Building a New Custom Mapping Table

The Custom Mapping Table (Excel file for import) is another method you can use to tell HREFLang Builder that page format A is equal to page format B. This can be easy and complex at the same time depending on your site structure.

This guide assumes this is the first time you are building this table. If you are not sure if one has been built follow these steps to Download your Mapping Table to see if there is an existing file that was created for you on setup. If not you can create a new one using the template and the steps below.

Mapping Fundamentals

The system just needs to know the relationships of different URIs and does not need duplicate variations. Please review Understanding Mapping Options before going any further. This will save you a lot of wasted time and extraneous data that may slow or break your projects.

Mapping Rules

Please read and understand these fundamental rules. This will save you a lot of wasted time and extraneous data that may slow or break your projects.

• You ONLY need to add “different variations” to this file (do not add 5 versions of the same URI)
• You only need to add the URI and not the entire URL
• Do not add comments or any elements other than a URL in the worksheet

Step 1 – Download the Template

To get started click this link to download the sample custom mapping file. The required format is already set and only needs to be changed if you have additional matches.

Anchor (Required) – this is what we use as a primary key or pivot element to align the URL variations. This will also be what appears in the mapping matrix. It is strongly suggested this be something that is easy to understand like a product SKU, Product Name a URL from a dominant website. Using a common “anchor” allows you to easily upload new alternates for existing mapped pages into the system.

Match 1 (Required) – this is the first variation of a URL

Match 2 (Required) this is the second variation of a URL

Match 3 to X (Optional) – this/these columns are only required if you have multiple variations. If your site has 10 different versions of a URL you will need to have 10 columns in the file.

Step 2 – Add Unique URIs

For each anchor element you have, add all of your mapped pages to the file and save it as Excel or CSV. If you have any foreign characters it is critical you save the file as Excel XLS or the unique characters will break.

Step 3 – Upload into HREFLang Builder

Once you have saved your file follow these steps to Upload your Custom Mapping Table to the system and then update the mapping file and do an Auto Run of your project.

NOTE: Adding URLs to this file DOES NOT add them to the source URL database it only will add them to the alternate mapping database. If you are not confident these URLs are in the system. If you have any problems please submit a support ticket.