Log-in page ranking instead of homepage due to high traffic on login page! How to avoid?
-
Hi all,
Our log-in page is ranking in SERP instead of homepage and some times both pages rank for the primary keyword we targeted. We have even dropped. I am looking for a solution for this. Three points here to consider is:
- Our log-in page is the most visited page and landing page on the website.
- Even there is the primary keyword in this page or not; same scenario continues
- Log-in page is the first link bots touch when they crawling any page of our website as log-in page is linked on top navigation menu
If we move login page to sub-domain, will it works? I am worrying that we loose so much traffic to our website which will be taken away from log-in page sub domain
Please guide with your valuable suggestions.
Thanks
-
Hello Vtmoz,
Im not following you. You have clearly stated below: Noindexing the login page will force visitors from google on doing an extra step to log in.
-
Hi Linda,
Yes, I agree with you that we may not lose the traffic but again, most of the website visitors are going to end up at log-in page which might be a strong indicator to Google that most visitors are just interested about our log-in and this may dilute our ranking efforts of ranking other pages of the website including homepage.
Thanks
-
Hi GR,
Most of our website visitors intention is to get into log-in page as most of them are our customers. There are large number of people who will get into log-in page from website rather than directly. So, even if we noindex the login page, the people who are searching directly for our log-in page or who are clicking on the log-in page from the Google sitelinks after searching from our brand will not able to find; they may end manually with one more extra step of visiting the website first. Again the indicator is that most of the website page visitors are going to log-in page. How that works?
Thanks
-
I don't think you will lose traffic if you noindex the login page. People who are doing a search and then clicking on a login link are very likely to be specifically looking for you and if the login result is not there, they'll choose the next best page, like the homepage.
I second Gaston's comment about intent and usability. If searchers are going to be driven to a different page, you need to be sure that they can easily complete their task there.
-
Yeap, adding the noindex tag will remove that page from google results.
And no, there is no guarantee that rankings will improve nor go down by adding the noindex. It is just the patch in order to do not appear in search with a page you dont want to show.You should anlayze those incoming visitors to the log-in page and try to figure out wherer they were looking to log in into the web or anything else.
Also, consider the idea that removing from index that log in page, will make those visitor to do extra interactions with your website in order to log in. Is your UX prepared to that? Have you analyzed your audience for that?As you can see, there no simple answer, because you must take into consideration the intent and usability for those visitors.
Hope it helps.
Best luck.
GR. -
Hi Gaston,
Thanks for the reply. Yes, we need it in the Google as many of our users are landing on that page from SERP only. If we add the tag as you mentioned, it'll be out of SERP right?
We don't want the traffic of log-in page as it's hitting the actual traffic and ranking of website. Do you think our ranking will be improved with this or we will be more dropped by loosing the traffic of log-in page?
Thanks
-
Hello vtmoz,
do you need that login page to be in google? this issue could be resolved just by adding a robots noindex tag in that page.
Here some more information about the Robots tag
Hope it helps.
GR.
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
-
A page will not be indexed if published without linking from anywhere?
Hi all, I have noticed one page from our competitors' website which has been hardly linked from one internal page. I just would like to know if the page not linked anywhere get indexed by Google or not? Will it be found by Google? What if a page not linked internally but go some backlinks from other websites? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Is anyone else's ranking jumping?
Rankings have been jumping across 3 of our websites since about 24 October. Is anyone seeing similar? For example ... jumps from position 5 to 20 on one day, then back to 5 for 3 days and then back to 20 for a day I'm trying to figure out if it's algorithm based or if my rank checker has gone mad. I can't replicate the same results if I search incognito or in a new browser, everything always looks stable in the SERPs if I do the search myself
Algorithm Updates | | Marketing_Today0 -
Product descriptions & category pages
Hi I wanted to ask if anyone knew how much, if at all, product page titles/descriptions affected the rankings of the category page they're linked from? I am looking for ways to improve the ranking of category pages, but we don't want to put too much content which overshadows the product listings. Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | BeckyKey0 -
Should plural keyword variations get their own targeted pages?
I am in the middle of changing a website from targeting just a single keyword on all pages to instead having each page target its own keyword/phrase. However, I'm a little conflicted on whether or not plural forms and other suffix (-ing) variations are different enough to get their own pages. SERP show different results for each keyword searched. Also, relevancy reports for the keywords score some differently and some the same. Is it best to instead use these as secondary and third level keywords on the same page as the main keyword for a page? See example below: OPTION A (Use each for different pages): Page 1 - Construction Fence Page 2 - Construction Fences Page 3 - Construction Fencing Page 4 - Construction Site Fence Page 5 - Construction Site Fences Page 6 - Construction Site Fencing ... OPTION B (Use as variations on same page): Page 1 - Construction Fence, Construction Fences, Construction Fencing Page 2 - Construction Site Fence, Construction Site Fences, Site Construction Fencing ... Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | pac-cooper0 -
Best approach to ranking locally
Hello, What are the best approaches to ranking locally. Ie a user in Dallas googles "mechanics" and local results return. I understand Google+ local pages to be an important factor for the location based listings on maps. What about about location specific pages on the site? Meaning if we have a page on the site talking about areas we serve in Dallas. Other suggestions?
Algorithm Updates | | CallRingTalk0 -
Rank dropped for website
We have seen rankings drop considerably for www.think-ins.co.uk in the last 48 hours, I know Penguin 2.0 has been released but anyone got any ideas on what specifically we might have been penalised for? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | instinctive0 -
Ranking well for main key terms but site traffic has dropped sharply?
Hello All, Just a quick question. Since the penguin update our site www.caravanguard.co.uk has seen some pretty fluctuating movement in Google, many of our key terms dropped over night, but over the last few weeks they have slowly started to move back up the rankings. The bizarre thing is despite the recover in rankings our unique traffic has taken a fairly large whack in numbers. Seasonality? Weather? ( it's been nice in the UK for a change) I can only assume the longer tail terms are taking more time to recover. I have tried to look into our back link profile and have noticed a little too much in terms concise keyword targeting, How do you go about changing these terms and removing the really bad links (struggling to identify the worst cases) on totally irrelevant sites or poor directories. Put in place before I started here 🐵 Any help truly appreciated. Regards Tim
Algorithm Updates | | TimHolmes0 -
If you rank first organically for a keyword, will you rank first for variations?
Hi everyone, Hoping that someone will be able to answer this question for us. If we rank first organically for a keyword, are we safe to assume that we'll rank first (or close to it) for variations of that keyword as well? E.g. If we rank first easily for "Hamilton Island", can we safely assume that we will rank well organically for close variations of that keyword such as "Hamilton Islands", "Hamiltonisland", "Hamilton Island Hotel" due to the fact that "Hamilton Island" is in those keywords? We're deciding which keywords to monitor in SEOmoz and we don't want to waste keywords on very similar terms if we don't have to. Really appreciate any responses! Cheers.
Algorithm Updates | | HamiltonIsland0