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URL keyword separator best practice

On-Page Optimization
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  • bloomletsgrow
    bloomletsgrow last edited by Apr 28, 2017, 7:49 AM

    Hello.

    Wanted to reach out see what the consensus is re-keyword separators

    So just taken on a new client and all their urls are structured like /buybbqpacks rather than buy-bbq-packs - my understanding is that it comes down to readability, which influences click through, rather than search impact on the keyword.

    So we usually advise on a hyphen, but the guy's going to have to change ALLOT of pages & setup redirects to change it all wasn't sure if it was worth it?

    Thanks!

    Stu

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • bloomletsgrow
      bloomletsgrow @Alick300 last edited by Apr 28, 2017, 9:47 AM Apr 28, 2017, 9:47 AM

      Some yes some way off. I'll move on that basis.

      Thanks

      Stu

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Alick300
        Alick300 last edited by May 15, 2017, 5:09 AM Apr 28, 2017, 8:56 AM

        are you ranking well for all or most of the keywords? if yes then I wouldn't suggest you to do that because even if you use 301 redirect you will loose some link juice. If that is not the case you can go ahead.

        My suggestion was purely based on what Google's recommendation and in terms of readability.

        Thanks

        bloomletsgrow 1 Reply Last reply Apr 28, 2017, 9:47 AM Reply Quote 1
        • bloomletsgrow
          bloomletsgrow @Alick300 last edited by Apr 28, 2017, 8:30 AM Apr 28, 2017, 8:30 AM

          Thanks.

          Though would changing 100s or urls adversely impact ranking? Per this: https://moz.com/community/q/will-changing-a-url-negatively-affect-ranking

          so perhaps a strategy of change going forward, but don't mess with anything existing? Or otherwise?

          Thanks again.

          Stu

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • Alick300
            Alick300 last edited by May 15, 2017, 5:09 AM Apr 28, 2017, 8:10 AM

            Hi,

            IMO Your assumption" is correct. Existing url structure need to change with hyphen.

            According to Google "The URL http://www.example.com/green-dress.html is much more useful to us than http://www.example.com/greendress.html."

            Full article is here @ https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/76329?hl=en

            Hope this helps.

            Thanks

            bloomletsgrow 1 Reply Last reply Apr 28, 2017, 8:30 AM Reply Quote 2
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