URL Structure & Best Practice when Facing 4+ Sub-levels
-
Hi.
I've spent the last day fiddling with the setup of a new URL structure for a site, and I can't "pull the trigger" on it.
- Example: - domain.com/games/type-of-game/provider-name/name-of-game/
- Specific example: - arcade.com/games/pinball/deckerballs/starshooter2k/
The example is a good description of the content that I have to organize. The aim is to a) define url structure, b) facilitate good ux, **c) **create a good starting point for content marketing and SEO, avoiding multiple / stuffing keywords in urls'.
The problem? Not all providers have the same type of game. Meaning, that once I get past the /type-of-game/, I must write a new category / page / content for /provider-name/.
No matter how I switch the different "sub-levels" around in the url, at one point, the provider-name doesn't fit as its in need of new content, multiple times.
The solution? I can skip "provider-name". The caveat though is that I lose out on ranking for provider keywords as I don't have a cornerstone content page for them.
Question: Using the URL structure as outlined above in WordPress, would you A) go with "Pages", or B) use "Posts"
-
I'm not quite sure if I'm correct since I'm not in the gaming industry, but I don't think there would be many benefits in terms of SEO for having provider name in URL. There are a few reasons that I wouldn't add provider name in URL:
- Your URL will be much longer, Moz suggests to keep it within 75 words, including https://www.
- I'm guessing the more important keyword here is the game name, by having publisher name you're moving your important keyword further from the root domain
- It cost more time and effort to manage and create content for each provider page/content
- Provider name is a branded keyword, and it would be hard for you to outrank them in their brand name
- doesn't give much SEO value
When I search for "Battlefield 1", almost all the top results have "Battlefield 1" close to their root domain.
https://www.windowscentral.com/battlefield-1-2018
https://www.gamespot.com/battlefield-1/
https://www.g2a.com/en/battlefield-1-origin-key-global-i10000016618004
https://www.origin.com/sgp/en-us/store/battlefield/battlefield-1#store-page-section-criticalacclaimI think at the end it depends on what keyword you're trying to rank for and does having the publisher name helps.
-
Thank you for both your time and effort in response to my thread, Joseph.
The reason I do not want to use WordPress and its Tags-function, is that it is a WP-function, and not something beneficial to SEO at all. On the contrary, tags create new URLs, duplicate content, and thin content as well.
Continuing on your stating that "relevant content to the keywords", does this mean I can skip the "provider-name" in the url?
I've seen competitors that includes the provider in URL, and they outrank others that do not. I recognize the fact that the URL is not the only signal / factor here, but I'm seeing a trend, hence my question.
-
Hey Dan,
though keyword in URL can be helpful it wasn't that much of a factor in ranking. If your page has relevant content to the keywords Google will be able to tell. Alternatively, since you're using Wordpress, will "tag" be another solution?
Regards,
Joseph Yap
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
-
AMP Benefits
Hello, Does AMP have ranking benefits ? Should I just AMP my post or all the pages of my website, product page, homepage etc... Thank you,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | seoanalytics0 -
Best Practices to Design Site Mock Up Using Wordpress Rather than Wireframes?
We are in the process of redesigning our real estate website. Our designer/developer is very quick and confident on Wordpress. He suggests designing directly on Wordpress and bypassing wireframes and a mock ups. He is very confident in his Wordpress abilities. Is it a mistake to take this approach? He has also asked that we select a real estate theme at this point. I would think that the theme would be selected after the wireframes and mock ups get done. But there are certainly different approaches. Are there best practices for redesigning a webiste; any suggestions? Are there significant risks/disadvantages to bypassing wireframes/mock ups? Thanks,
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Kingalan1
Alan Rosinsky0 -
AMP - The what, why and how of it
Hi There, In our company, we never had AMP implemented on sites that we SEO for. We want to start doing that now. I know the basics of AMP and their requirements, however, I need to know a lot more about it from an SEO perspective of this before I actually get developers onto it. I want to know all the 1) risks involved, 2) the best ways to implement it (plugin etc.), 3) why it is worth it. I also want to know how to see if a developer knows what he is talking about - and really will do it the right way without messing me up? Are there any specific questions I should ask, or information he should be aware of? Also, is there a way for it it be done for pages that have more than just text like quote forms, sliding headers etc.? Should we only do it for the blog section of our site? I would greatly appreciate any links to additional resources on this topic, (not why to use AMP, but everything else) I greatly appreciate you taking the time to answer my question
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Ruchy0 -
What's the best way to A/B test new version of your website having different URL structure?
