Unusual indexed pages

[Instigator]

When I do the site command on google for http://www.directory-of-links.com I see indexed pages which are not from the category structure. Like the third listing Family/Real When selected it leads to the home page.

I've never created a main category of Family or a sub-category of Real, so why is it indexed? I think the fact that this page is indexed and leads to the home page, has probably lead to a duplicate content issue and may partly explain the supplemental results and the home page not being listed first.

How can I correct this issue?

Thanks for any help.

[seothatworks]

IMHO there is no connection between this issue and supplemental pages.

Most directories have most of their pages in supplemental index, moreover it's known that supplemental index currently isn't working correctly/showing dependable results.

One of the possible reasons why your problem can happen, is that there is a wrong link somewhere on your or any other site that points to your directory. PHPLD doesn't return error in such case, but instead server the homepage.

Sorry can't help with the fix....been away for too long, maybe there is something already. Or maybe the PHPLD3 version solves that?

[Tim_Myth]

To correct this issue, you need to fix how phpLD handles missing/invalid pages. VSDan has a great mod for fixing your htaccess. It is well worth the $5 it will cost you to get it (plus you'll have access to his other great mods).

Ver 3 does not fix this issue. It is highly recommended that you correct it so your site is more search engine friendly, as SE's dislike "duplicate content", and by having non-existant pages redirect to your index page, that is exactly what it looks like.

[Instigator]

I think I've discovered one issue. Some time ago I created a google sitemap, which I had forgotten about. I just checked it and found there was an error with a category name, I had Real, instead of Real-Estate. I'm still not sure where the Family category is coming from though. What a bad mistake to make :(

I'm seeing googlebot at pages that shouldn't exist e.g something like Health/Software/Arts and all kinds of mess.

What's the best way to get rid of these indexed pages?

Thanks for the comments anyway.

[Isabel]

This is a terrible failure of phplinkdirectory v.2 that has not known to repair.
Anyone can send to google http: //www.yourdirectory.com/this-does-not-exist/ and this will be valid for google with a 200 status. There is no an error 404 and then google will find duplicate content all your directory.

Tim_Myth:
That script I think that does not work. Show me a page of your directory with real 404 http status. Only this is valid for google.

[Boby]

The feature to send 404 errors on pages that do not exist is a feature of phpLD 3.0+

[Isabel]

If, I know the version 3 has this feature but this should not be a feature since it is a question of a failure of the directory script.
Feature is to have:
Allow users to submit custom META tags for links
Category Search in the Admin Area
IP and Domain Banning
and many nice features more, but..... to send a http code status 200 when a page not exist...it is a failure or bug inside phplinkdirectory v.2 and I believe that this should be repaired and fixed.

[Instigator]

Just after creating this directory, I may have deleted the category Family, though I'm sure that would have been before it was indexed. So any category that is deleted can still be indexed and redirect to the home page creating a duplicate content issue?

If this is the case, then shouldn't people be warned? We're not all experts.

I suppose adding a disallow in the robots.txt for these categries is wishful thinking?

[seothatworks]

Content visible to registered users only.
You can ammend your robots.txt manually.
Perhaps also a redirect in .htaccess from bad url to good url, or to the main page, would work, but I didn't try that myself thus not sure.