Muse Tablet and Phone sites show in google search desktop view

[awbrown66]

I have alternative layouts for all three devices Desktop, Tablet, and Phone...

When I search on a desktop for our website on google, it now displays links to all three of these layouts. If someone is on their Desktop and they select the tablet or phone link they are going to get those alternate views on their desktop... why are the alternative sites showing up here when they are not meant to be viewed on a desktop?

I am going to remove all the alternative site pages from the "sitemap.xml" file and resubmit, but that will not remove the existing links from google or other search engines as they will still be valid links.

Now if anyone searches for our site they could possibly select an alternative site view and not see the correct version for the desktop!!

Any suggestions?

[Preran]

I haven't heard of this issue previously. Can you post a screenshot of the Google page here?

[awbrown66]

Hi Preran, here is an example: https://www.google.com/search?q=+site:infinitycare.org+Infinity+care+management+of+texas&sa=X&ved=0a...  

I'm not sure if the entire link was posted, but if you search in google for "Infinity Care Management of Texas," under the main heading there are sub-heading "phone" results.  If you select "More results from infinitycare.org" below the sub-headings  you can see "tablet" and "phone" links.

[awbrown66]

Hi Preran, Here is a screenshot...

[Preran]

This is very strange. It looks like an issue with the way the files have been uploaded to the server. I am hoping that someone here has a better answer than I do.

You could also try  your luck on the Google forum. Google Groups

Thanks,

Preran

[ayushrathi]

Hi awbrown66​

When you create alternative layout for phone and tablet, then for each page that is created under phone and tablet layout has option to include that page in sitemap.xml. It seems like you had a check mark in that option and therefore, these pages were included in sitemap.xml file.

You can go to individual pages of phone and tablet layout and follow below steps to uncheck the sitemap.xml option :

1. Open the page.

2. Go to Page > Page Properties.

3. Click on Options.

4. In Page Options uncheck the tick corresponding to Sitemap that says "Include page in sitemap.xml"

Thanks and Regards

Ayush Rathi

[Guest]

This has been an issue I noted some years ago...so maybe Preran was not onboard Muse at the time. Zak W. (The USA team) was.

Removing the tablet/phone versions is a Not the best solution...

Google ranks your site on many things, one of which is if it is “mobile friendly”. After experiencing the same issues some time ago I found after a while that the mobile phone tablet versions drop off of the desktop search. (That May of changed since Muse is getting improved slowly but surely) Google (and others) cache sites based on their own algorithms, what they feel is important. Not ideal, but they do. This will include you phone and tablet layouts. in the case of Muse...it’s why using responsive is often a better choice. But not alwYs. Generally your browser should recognize the device based on the underlying code in Muse...the device , etc.

Check out the many Muse sites at “Design Strategies“ ...they all, (mostly), come up properly in search results. He still uses the “adaptive layout“ that was how Muse first worked exclusively, like yours.  The phone tablet layouts drop off in search eventually but the proper layout dies come up based on the fact it is a tablet or phone. If I remember correctly he doesn’t generally even use the tablet Layout. I never did either. Just the phone and desktop layouts.

How long will it take? Hmmm...a few weeks to a few months, sometimes they correct right away though. Also, by removing those layouts via the “exclude from sitemap“ might not good for search.

Use Webmaster tools from Google to specify which url and or pages you want being indexed. Better yet get your sites over to the responsive layouts ...it will be better all the way around...Hope some of this makes sense. There is so much to know as USSNorway said...things change too...

Ive been involved with computers since 1973 with large main frames that took up our whole office third floor. That was just an accounting and client tracking platform. Get used to this changing yearly if not every few months.

[awbrown66]

Thanks guys... The alternate layouts were automatically set to "include page in sitemap.xml" which made sense to me to leave them that way for upload. I thought since the phone and tablet layouts were automatically detected by those devices that the desktop layout would behave the same way. Obviously it does not.

I did make the desktop site responsive down to the approximate point of tablet screen size, and then the tablet layout is also responsive down to approximately the phone size, etc.  Due to the design it seemed as if there were going to be too many break points involved to make it responsive all the way down to phone size without majorly changing the design. So that's the reasoning for alternates.

