How to handle no ad pages or no search result pages for a classifieds website?
-
We have a classified website.
We have started doing SEO for classifieds search pages so I have submitted some pages to Google using sitemap.xml ex: www.domain.com/search/austin.
If there are any Ads in the Austin location then Google is considering it as soft 404 errors in GWT.
I am submitting them to Google yet there are no Ads because at some point users may add Ads and by that time my URL need to be in Google.My question is how to handle the page which doesn't have any Ads?
Please let me know and guide me if I am wrong. -
Those pages that do not have Ads which actually is considered as a content are considered as low-value (thin content) pages and also those pages will consume part of your crawl budget. So let me explain my point.
Thin content
So what is thin content? Thin content is content that has little or no value to the user. Google considers doorway pages, low-quality affiliate pages, or simply pages with very little or no content as thin content pages. But don’t fall into the trap of just producing loads of very similar content: non-original pages, pages with scraped and duplicate content, are considered thin content pages too. On top of that, Google doesn’t like pages that are stuffed with keywords either. Google has gotten smarter and has learned to distinguish between valuable and low-quality content, especially since Google Panda.So in your case, the pages with no Ads meet with the criteria_** content that has little or no value to the user. **_First, let's assume one thing, there is no manual of how to deal with your case.
- Create content for those pages inviting them to register to your directory website If you have a problem with thin-content on your site, you can take steps to beef up its quality and meet your target audience’s needs. Consider some of the most commonly recommended SEO best practices for improving thin content.
- Keep those pages away from Google until they have content. Remove unnecessary pages. Instead of letting a poorly performing page impact your SEO goals, take it down. Eliminate all duplicate and irrelevant pages. Scaling back and refocusing on quality can help brands identify and invest in more value-added topics.
Thin content is a barrier to SEO success, but you can easily remedy this incredibly common problem with a focus on quality over quantity. Before you publish any new content to your site, ask these questions: Does the content align with the chosen topic? Have we presented the information in an original way? Will it add value to our users?
Focus on your Taxonomies
Implementing categories and tags on your website is an important way to add structure to it. These taxonomies group content on a certain topic. When used properly, Google will understand the structure of your site better. Categories have a hierarchical structure. There can be subcategories within categories. Tags do not have a hierarchical structure. Think of it like this: categories are the table of contents of your website, and tags are the index.
Your category archives are more important than individual pages and posts. If you sell boxers and you optimize every product page, all those pages will compete for the term ‘boxers’. You should optimize them for their specific brand and model, and link them all to the ‘boxers’ category page. That way the category page can rank for ‘boxer’, while the product page can rank for more specific terms. This way, the category page prevents the individual pages from competing.
In your case, if you have a directory website and you promote dentists in Austin you should focus on that category page rather than focus on every single ad of each dentist
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
-
Do you get junk mail after adding a local listing?
I'm curious if when anyone has submitted a new business citation, once it appears in Google, Bing, Yellow Pages, etc, do you notice if junk mail starts to flow in?
Local Listings | | MrSem0 -
Website showing #1 in Local search, disappeared from Organic search - previously #1?
We manage a website santamaryflorist.com - a local Ohio florist. She is #1 ranked on Google Local results (and also on Yahoo and Bing). The site's homepage was previously #1 ranked for Organic but has disappeared from Organic ranking over the past few days. It shows occasionally as #1 in organic, like every few hours, but typically does not show. - Sub-pages are still showing on organic but not front page- Last week we had some issues with crawl errors but those seem to be resolved for several days (pages not available)_Why would the site be showing #1 in Local but only occasionally as the #1 result in organic but most of the time not showing in Organic results at all? _
Local Listings | | william20390 -
Local Search - can I use a shortened company name
Can I use a shortened version of our company name for local search or does it need to match the name registered at companies house exactly?
Local Listings | | paulfoz16090 -
Multiple Local Domains and Location Pages Question
Hello Everyone, So we have a priority site (domain.com) but also a geo-specific site for another location we have (domainNYC.com). Assuming both have completely unique content, different contact information and it’s justifiable to have a second domain (i.e. resources, brand/link equity…etc.) would it be recommend to also use the sub-folder approach on our primary (meaning domain.com/nyc)? And then potentially linking to domainNYC.com (just the once, not overdoing it)? Or just play it safe and keep them separate. Our concern is doing both sub-folder and separate domain might cannibalize on local searches resulting in us essentially competing with ourselves for those terms. The benefit would be leveraging the priority domain and driving visitors there. We could always ‘noindex, follow' the sub-folder page so users have access to the address on the primary domain too but wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts or suggestions as well as how it could pertain to linking (scarcely). We have found a lot of information on choosing one over the other but not as much for whether both is recommended so any extra insight would be very appreciated. Looking forward to hearing from all of you! Thank you in advance for the help! Best,
Local Listings | | Ben-R0 -
Google My Business Pages - Still Relevant or Phasing Out?
Google My Business plays a big part of getting your company to rank in the local pack for local search queries. Apart from making sure this is correct and up to date, where do you think the future of GMB pages is headed? Will Google eventually start phasing these out and come up with a different way to populate the local pack?
Local Listings | | BlueCorona1 -
Ranking for a service website that offers to a large geographic region. Micro sites, one site, google ads, etc?
Hi there I currently have a client that has a service that offers to a wide metropolitan geographic region. Currently we offer location detection when they hit the site. I'm curious what the best method going forward would be. This client is coming from a PPC initially but I've sold them on a longer term goal with organic SEO (local) . So my question is what is the best method for ground up web creation when offering a service that services multiple areas within the same metropolitan region? Bonus questions anyone using Flat CMS's?
Local Listings | | swagseo1 -
Location pages for Two location business
Hi friends, I have a website with two brick and mortar locations. Right now I have both NAP's listed on every page on the sidebar and footer. I don't have either in schema format yet, as I don't know if I can have two schema's on the same page. 1. In the near future, I will be publishing pages for each individual location, but I want to keep the NAP of the other location on that page also, in case the visitor would prefer that location (they are only a few towns away from each other) Is that going to cause issues? Should I only have the NAP of that location? Which should I have schema data for? 2. Also, I have location pages for the surrounding cities, which we have added a Google Map with directions to the closest location, written directions, a few local reviews, and a paragraph about services. I want to publish these asap to rank in those ~10 other nearby locations. What NAP should I have on those pages? The closest location, or both? 3. Linking in the Google Local/My Business. I have verified both locations Google Local's, and I want to link them into the respective Two locations once published, but I want to do it properly. I read on one location seo article that I should change the website listed on the Google Local profile to the new url of that location, and link to the Google Local on that page. Is this correct? Which Google profile do I link to in the other location pages? or both?
Local Listings | | JustinMurray0 -
Combining Law websites to boost local results?
So we currently have 2 separate websites for the 2 areas of law we practice, Criminal Defense and Family. Currently our Criminal Defense website is the one affiliated with our google+ page and so it ranks well in local results, where as our Family website does not rank at all locally. Would it be best for our Family practice if we merged it with our Criminal site? We all work out of the same office and share address and phone number, so I don't believe we can associate the Family website with a google+ page, but I am wondering if each site would show up in Local results for their individual keywords if the criminal site and law site were both subdomains of a main Firm website.
Local Listings | | MyOwnSEO1