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  4. URL best practices, use folders or not ?

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URL best practices, use folders or not ?

On-Page Optimization
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  • 77Agency
    77Agency last edited by Dec 14, 2011, 10:14 AM

    Hi

    I have a question about URLs. Client have all URL written after domain and have only one / slash in all URLs. Is this best practice or i need to use categories,folders?

    Thanks

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • Dr-Pete
      Dr-Pete Staff @77Agency last edited by Oct 26, 2012, 9:42 AM Dec 15, 2011, 7:30 PM

      It's a trade-off, for both SEO and users, and I don't think there's one answer that fits every situation. The category level can add information, but it also makes URLs longer, which can be bad for both bots and people. If you have short, descriptive categories that aren't repeated in the product/page names, and those categories mimic your site structure, then I think it can be positive.

      My argument was mostly against people adding categories just for SEO benefit (it's probably minimal, at best) or repeating every category, sub-category, etc. to the point of absurdity, causing keyword cannibalization and massive URLs. For example:

      www.bobscamerashop.com/cameras/digital-cameras/canon-cameras/eos-cameras/camera-canon-eos-rebel-t3

      Of course, that's also keyword stuffed, but I'm exaggerating to prove a point. You can go too far in either direction.

      In general, though, I don't think categories in the URL are necessarily bad. In some cases, as Woj said, they could be a positive for users and possible even SEO.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
      • wojkwasi
        wojkwasi @77Agency last edited by Dec 15, 2011, 11:03 AM Dec 15, 2011, 11:03 AM

        Think about it from the user's point of view. What would work best for them? Maybe even get some feedback from some site users if possible

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • wojkwasi
          wojkwasi @77Agency last edited by Dec 15, 2011, 10:58 AM Dec 15, 2011, 10:57 AM

          Will the site categories/products grow? If so, then the slash could be used to organise the structure & prepare for the future

          In the example, you presented:

          1. www.example.com/accounts-titanium
          2. www.example.com**/**accounts/titanium

          These are the same length & make no real difference

          When we compare these 2, however:

          1. www.example.com/open-demo-account
          2. www.example.com/accounts/open-demo-account

          You can see that #1 is shorter, doesn't repeat keyword (even though they are plural) & would be more likely clicked in the SERPs

          Does that help some more?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • 77Agency
            77Agency last edited by Dec 14, 2011, 2:12 PM Dec 14, 2011, 2:12 PM

            http://www.seomoz.org/blog/should-i-change-my-urls-for-seo

            In this article point 2 is saying that the unstructured is better 😃 so i`m confused.

            wojkwasi Dr-Pete 2 Replies Last reply Dec 15, 2011, 7:30 PM Reply Quote 0
            • 77Agency
              77Agency @77Agency last edited by Dec 14, 2011, 1:51 PM Dec 14, 2011, 1:51 PM

              the site is small about 60 pages and max depth level is 3

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • wojkwasi
                wojkwasi @77Agency last edited by Dec 14, 2011, 12:37 PM Dec 14, 2011, 12:36 PM

                I'd use folders or categories if the amount of products/items is large and/or going to expand

                If it's a small amount & finite then make the URLs as short as possible 🙂

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • lavellester
                  lavellester @77Agency last edited by Dec 14, 2011, 12:16 PM Dec 14, 2011, 12:16 PM

                  Information architecture is important from a usability and search engine prospective.

                  I'd say go for the categories divided by the /

                  www.example.com**/**accounts/titanium
                  www.example.com/accounts/open-demo-account

                  This makes more sense and lends itself to scalability etc.

                  hope this helps.

                  there are some really good articles on information architecture on the seomoz and the web

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • 77Agency
                    77Agency @lavellester last edited by Dec 14, 2011, 12:02 PM Dec 14, 2011, 12:02 PM

                    URL is without any category or folder

                    www.example.com/credits

                    www.example.com/accounts-titanium

                    www.example.com/accounts-demo

                    www.example.com/open-demo-account

                    is this right or i need to use:

                    www.example.com**/**accounts/titanium

                    www.example.com/accounts/open-demo-account

                    lavellester wojkwasi 77Agency 4 Replies Last reply Dec 15, 2011, 10:57 AM Reply Quote 0
                    • lavellester
                      lavellester last edited by Dec 14, 2011, 11:45 AM Dec 14, 2011, 11:45 AM

                      not quite sure what you mean exactly - can you expand with and example?

                      Thanks

                      77Agency 1 Reply Last reply Dec 14, 2011, 12:02 PM Reply Quote 1
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