Background of the issue:
I am trying to ensure that pages with translations on my site hidden link are indexed by Google. I am using WPML for translations.
Symptoms:
Pages with translations are not indexed by Google. There is a discrepancy between the URLs for the French translation of a product page, with one URL using 'product' and the other using 'produit'.
Questions:
How can I resolve the issue of translated pages not being indexed by Google?
What steps should I take to address the URL discrepancy for translated product pages?
Thank you for reaching out to WPML support. While one of my colleagues prepares to assist you further, let me try to address your issue promptly.
Please note that WPML does not include any settings to prevent a page from being indexed. This functionality is likely managed by your SEO plugin. After reviewing your debug information, I see that you are using Rank Math SEO, which is fully compatible with WPML, as confirmed here: https://wpml.org/plugin/rank-math-seo/ .
I recommend checking the "Useful Resources" section on the page above and verifying your plugin configuration to ensure everything is set up correctly and not contributing to the issue you’re experiencing with Google Search.
I have checked both URLs you shared, and I can see "product" one working in the 2nd language, but that is not correct, it should redirect to the correct translated slug URL. You can adjust or delete the slug translation from the WPML String translation.
I have also checked this on the new test website and it redirects fine, so seems this is an issue specific to your website.
Since you are using a custom theme and different plugins, can you please create a staging site and test if the issue still happens when using WP default theme and all other plugins disabled except for WPML plugins and Wocommerce. It should redirect to correct translated URL.