-- SEO -- Google Search Console -- pnl.dev -- bugfix

Coding: Google Search Console reports duplicate field url

Posted by River Young on 2025-07-13

Google Search Console reports a critical issue ⚠️ for pnl.dev: a ‘duplicate URL property’ is preventing my website from being indexed 🚫.

It turns out the problem was caused by a small HTML attribute: itemprop="url" 🧩. This attribute is part of Microdata, used to define metadata for search engines. But if misused, it can confuse crawlers and hurt indexing 📉.

screenshot of the issue on google search console

What is itemprop="url"?

The itemprop attribute is used within Schema.org microdata to specify properties of an item. For example, when marking up a website’s organization or a person, you might use:

1
<a href="https://example.com" itemprop="url">Visit this Site</a>

This tells search engines that the link is the canonical URL for the entity.

The Problem with Duplicate URLs

If multiple elements on a page use itemprop="url" with the same or conflicting values, search engines may get confused about which URL is the “official” one. This can lead to:

  • Indexing issues: Google may skip or incorrectly index your page.
  • Rich result errors: Structured data may not be eligible for enhancements in search results.
  • Manual actions: In rare cases, repeated misuse can trigger manual penalties.

How I Diagnosed the Issue

  1. Google Search Console: The error message pointed to a duplicate URL property.
  2. HTML Inspection: I searched for all instances of itemprop="url" in my templates.
  3. Validation Tools: I used the Rich Results Test and Schema Markup Validator to confirm the problem.

Solution

  • Remove unnecessary itemprop="url" attributes from elements that don’t represent the canonical URL.
  • Ensure only one canonical URL per entity is marked up with itemprop="url".
  • Test again with Google’s tools to verify the fix.

Key Takeaways

  • Validate your structured data after making template changes.
  • Use itemprop="url" only where it makes sense semantically.
  • Duplicate or conflicting microdata can harm your SEO.

Lesson learned: Even small HTML attributes can have a big impact on how search engines see your site. Keep an eye on your Google Search Console, and always validate your structured data after changes to avoid unexpected SEO issues.

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