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.
I want to move some pages of my website to a folder and nav menu in those pages should only show inner page links, will it hurt SEO?
-
Hi,
My website has a few SaaS products, to make my website simple i want to move my website some pages to its specific folder structure , so eg
website.com/product1/features
website.com/product1/pricing
website.com/product1/informationand same for product2 and so on,
the website.com/product1/.. menu will only show the links of product1 and only one link to homepage (possibly in footer).
Please share your opinion will it be a good idea, from UI perspective it will be simple , but i am not sure about SEO perspective, please help
thanks
-
Moving some pages of your website to a folder and modifying the navigation menu to show only inner page links can impact your website's SEO, but if done correctly, it doesn't necessarily have to hurt it.
But we don't have to think from SEO prospective only, we have to look the User experience angle too.
From a user experience point of view, moving some pages of your website to a folder and having a navigation menu that only shows inner page links can have both positive and negative impacts. Here's a breakdown of how it might affect user experience and SEO:
Positive Aspects:
-
Improved Organization: Structuring your website with folders can make it more organized and user-friendly, especially if you have a lot of content. Users can easily find what they're looking for within the folder.
-
Reduced Clutter: By only showing inner page links in the navigation menu for that specific folder, you reduce clutter and distraction for users. They are presented with relevant choices, making it easier to navigate.
-
Focused Content: This approach can help users stay focused on the content within that folder, as they won't be distracted by links to unrelated pages.
Negative Aspects:
-
Loss of Visibility: If you hide the outer pages in the navigation menu, users may have a harder time finding those pages, which could negatively impact their experience.
-
SEO Concerns: Search engines like Google may not be able to crawl and index the inner pages as effectively if they are not linked from the main navigation. This could lead to decreased visibility in search results for those inner pages.
-
User Confusion: Users may wonder why certain pages are not visible in the main navigation, and they might find it confusing or frustrating if they expect to see certain links there.
[you can Read the detail article here "How to improve user experience by moving pages to folders without harming SEO"]
Ultimately, the decision should be made with a balance in mind. Consider user experience and SEO best practices. You can organize your content in folders for better navigation while also incorporating alternative ways to guide users to important pages and ensuring that search engines can find and index your content effectively.
Warm Regards
Rahul Gupta
Suvidit Academy -
-
No, moving pages of your website to a folder and having the navigation menu show only inner page links will not necessarily hurt SEO. However, it's essential to implement proper 301 redirects from the old URLs to the new ones to ensure that search engines can still find and index your content. Additionally, make sure your new navigation structure is logical and user-friendly to provide a good experience for both visitors and search engines. (Study abroad) (2 Year Post Graduate Diploma Canada) (PMP Exam Prep) (Canada PR)
-
Moving pages of your website to a folder and adjusting the navigation menu to show only inner page links should not necessarily hurt your website's SEO if done correctly. However, it's essential to follow best practices to ensure that search engines can still crawl and index your content effectively. Here are some steps to consider:
- 301 Redirects: If you are changing the URLs of the pages, set up 301 redirects from the old URLs to the new ones. This tells search engines that the content has moved permanently and helps preserve SEO equity.
- Update Internal Links: Make sure that internal links within your website (from other pages, blog posts, etc.) are updated to point to the new URLs.
- XML Sitemap: Update your XML sitemap to include the new URLs. This helps search engines discover and index the new pages more efficiently.
- Robots.txt: Ensure that your robots.txt file does not block search engine crawlers from accessing the new folder and its contents.
- Canonical Tags: Use canonical tags if you have duplicate content issues, indicating the preferred URL for indexing.
- Submit to Search Engines: Resubmit your updated sitemap to search engines (Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, etc.) to expedite the indexing process.
- Test and Monitor: After making these changes, monitor your website's performance in search results and check for any issues using tools like Google Search Console. Address any errors or problems promptly.
By taking these steps, you can minimize the impact on SEO and ensure that search engines can still access and index your content effectively.
I focus on these main points when I want to move some pages of my website to a folder and nav menu in those pages should only show inner page links for my Site Pet Nutrition Guru.
