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  4. Does a page's url have any weight in Google rankings?

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Does a page's url have any weight in Google rankings?

On-Page Optimization
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  • rdreich49
    rdreich49 last edited by Sep 21, 2011, 1:57 PM

    I'm sure this question must have been asked before but I can't find it.

    I'm assuming that the title tag is far more important than the page's url.  Is that correct?   Does the url have any relevance to Google?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • irvingw
      irvingw last edited by Sep 21, 2011, 3:03 PM Sep 21, 2011, 3:03 PM

      both are important for SEO - the filename in the URL should match up with your title tag. all filenames should be unique. for example

      www.coolsite.com/kids-toys/blue-schwinn-bike

      not

      www.coolsite.com/kids-toys/blue-schwinn-bike/index.php

      this latter example would cause you to wind up with Google seeing every page with the same filename index.php

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • irvingw
        irvingw last edited by Sep 21, 2011, 3:03 PM Sep 21, 2011, 3:03 PM

        both are important for SEO - the filename in the URL should match up with your title tag. all filenames should be unique. for example

        www.coolsite.com/kids-toys/blue-schwinn-bike

        not

        www.coolsite.com/kids-toys/blue-schwinn-bike/index.php

        this latter example would cause you to wind up with Google seeing every page with the same filename index.php

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • rdreich49
          rdreich49 @rdreich49 last edited by Sep 21, 2011, 2:23 PM Sep 21, 2011, 2:23 PM

          Thanks for your help Wayne.

          Best,

          Richard

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • rdreich49
            rdreich49 @RachelN last edited by Sep 21, 2011, 2:22 PM Sep 21, 2011, 2:22 PM

            Thanks, Rachel.  That's what I thought, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to check with some Pros.

            Best,
            Richard

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Wayne76
              Wayne76 @rdreich49 last edited by Sep 21, 2011, 2:15 PM Sep 21, 2011, 2:15 PM

              Richard, here is a document I would check out: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/11-best-practices-for-urls. It's from the man (Rand) himself and much of what is stated holds true today.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • RachelN
                RachelN last edited by Sep 21, 2011, 2:11 PM Sep 21, 2011, 2:11 PM

                Your URL example is fine, it's the gobble-de-gook URLs that are a problem

                rdreich49 1 Reply Last reply Sep 21, 2011, 2:22 PM Reply Quote 0
                • rdreich49
                  rdreich49 @Wayne76 last edited by Sep 21, 2011, 2:08 PM Sep 21, 2011, 2:08 PM

                  Thanks Wayne,

                  I'm okay with our domain name, but the urls of some of our pages have long navigation  paths (e.g. http://www.lifeinsure.com/education-center/life-insurance-videos/how-much-life-insurance-should-i-have).  A lot of our pages have urls like this.

                  Do you see any problem with a url this long and does Google put more weight on the title tag than on the url?

                  Best,

                  R

                  Wayne76 rdreich49 2 Replies Last reply Sep 21, 2011, 2:23 PM Reply Quote 0
                  • Wayne76
                    Wayne76 last edited by Sep 21, 2011, 2:01 PM Sep 21, 2011, 2:01 PM

                    Hi Richard,

                    The short answer is, yes, domain names and URL structure are certainly key to positive ranking for particular keywords. Some would argue that domain names carry too much weight (I personally think so!), but it's a fact, so be careful when picking your domain name and also be sure you are properly formatting your URLs.

                    If you have specific questions regarding either, I'm happy to try and help.

                    Best,

                    W

                    rdreich49 1 Reply Last reply Sep 21, 2011, 2:08 PM Reply Quote 0
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