404 errors in Google Search Console

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Tagged: Not WPML issue

This topic contains 14 replies, has 2 voices.

Last updated by Waqar Ali 1 year, 3 months ago.

Assisted by: Waqar Ali.

Author	Posts
January 29, 2024 at 1:10 pm #15238434
clementV-3	Hi, I have made changes according to the suggestion in this chat 404 errors in Google Search Console, which is also related to WPML chat support ticket by clementV-3 – 1705572110 WPML chat support ticket by clementV-3 – 1705318089 hidden link is showing a 404. But the default language equivalent is hidden link and it redirects correctly to hidden link I saved the permalink again and tried without cache, in troubleshooting mode but I still get errors.
January 30, 2024 at 11:04 am #15242826
Waqar Ali	Hi, Thank you for contacting us and I'd be happy to assist. I can access the correct archive URL for this 404 link at: hidden link If you've added a redirect rule for the EN version of the archive, please make sure to add a redirect rule for the FR version too. In case, it still results in a 404 not found page, you're welcome to share temporary admin login details for further troubleshooting. Note: Your next reply will be private and making a complete backup copy is recommended before sharing the access details. regards, Waqar
January 31, 2024 at 11:43 am #15248865
Waqar Ali	The access details worked, thank you. I'll need to perform some tests on my website, with a similar setup and will share the findings, as soon as this testing is completed. Thank you for your patience.
February 6, 2024 at 12:40 pm #15271848
Waqar Ali	During testing on my website with similar WPML settings, I couldn't reproduce this behavior. This suggests that something specific to your website is involved and somehow the redirect rules are still involved. Do I have your permission to download a clone/snapshot of this website? This will allow us to investigate this on a different server. Note: The old access link seems to have been expired. Please share the new access link, so that a clone can be downloaded. ( I've set your next reply as private )
February 14, 2024 at 7:04 am #15300208
Waqar Ali	Thank you for the access details. Just wanted to let you know that I'm still working on this and will share the findings with you today. Thank you for your patience.
February 14, 2024 at 8:07 am #15300373
Waqar Ali	Thank you for waiting. I was able to confirm that the issue that you're facing is the same that is reported at: https://wpml.org/errata/yoast-seo-redirection-regex-rules-differ-across-languages-with-wpml/ This errata link includes two workarounds and you're welcome to try any one of them and let me know how it goes.
February 15, 2024 at 11:50 am #15306755
clementV-3	Hi, Thank you for your answer but I'm struggling to understand it. I haven't set up regex redirects in Yoast. I have some in the plugin Redirections, but they are not related to hidden link, for instance. So I'm not sure I get how it applies to me nor how can I use your fix.
February 16, 2024 at 12:25 pm #15311576
Waqar Ali	The user that I have for this website doesn't seem to have unrestricted administrator access. For example, it doesn't allow me to access the Yoast SEO settings. Nor does it allow me to access the Duplicator Pro plugin's management to download clone to test on a different server. The redirect rule for '/category/politics/' is still there in the 'Redirections' plugin, although it is 'Disabled'. ( screenshot: hidden link ) Can you please remove any restrictions from this user that you've shared with me?
February 18, 2024 at 1:01 pm #15314979
clementV-3	Hi, I have changed your rights to admin. Yes, this redirect is disabled as advised by Yoast support. Best,
February 29, 2024 at 12:15 pm #15357811
Waqar Ali	Just wanted to let you know that I'm still working on this redirection issue. Will share the further findings with you today.
March 1, 2024 at 12:49 pm #15363026
Waqar Ali	Thank you for waiting and here are my further findings. If your website is not using Yoast SEO's 'Regex redirects' feature to remove the '/category/' slug, it must be using the option 'Show the categories prefix in the slug' in the disabled state at WP Admin -> Yoast SEO -> Categories. ( I couldn't confirm this on your test site, because it would not allow me to access the Yoast SEO settings page ). Once you're able to confirm that the website is using the same option from Yoast, you'll need to make sure this taxonomy label and slug across the website is 'category' for both languages and not changed to 'categorie' in French. That is because Yoast only recognizes '/category/' You can go to WP Admin -> Taxonomy Translation to translate this slug back to '/category/', as discussed in this other support thread: https://wpml.org/forums/topic/translate-blog-categories/ After making these changes, please clear all involved caches and then check the taxonomy archive URLs again.
March 5, 2024 at 11:19 am #15374025
clementV-3	Hi, Thank you for looking into the issue. I always used the method 'Show the categories prefix in the slug' and disabled it. You should have access to it with the login link of the live version with admin role. The category translation was already removed when I opened this ticket, as that was a solution provided on on a previous ticket. You can see screenshots attached. However, hidden link is still showing a 404 instead of redirecting to hidden link The default language equivalent is hidden link and it redirects correctly to hidden link Thank you for your help. Best,
March 6, 2024 at 11:21 am #15378650
Waqar Ali	Yes, I could access all the settings pages on the live website, thank you. We can't expect the redirect link {yourwebsite.com}/fr/categorie/politique/ to work, because the 'category' taxonomy slug is not translated to 'categorie'. ( because of the option 'Show the categories prefix in the slug' from the Yoast ). The expected link is {yourwebsite.com}/fr/category/politique/ which redirects back to {yourwebsite.com}/fr/politique/ correctly. Do you see the links with the structure {yourwebsite.com}/fr/categorie/{term-slug}/ being generated anywhere on the website, which Google can index?
March 6, 2024 at 4:43 pm #15380860
clementV-3	Hi, The structure {yourwebsite.com}/fr/categorie/{term-slug}/ shows 404 errors in the Google Search Console
March 7, 2024 at 8:43 am #15382721
Waqar Ali	If you check your website's category sitemap ( hidden link ), you'll not see any reference to the slug '/categorie/'. ( screenshot: hidden link ) You may have to resubmit your website's sitemap for reindexing by Google, to make sure it is not indexing old page URLs which are not available now. On top of that, it is important to note that the 404 errors reported in Google Search Console are not always in your website's control, and external bots and spam pages can also use backlinks to your website's non-existent pages. Here is a useful guide on the topic: hidden link