Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Category Pages with Sub-Categories
-
The image will explain it all... Each category page starts on the subject of the first sub-category page. This happens twice (well actually 3 times since this section of the site is called showroom and it starts on the tab mowers).
Is this a terrible approach? If so, how could a site like this be better navigation-ally organized.
-
I think I have it. Yes, tabs could be the answer... unless this is getting too crazy.
So, on the front page I will use an image to say "showroom" and make the alt text = "zero turn mowers".
Then, beneath that main category I will also include: edgers, blowers, etc... as if they are sub categories (but in reality it will all be links to the 2nd layer if you know what I'm saying).
So, basically I will have a page that is optimized for zero turn mowers with this content:
/zero-turn-mowers
ZERO TURN MOWERS (h1)
TORO ZERO TURN MOWERS (1st tab & h2)
Description
Toro Zero Turn Homeowner (1st inner tab &h3)
Mower 1
Mower 2
etc...
Toro Zero Turn Commercial (2nd inner tab & h3)
Mower 1
Mower 2
etc...
GRAVELY ZERO TURN MOWERS (2nd tab and h2)
[same structure as Toro]
/edgers
[repeat structure for edgers 1 page]
Although, it is probably too ambitious to go after "zero turn mowers"... I wonder if this double tab structure is bad on page optimization or excellent as this is going to cause me to have a ton of content on each page.
-
You don't have to create anything to start planning out your URL structure. Lots of times when building something I think about the keywords and then just start laying out the URLs that I think will suport those keywords from a search and overall usability perspective. I'll do this even before I start mocking things up.
From your design you could put all mowers by one company on the same page and then have tabs to separate the content. Implement the tabs in javascript so that they just enhance some good solid HTML lists or divs. That would create one page for each mower brand. Are you hoping to SEO well for "mowers" or "toro mowers"? Perhaps you are already planning on doing this?
In regards to the anchor text, can you just link to "Toro Mowers" and then have people click the tab they want. Othewise perhaps you could do something link "Toro Mowers - Home", "Toro Mowers - Commercial". At least that gets the keywords at the front of the anchor text.
The structure of your site will be important for SEO but start by finding the list of keywords to target. Consider keyword competition and search volume when making the list. Come up with one page for each of those keywords. Then try to come up with an overall URL structure where you can SEO all those pages well. Finally, don't worry about SEO on each and every page you create. You are going to have some pages that add to the overall experience of your site that might not target keywords.
You are smart to think about creating only the pages that you have good content for. I wouldn't force myself to create any other pages.
-
I haven't actually created anything yet - hence the research.
Right now, my mock-up is completely based on ease of use for the user, and I am now factoring in SEO concerns - and this is my first concern.
Basically you have a homepage that has 3 main links in the middle of the page as well as some information about us, map, phone, etc... below. These links are:
- Showroom
- Workbench
- Knowledge Base
The screenshot you see on my first post is the "home" of the showroom.
As you can see, when you click Showroom - the first page you are taken to is Homeowner Toro Mowers.
That means the anchor text for showroom actually links to "homeowner toro mowers" - which can't be good.
Take it one step down and you see the same issue. Click the tab "gravely mowers" and you are taken to "homeowner gravely mowers" - with commercial being another tab.
In a perfect world I'm guessing I should have a page called "showroom" optimized for keywords.
Then, I should have a page called "mowers" with links to the different brands.
The company and I have no interest in creating all these "category home pages" because we don't have the content for them nor would they support the user in any sort of way.
This must be a common issue and there has to be a good answer to it - I just can't seem to come up with one.
I hope this helps...
-
Could you be more specific? I'd love to see the full URL path before of the categories and sub categories before I weigh in.
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
-
What is the best meta description for Category Pages, Tag Pages and Main Article?