Hi Mozzers, Hope you're doing good. Well, we have a website, up and running for a decent tenure with millions of pages indexed in search engines. We're planning to go live with a new version of it i.e a new experience for our users, some changes in site architecture which includes change in URL structure for existing URLs and introduction of some new URLs as well. Now, my question is, what's the best way to do a A/B test with the new version? We can't launch it for a part of users (say, we'll make it live for 50% of the users, an remaining 50% of the users will see old/existing site only) because the URL structure is changed now and bots will get confused if they start landing on different versions. Will this work if I reduce crawl rate to ZERO during this A/B tenure? How will this impact us from SEO perspective? How will those old to new 301 URL redirects will affect our users? Have you ever faced/handled this kind of scenario? If yes, please share how you handled this along with the impact. If this is something new to you, would love to know your recommendations before taking the final call on this. Note: We're taking care of all existing URLs, properly 301 redirecting them to their newer versions but there are some new URLs which are supported only on newer version (architectural changes I mentioned above), and these URLs aren't backward compatible, can't redirect them to a valid URL on old version.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | _nitman0 -
URL Parameter Being Improperly Crawled & Indexed by Google
Hi All, We just discovered that Google is indexing a subset of our URL’s embedded with our analytics tracking parameter. For the search “dresses” we are appearing in position 11 (page 2, rank 1) with the following URL: www.anthropologie.com/anthro/category/dresses/clothes-dresses.jsp?cm_mmc=Email--Anthro_12--070612_Dress_Anthro-_-shop You’ll note that “cm_mmc=Email” is appended. This is causing our analytics (CoreMetrics) to mis-attribute this traffic and revenue to Email vs. SEO. A few questions: 1) Why is this happening? This is an email from June 2012 and we don’t have an email specific landing page embedded with this parameter. Somehow Google found and indexed this page with these tracking parameters. Has anyone else seen something similar happening?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | kevin_reyes
2) What is the recommended method of “politely” telling Google to index the version without the tracking parameters? Some thoughts on this:
a. Implement a self-referencing canonical on the page.
- This is done, but we have some technical issues with the canonical due to our ecommerce platform (ATG). Even though page source code looks correct, Googlebot is seeing the canonical with a JSession ID.
b. Resubmit both URL’s in WMT Fetch feature hoping that Google recognizes the canonical.
- We did this, but given the canonical issue it won’t be effective until we can fix it.
c. URL handling change in WMT
- We made this change, but it didn’t seem to fix the problem
d. 301 or No Index the version with the email tracking parameters
- This seems drastic and I’m concerned that we’d lose ranking on this very strategic keyword Thoughts? Thanks in advance, Kevin0 -
Outranking a crappy outdated site with domain age & keywords in URL.
I'm trying to outrank a website with the following: Website with #1 ranking for a search query with "City & Brand" Domain Authority - 2 Domain Age - 11 years & 9 months old Has both the City & brand in the URL name. The site is crap, outdated.. probably last designed in the 90's, old layouts, not a lot of content & NO keywords in the titles & descriptions on all pages. My site ranks 5th for the same keyword.. BEHIND 4 pages from the site described above. Domain Authority - 2 Domain Age - 4 years & 2 months old Has only the CITY in the URL. Brand new site design this past year, new content & individual keywords in the titles, descriptions on each page. My main question is.... do you think it would be be beneficial to buy a new domain name with the BRAND in the URL & CITY & 301 redirect my 4 year old domain to the new domain to pass along the authority it has gained. Will having the brand in the URL make much of a difference? Do you think that small step would even help to beat the crappy but old site out? Thanks for any help & suggestions on how to beat this old site or at least show up second.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | DCochrane0 -
What Is The Preferred Url Structure For Se’s?
Here is my issue, my domain is abcdomian.com and I’m trying to rank the site for the keyword “example”. All of my content is under “abcdomain.com/folder/example/” and building content off of “abcdomain.com/example” is not an option. So I’m thinking about moving the content to “abcdomain.com/online-example/” and 301ing the old pages . Of the two paths below, which will have a greater impact on my rankings for the term “example”? Current: abcdomain.com/folder/example/
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | samp582
Proposed: abcdomain.com/online-example/ Thoughts?0 -
Best SEO Practices for Top-Level Navigation Structure
OK - First of all, thank you to those of you who view and take the time to answer our question. We are currently in the middle of re-designing our golf packages website, and we're trying to decide the best way to structure our Main Navigation for maximum SEO benefit while keeping user experience in mind. The top key phrases we are currently targeting: 1) Myrtle Beach Golf 2) Myrtle Beach Golf Packages You can find the current navigation structure we have come up with here: http://www.myrtlebeachsitemasters.com/index2.html So our question is this: We have subdivisions of: Golf Packages, Accommodations, Golf Courses Is it in our best interest to: A) Get rid of the subdivisions and consolidate them to one page? or B) Simply "NoFollow" the subdivisions within the Main Navigation? We are concerned about the subdivisons for 2 reasons: Too many internal links in Main Navigation The "first link only" rule with Google affecting our additional internal links on existing pages. THANK YOU again to those of you who take the time to answer this question. We really appreciate any clarification on this issue.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JamesO0