It is also help ful when I move the blog (Can Cats Eat Mochi?).
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
-
Who is the best SEO expert in the World?
Hey everyone, i am creating a blog post on Top SEO Experts in the World. I need your recommendation who is in the top 10 list? Your suggestions is highly appreciated for me. Thanks!
International SEO | | gxpl090 -
Do articles written about artificial intelligence rank on Google?
This is my personal website. I wonder, will the articles written about artificial intelligence rank on Google, or will the site not rank? https://withpositivity.com/
Community | | lowzy0 -
To hyphenate or not to hyphenate?
Quick question: does Google differentiate between terms that correctly include a hyphen (such as "royalty-free") and those that are incorrect ("royalty free")? I ask because the correct term "royalty-free"(with a hyphen) receives far less monthly traffic for the same term without the hyphen (according to Moz): Term | Estimated traffic
On-Page Optimization | | JCN-SBWD
"royalty free music" | 11.5-30.3K
"royalty-free music" | 501-850 If Moz views the terms separately then I'd guess that Google does too, in which case the best thing to do for SEO (and increased site traffic) would be to wrongly use "royalty free" without the hyphen. Is that correct?0 -
How to rank a website in different countries
I have a website which I want to rank in UK, NZ and AU and I want to keep my domain as .com in all the countries. I have specified the lang=en now what needs to be done to rank one website in 3 different English countries without changing the domain extension i.e. .com.au or .com.nz
SEO Tactics | | Ravi_Rana0 -
Ok to internally link to pages with NOINDEX?
I manage a directory site with hundreds of thousands of indexed pages. I want to remove a significant number of these pages from the index using NOINDEX and have 2 questions about this: 1. Is NOINDEX the most effective way to remove large numbers of pages from Google's index? 2. The IA of our site means that we will have thousands of internal links pointing to these noindexed pages if we make this change. Is it a problem to link to pages with a noindex directive on them? Thanks in advance for all responses.
Technical SEO | | OMGPyrmont0 -
How to SEO a Website Built off Godaddy?
I have a client whose website is built off Godaddy services. I know Godaddy is not the right choice for building a website, but what's done is done. The client has already bought the Godaddy services and there's no way I can tell him to go rebuild his website before we could optimize it for SEO. I'm already facing a lot of challenges while optimizing on-page elements. When I wanted to verify the ownership for Google Analytics and Webmaster Tool via his Godaddy account. the process failed many times. it looks like Godaddy is using some kind of caching not allowing us to modify the codes. For example, I'd applied the site verification codes for Webmasters Tool 48 hours ago, and the metatag for google site verification is not yet updated in the frontend. It's quite frustrating. What would you suggest?
Technical SEO | | suskanchan1 -
Drop Down Menu - Link Juice Depletion
Hi, We have a site with 7 top level sections all of which contain a large number of subsections which may then contain further sub sections. To try and ensure the best user experience we have a top navigation with the 7 top level sections and when hovered a selection of the key sub sections. Although I like this format for the user as it makes it easier for them to find the most important sections / sub sections it does lead to a lot of links within every page on the site. In general each top section has a drop down with approx 10 - 15 subsections. This has therefore lead to SeoMoz's tools issuing its too many internal links warning. Then alongside this I am left wondering if I shouldn’t have to many links to my subsections and whether I would be better off being more selective of when I link to them. For instance I could choose the top 5 sub sections and place a link to them from our homepage and by doing so I would be passing a greater amount of link juice down the line. So I guess my dilemma is between ensuring the user has as easy a time traversing the site as possible whilst I try to keep a close watch on where, and how, our link juice is distributed. One solution I am considering is whether no-follow links could be utilised within the drop down menus? This way I could then have the desired user navigation and I would be in greater control of what pages link to which sub sections. Would that even work? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Regards, Guy
Technical SEO | | guycampbell1 -
Restaurant menu SEO: PDF or HTML?
Is it better to use a PDF or hard code restaurant menus (or any document for that matter) in HTML? I want the content to be indexed and thought PDF was the way to go for several reasons, but I wanted to get confirmation on this before I move forward.
Technical SEO | | BostonWright0