I will let it ride for a month or so to see if what "HMAM" states about the alternate layouts dropping off is successful...(I really have no alternative at this point other than a complete redesign) Although, it is very embarrassing to have a customer see the phone layout on a desktop and believe that this is our website design.

[Guest]

You can republish with the settings Ayush. hopefully you are using something like Webmaster tools from google.

you can investigate a little more there. I agree it’s not a good experience for a customer or their users to get the phone site on a desktop search. Like I said ..If turning off the those layouts in the sitemap is the solution. Why would they be on by default? And why wouldn’t there be a little pop up or instruction some indicating this won’t harm the search on a phone for a company Like “Infinity Care”? if the browser sees the device a phone in this case will it bring up the phone layout? We never changed anything and they did drop off or at least back some pages.

[fotoroeder]

As far as I experienced, it is not good practice to mix alternate layouts with responsive layouts.

If you use only one version, responsive in your case, you get rid of this google search results issue, I guess.

If you anyway use breakpoints on your alternate layouts you could easily use all these breakpoint-designs in one version.

I cannot see any difficulties with that?

Best Regards,

Uwe

[fotoroeder · Accepted solution]

fotoroeder  schrieb

it is not good practice to mix alternate layouts with responsive layouts.

Best Regards,

Uwe

It is not recommended to do what you did. If you like show us one page with desktop-tablet-phone in a.muse-file.

You could easily stay with fixed width breakpoints and will have to use breakpoints at 1200-960-768 - minimum width 320.

Very little designs need much more. Why don`t you share a link with us so we can have a closer look? Curious?

Best Regards,

Uwe

[Guest]

Yes that’s what I said...preffered choice is responsive not a mix of adaptive and responsive...one or the other.

But...Design Strategies Design Strategies, Inc. - Home  has built many sites with the adaptive approach quite successfully...so have we and I’m sure many others...adaptive has its advantages...much faster load times for one.

[fotoroeder]

Well, HMAM​ , even for me, your first post reads more like, "no good idea, but do as you like, possible but, …", and as you read awbrown66​ answer, the main message didn`t come through, maybe.

My answer was more related to the mix between responsive and adaptive layout, while the origin request came up because SEO-rankings. I came by because of this mixed feature and awbrown66​´s last post till now.

Best Regards,

Uwe

[Guest]

That’s okay...I’m fighting a flu bug so have at it.

[fotoroeder]

Get well and come back later .

Best wishes,

Uwe

[Guest]

Thx Uwe..very kind if you.

[awbrown66]

Ahaha! Thanks again, guys!  I get it, responsive... desktop layout only...best way now... (at least in this thread) That would have been AWESOME to know at the very beginning of the website design with Muse. Don't get me wrong... I love the Muse software and it makes so many things so much easier to do, and with little html involvement.

Before I began designing the site I went all over the web looking for suggestions, and did quite a bit of pre-design research across the Muse tutorials, forums etc... I read so many different "opinions" it made me even more confused. I was so brain-dead at that point that I had to do what I normally do, which is, experiment with the software, test, and find out what "seemed" to work the best for our setup. I kind of "ended-up" with the current design, but it will always be evolving.

As to fotoroeder's statement, "If you anyway use breakpoints on your alternate layouts you could easily use all these breakpoint-designs in one version," that is not exactly true for my situation... with our current design, in each layout, (desktop, tablet, phone) there are non-responsive gaps between the layouts... ex. The minimum width in all desktop pages is 900 and includes only one to two breakpoints in each page. The master page lowest breakpoint is set to 900, and is set to be non responsive. The tablet responsive alternate layout begins at 768 and drops to 500 with maybe one breakpoint, and so on. I figure that very few desktops (in our audience) will be viewing below 900, and if there is a tablet between 768 and 899, so be it, and it won't look that bad. I dabbled with total responsive with this design, and If I would have done this entirely on one responsive set up with our current design there would be many, many additional breakpoints added in these gaps. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it! lol!

I stated in my very first post "I am going to remove all the alternative site pages from the "sitemap.xml" file and resubmit," so that is what I did. I'll leave the sitemap.xml settings that way for any future uploads and see what happens.

In the meantime I am in the process of dabbling with redesigning the site to be a totally responsive, one layout design to rid me of this issue once and for all... hopefully!

Take an Alka-Seltzer cold plus, HMAM!!! They work well for me with the flu!!