Is it allowed to put a word in all domains URLs to get higher in SERP?
-
Hello,
What good or bad could happen if someone put the same keyword in all site's URL's? (i.e. I would be selling cars and my domain isn't included any word cars, so i put all of my pages in one folder like domain.com/cheap-cars/etc)
-
All else being equal, I think it's very similar - you're just diluting your unique keywords. The only exception would be if the phrase "cheap 2012 honda accord" is very high volume. Then, you might want to target that on the page. I'd be selective about that, though - don't just add it to every URL.
Unfortunately, "cheap" is just one of those words that looks low quality to Google, because everyone is chasing. So, I think you have to be all that much more careful. If you sold only used cars and you wanted "used-" ("used-2012-honda-accord", for example) in your URLs, that might be different. I'd still proceed with caution, but at least "used" would be a meaningful aspect of your business and the user experience. "Cheap" is a value judgment that everyone wants to claim.
-
Okay the folder would be meaningless, and what about a keyword "cheap"? It could be like:
www.example.com/cheap-2012-honda-accord
It seems more sense, but wouldn't i lose (as you said) a unique keyword?
Maybe www.example.com/cheap-2012-honda-accord is outranked by www.example.com/2012-honda-accord for search query "2012 Honda Accord", but if i'm only a seller maybe i should aim only for selling queries?
-
I tend to agree - you aren't going to get penalized, but two somewhat negative things generally happen. Let's say that your current URLs look like:
www.example.com/2012-honda-accord
...and you change them to:
www.example.com/cheap-cars/2012-honda-accord
(1) You're telling Google, in essence, that every page on the site should rank for "cheap cars". This is keyword cannibalization. Ideally, one page is the best target for that phrase. Adding it everywhere really only confuses spiders and visitors.
(2) You're pushing down the unique keywords "2012 Honda Accord" and making the URL longer. This hurts the ranking power of those unique keywords.
Now, keep in mind, URLs are just one small aspect of ranking, so the impact may be small. Generally, though, Google views this as low quality, and the potential harm well outweighs any SEO value in 2013.
-
don't add folders just for the sake of getting keywords in your URL. keywords in your filename are better for SEO anyway. If anything I would recommend you rename your pages for better SEO accompanied with better optimization on the pages themselves.
that being said, you won't get penalized just for adding a folder it's a combination of overdoing that keyword in your pages that could trigger a penalty
-
Well everyone says that URL may consist of keyword and it is allowed.
Also I don't recall breaking Google guidelines with that and I haven't head anyone of getting a penalty for that (maybe everyone stays quiet).
So whether it's allowed to put the same meaningful word in all URL's and it would increase the traffic for (i.e. cheap-cars) or it's not even allowed and I may get penalty for that?
Maybe someone experienced something like that? Or simply can prove what would be the best?
-
I am assuming that your site – abc.com offer many services and “cheap car” is such service. You can go ahead and create a folder and then put all the pages related to cheap cars in that folder. But if you only offer cheap cars, there is no point in creating a folder just for the sake of adding keywords in the URL. Of course, having the keywords in the URL does help but that does not mean that we should go extreme.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How to take down a sub domain which is receiving many spammy back-links?
Hi all, We have a sub domain which has less engagement for last few years. Eventually many spammy back links pointed to this sub domain. There are relevant back links too. We have deleted most of the pages which are employing spammy content or which have spammy back links. Still I'm confused whether to take this sub domain down or keep it. The confusion between "relevant backlinks might be helping our website" and "spammy backlinks are affecting to drop in rankings"? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Exact Keywords Domain name
Hello everyone!, I would love to have your opinion on this matter. I am working on a company e-commerce site; these guys would like to change their domain name AND their company name, so the most logical thing that came to mind was to name the domain after the company name. However, they also bought in the past a domain that have the exact keyword they would like to rank for. I know that keywords in the URL are not as important as they used to be in the past, but nonetheless when I do a Google search for those keywords, 3 domains out of 10 on the first page are slight variations of those same keywords, meaning that they might have a really good domain name (also the other result are government, medical stuff and so on). And, no matter how many times I have read that keywords in the URL are not so important anymore, I still see a lot of sites ranking also because of their domain name (well at least outside the US) So, my question here is: would it be better for them to use the exact match keyword-domain name or should they use their company name for their new site? Or some sort combination of the two? (the keyword-domain that in some way points also to the brand domain). Thanks for your opinions on this; really appreciate it! Cheers
Algorithm Updates | | Eyah0 -
Sitemap Question - Should I exclude or make a separate sitemap for Old URL's
So basically, my website is very old... 1995 Old. Extremely old content still shows up when people search for things that are outdated by 10-15+ years , I decided not to drop redirects on some of the irrelevant pages. People still hit the pages, but bounce... I have about 400 pages that I don't want to delete or redirect. Many of them have old backlinks and hold some value but do interfere with my new relevant content. If I dropped these pages into a sitemap, set the priority to zero would that possibly help? No redirects, content is still valid for people looking for it, but maybe these old pages don't show up above my new content? Currently the old stuff is excluded from all sitemaps.. I don't want to make one and have it make the problem worse. Any advise is appreciated. Thx 😄
Algorithm Updates | | Southbay_Carnivorous_Plants0 -
How important is Social Media for building domain authority / Google rankings? Are there any cases?
I really would like to know if someone tested the importance of Social Media for Google rankings.
Algorithm Updates | | Seeders
Are there some sites who build authority only by doing good social media?
Ofcourse, I know it is all about the mix (content, linkbuilding, social media, etc.) but how important is it?
I know many sites who rank good without any form of social media, but I do not know any sites who do only social media and rank high. I hope there are some good cases which give good insight. ps. I know it becomes more and more important...0 -
Has anyone seen this before? One domain dominates the entire first page!
Do a google search for "sober college" and tell me you don't see the entire page filled with one domain. (except the last result)
Algorithm Updates | | EmarketedTeam0 -
Why does my Rank Checker result differ to SERPs
Hello SEOmoz members I've got yet another naive question for you. RankChecker is telling me that my client has risen to pg 1 position 7. Whilst SERPs is telling me they are still on position 14. I know that SERPs is variable depending on many factors, but this holds true for separate searches on other computers in various far flung locations. Please give me some insight into what is happening. I'm waiting to open the bubbly! Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | catherine-2793880 -
The related: query for one of my urls makes no sense
I'm trying to compete regarding keyword X. Currently, I'm on first page, 7-8th position. If, for each one of the urls listed in first page for such keyword, I search for related:[url], I get similar results for all of them, but mine. Mine shows inconsistent results, none of which related to the same topic as the other 9 in the top 10. Looking at them, the only hypothesis I am able to formulate is that, somehow, google is linking the url to its paid banners in big media. However, such banners go through an adserver and/or are declared as nofollow. Is there any obvious reason that could be causing this? I wonder if we are on page 1 even though we're considered pretty-much 'off-topic' regarding the keyword.
Algorithm Updates | | jleanv240 -
How to get bullet snippets SERPs
http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-snippets-for-list-pages.html I read this post and have been seeing a lot of results with this feature, but can't figure out exactly why some results get them and others dont. of the results I've seen, many have information in lists or tables (as the article suggests), but some simply have their information listed in separate divs. Does anyone have any further insight on this? The above article is the only one I can find on the subject.
Algorithm Updates | | Hakkasan0