Url structure with dash or slash
-
Hi There
We have a content website. We don't rank well category image related searches but we get quite good traffic for those keywords. Those keywords are mostly like "category images". We want to change our url structure and we have 2 options now.
1- domain.com/category/category-images
option 1 repeats the category name so it looks spammy
option 2 doesn't really have the keyword.
any ideas which one tho choose?
Thanks!
ps: we don't want to use domain.com/category-images (too many root link)
-
Hey Rob,
Just throwing some ideas in here.
Is it folder depth or distance in terms of number of clicks from Homepage that makes a difference? It was my understanding that using a very flat structure was pretty outdated SEO?
One of the issues I think that get overlooked a lot when considering URL structure is how to structure URLs so you can drill down easily into different types of content/categories/channels.
As I understand it Google see a slash as the root of a folder. You can see this in Analytics, a page with a slash at the end of it has a folder icon next to it and you are shown the stats for that folder. This means that if you remove the trailing slashes from actual pages you can see how separate areas of the site are performing as a whole.
Another argument for using a folders to structuring URLs could be that "link juice" spreads throughout the folder, perhaps even contextually. For instance if I have a folder which contains all of my pages about widgets then as my link profile to the pages in the widgets folder all the pages in that folder benefit. It seems logical that if an item was in a relevant directory that x contextual links then it would benefit.
As I said, just a bit food for thought, not sure if my theories are correct but I'd be interested what you guys think?
Neil.
-
Thanks Wesley,
if difference between category-images and category/images is that small, I would like to with option 2 then.
-
Hi donford
Thanks for your answer, but I don't ask about image searches, the keyword is "category images" so it is not about image tags/desciription.
(we already have correct tags and names)
-
In my experiences and tests (although some disagree in search) don't forget to consider that (folder depth) IE - number of directories beyond the URL may have an impact on your search performance I can have an impact/factor in how deep spiders both crawl and index sites with regards to relevance and competitive landscape mapping. Just keep in mind
So you with www.domain.com/category/images/anotherfolder/ might be much longer to get your images ranking vs www.domain.com/images/ - but again, it doesn't always work in a framework for architecture if you have multiple, hundreds or thousands of /category/ sections in the sites design.
Try to trim down your URL to make it the most simplified, but user friendly (as possible :). Keeping it short for any pages and or directories also makes it more user friendly in that people can remember where the file was and the URL it was on
Folder location still has impact on crawl depth and rankings. The above mentioned features to improve relevancy for images are still useful (see post above), so ensure to name each image, and use hyphens between words, use the IMG ALT text on every image to identify, and the location of said images on various location page/URL's.
If you can get around removing the /category/ folder and reducing the URL to www.domain.com/images/ where all your image files are located, that might be better, but I have only used this in a handful of cases. Usually, more often than not .
Hope that helps!
-
The basic question (correct me if I'm wrong) is how to rank better for Image searches.
The answer, has little to do with the options you listed.The best way to achieve this
- Name the image appropriately (example Red-Ford-Mustang-Convertiable-2014.jpg not rfmc2014.jpg)
- Use appropriate image alt text (example "Car's Side View 2014 Mustang Convertible")
- Place images on appropriate pages, meaning you wouldn't want to show a red ford mustang on a page about staplers (the content of the page helps the image
Hope this helps
-
It's such a subtle difference SEO wise (if, in fact, there is a difference at all) that it really works out to what's best in terms of the user experience (internally or externally). I wouldn't waste much time considering it--just pick the one that seems to work best for your architecture/visitors and go with it.
-
I would recommend going for option 2 -> domain.com/category/images
The keyword you mentioned is "Category images". Both of these words are now in the URL structure. The difference SEO wise is very very very small though.
The structure of option 2 is much simpler and more straightforward. It looks less spammy and is easier to type in. Therefor it's better for the user and for you to use option 2.If you have any other questions feel free to ask me
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
-
Pyramid link structure - how to noindex, nofollow
I'm talking about this article: https://moz.com/learn/seo/internal-link Take this sample: HOME --> Shirts --> Plain shirt --> shirt#1 Product page: noindex, follow all links except 1 from breadcrumbs to nearest category (plain shirts). SubCategory page (plain shirts): noindex, follow all links except 1 link from breadcrumbs to nearest category (shirts) and all products belonging to current subcategory. Category page (shirts): noindex, follow all links except 1 link from breadcrumbs to front page (site.com) and links to own subcategories. Front page: noindex, follow all links except 12 links to main categories (shirts, pants etc.) Is it correct? If I noindex some parts of website, will it be harmful?
On-Page Optimization | | SilverStar10 -
I'm using Canonical URL but still receiving message - Appropriate Use of Rel Canonical
Hello, I checked my site and it looks like everything is setup correctly for canonical url but I keep getting the message that it's not. Am I doing something wrong? SORRY I FIGURED IT OUT! THANK YOU! HOW DO I DELETE THIS?
On-Page Optimization | | seohlp440 -
URL question
When we type in the URL of www.JustBunkBeds.com on firefox we end up with (S) in URL https://www.justbunkbeds.com/ When we type in the URL of www.JustBunkBeds.com on Explorer we end up with http://www.justbunkbeds.com/ Appreciate answer to this question Tony
On-Page Optimization | | OCFurniture0 -
Blog URL
I know that this question has been asked in the past, and that website.com/blog is better for seo purposes than blog.website.com. We want to setup a custom blog on our site, using Wordpress. Our designers/host are telling us that buy using website.com/blog can causes issues b/c Wordpress is open source, and our site could be hacked? Is there anything we should do about this? Any suggestions? Any Advice appreciated!!! Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | TP_Marketing0 -
Number ID's in URL's
If you have to place a number ID into a URL. Does it matter from an seo perspective whether it is placed in the middle or at the end? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | simmo2350 -
How important is it to include the target keyword phrase in the page URL?
If I want to target a keyword phrase to a particular phrase, but do not want to change the URL of that page, will that negatively impact my rankings? I am also wondering if I can get around it by creating a new, short URL that 301 redirects to the original URL. Would that be as effective as including the keyword in the original URL?
On-Page Optimization | | susannajbost0 -
Change in link structure due to Joomla
Hi, I have been using Joomla 1.5 until recently and the link structure would be something like - http://www.guru99.com/software-testing.html Now with Joomla 1.7 , ".html " automatically stripped and the URL become "http://www.guru99.com/software-testing" My site is due upgrade but ".html" part is a concern. Once I upgrade , Can I re-direct all ".hmtl" url like http://www.guru99.com/software-testing.html to non ".html" url like "http://www.guru99.com/software-testing" Will this ensure all the link juice is passed ? I have more than 350 URL in my site ... Please guide ... Cheers Krishna PS = the link http://www.guru99.com/software-testing will not work since the site is yet to be upgraded
On-Page Optimization | | iamnew0 -
Rename index.php or keyword in URL?
It is important for me to get good search results for keyword + city name For instance: tulips amsterdam What would be better: renaming index.php or adding the cityname to the URL? www.example.com/amsterdam/tulips OR www.example.com/pages/tulips-amsterdam
On-Page Optimization | | svdg0