an attempt to fix the Google search problem

From: Peter Eisentraut <peter(dot)eisentraut(at)2ndquadrant(dot)com>
To: pgsql-www(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: an attempt to fix the Google search problem
Date: 2016-11-09 16:34:49
Message-ID: 38c68b83-30ae-c039-acd0-9e853997edc4@2ndquadrant.com
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It is a well-known problem that a Google search for something in the
PostgreSQL documentation will usually return hits in old documentation
versions first, because those pages have been around for the longest.

I believe I have a promising fix for that. By adding a <link
rel="canonical"> to the documentation pages that point to the "current"
version, search engines will be encouraged to return the current version
search results.

I had heard that the Django project had the same problem and got this
solution from there. See for example the source of this page:
<https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.10/topics/db/models/>. Here is
also some information from Google about this:
<https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2013/04/5-common-mistakes-with-relcanonical.html>

I think this is worth trying. A one-line patch is attached.

--
Peter Eisentraut http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/
PostgreSQL Development, 24x7 Support, Remote DBA, Training & Services

Attachment Content-Type Size
0001-Add-canonical-URL-link-to-documentation-pages.patch text/x-patch 1.2 KB

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