Hi, I want to index all my categories and tags. But I fear about duplicating the meta description. for example: I have a tag name "Learn Stock Market", a category name "Learning", and a main article "What is Stock Market". What is your suggestion for meta description of these three pages that looks great for seo google?
On-Page Optimization | | mbmozmb0 -
FAQ page structure
I have read in other discussions that having all questions on an FAQ page is the way to go and then if the question has an answer worthy of its own page, you should abbreviate the answer and link to the page with more content. My question is when using some templates in WP, they have a little + button you can click and it reveal the answer to the question. Does this hurt SEO versus having all text visible and then using headers/subheaders? An example of the + button https://fyrfyret.dk/faq/
On-Page Optimization | | OrlandSEO1 -
Recommended Schema for a Collection/Category page?
Hi There! Taking on a small project up updating and adding in Schema to a clients site; a previous developer half put in data vocabulary. In my planning I was wondering if their would be a best schema type for category page of products - or a collection of products? Any ideas and experience? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | paul-bold0 -
SEO Optimization for Sales Page
Hi, I am new to eCommerce. Traditionally I have run a couple of semi-successful websites relying largely on Adsense revenue and affiliate income. So I have a bit of experience with on page and off page SEO. This time around I am creating a membership site and also sell eBooks as bundles that non members can buy. My question is, should I SEO optimize the sales page for my eBook or use another content page that links to the sales page. For example, if I am selling an ebook on Dog Training and targeting the main KW "Dog Training Tips", should my sales page be optimized for "Dog Training Tips"? The reason I ask is because typically Sales pages do not provide a lot of useful information but are more geared around selling the product. The other option would be to create a helpful information page targeted for "Dog Training Tips" and lead users to my sales page through contextual links, banners, popups (I hate popups), etc. This would be the approach for the other LSI keywords anyways. Any thought would be appreciated.
On-Page Optimization | | dwautism0 -
Why is my contact us page ranking higher than my home page?
Hello, It doesn't matter what keyword I put into Google (when I'm not signed in and have cleaned down my browsing history) the contact us page ranks higher than the home page. I'm not sure why this is, the home page has a higher page authority, more links and more social media shares, the website is an established one. When I have checked Google Analytics my home page gets more people landing on it than the contact us page. It looks like people are ignoring the contact us page and scrolling down until they find the home page. I'd appreciate any help or advice you might have. Thank you.
On-Page Optimization | | mblsolutions2 -
Punctuation at the Start of Page Titles
one of my clients appears to be using an exclamation mark (e.g. "! Graphic Prints By Mirrorin - Fun Childrens Graphic Prints") and to be completely honest, I have no idea if this is bad practice or if it wont have any affect from an SEO point of view? Any help would be appreciated because it is site wide, therefore if it is an issue I would like to be able to get it sorted asap! Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | ZaddleMarketing0 -
Best practice for Meta-Robots tag in categories and author pages?
For some of our site we use Wordpress, which we really like working with. The question I have is for the categories and authors pages (and similiar pages), i.e. the one looking: http://www.domain.com/authors/. Should you or should you not use follow, noindex for meta-robots? We have a lot of categories/tags/authors which generates a lot of pages. I'm a bit worried that google won't like this and leaning towards adding the follow, noindex. But the more I read about it, the more I see people disagree. What does the community of Seomoz think?
On-Page Optimization | | Lobtec0 -
How to avoid keyword stuffing on e-Commerce Category pages
Hi, I'm optimizing a large, consumer electronic e-commerce superstore. Based on client's choice of keywords, I'm using product category pages as my target urls. Because of the proprietary CMS structure, product names and titles, featured on my landing pages (product category pages) create a keyword overkill, affecting various ranking factors. For example, one of the target urls / landing pages, dedicated to a specific product category, mentions the keyword over 190 times because of so many product titles in the "body" section. Would inline "rel="canonical" help? If yes, what part of the website should it "canonize"? If rel="canonical" is not the answer, what strategies would you suggest? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | dimanyc0
