.

    I do not want users to be able to find the SEM version of the page through organics or via the website.

    The original version and SEM version of the page are almost identical in content except maybe the 'deal' is 70% off instead of 25% or whatever.

    What would be the best course of action for setting this up to obtain optimal results, ie avoiding duplicate content etc.... For example, I thought about using a Canonical tag (from SEM version to organic version) with hopes that Google would credit the organic version with the "quality" that the SEM  ;version delivers to users. Maybe use a block robot too? I would appreciate any suggestions, whether it's things to avoid or things to do. Thanks in advance!
  • Greg Baka: Good description of what you want to do. I would put these two lines in the <head> of the SEM page to prevent it from being listed by search engines:
    <meta name="robots" content="noindex, follow">
    <link rel="canonical" href="http://www.organic-version-of-page2"/>
  • Devin Peterson: Sounds right, thanks very much! +Greg Baka ;

View original question in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 01/09/2015).