Best site structure for SEO
-
Hi,
I'm currently in the process of redesigning/rebuilding a well ranking but a dated looking and structured website.
Using analytics info I'm trying to put togerther an optimied site map plan for the site based on keywords.
Currently the site is structured like this (a few examples) for some of its best ranking keywords / landing pages
www.companyname.co.uk/frames/software/companyname-software/keyword/overview.php
www.companyname.co.uk/frames/software/companyname-software/keyword/keyword.php
I'd like to simplfy this as part of the re build so url's look like this
www.companyname.co.uk/companyname-software/softwarecatogry/keyword
Obviously I would 201 the old urls.
My question is :
A. is this a good idea? (From what I've read it is?)
B. is there any benifit from having the company name repeated in the url (ie www.companyname.co.uk/companyname-software). My thinking before this is that companyname-software currently ranks well and brings a good amount of traffic. Or should I just go with
www.companyname.co.uk/software/softwarecatogry/keyword as opposed to www.companyname.co.uk/companyname-software/softwarecatogry/keyword?
Many thanks in advance!
-
I agree with not repeating company name, unless it's a different company than in the base url. Try only making those deep links if you absolutely have to! Good luck!
-
Exactly
-
I've never used a flat structure before - are there SEO benifits in this?
-
Hi, the only reason I was thinking of repeating the co name is that looking through analytics a lot of our keywords (mainly to do with software) seem to be appended with the company name.
For example - "companyname software".
I suppose the company name is in the domain name anyway...
-
Hi James,
A) you are talking about a 301 redirect (not 201 I suppose) --> you have to do that definitively!
B) I seems to me kind of spammy if the company name is added a 2nd time and additionally the shorter the url the more the people can remind it. I see no advantage of having it twice in the url. -
Repeating the company name is not likly any bemifit, i would use a secondary keyword.
I would also use a flat linking stucture, link all pages from the home page if you can, every other page sould link back to the home page, but not all pages. Obviously you would need to break this rule, but as close as you can keep to it is best.i dont know what technology you are developing the site with, but ASP.MVC is perfect for this sort of url stucture and pumps out very clean code for seo
-
/frames/ is a useles element in the URL so I would get rid of it, basically your new URL structure shows improvement. You should 301 the pages (not 201, I think you just made a typo).
a: Yes. Google will fairly quickly pick up on the new structure.
b: Don't repeat company name, that would not be helpful to anybody.Good luck!
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
-
Client Worried About SEO Decline After Site Redesign
Hi, We're in the process of redesigning www.directvillasflorida.com/ for a client. The client has recently expressed concern that their rankings may drop off after the change. Here are some facts about the site: As you can see, the current homepage is _very _keyword heavy. They have a DA of 26 and are ranking #1 for 'florida villas', higher than their more authoritative competitors. They are also ranking #1 in the mobile search results, despite not being mobile-friendly. Their link profile is pretty average and the anchor texts are pretty keyword-rich 'florida villas' appears 30 times with a 4.41% keyword density 'florida' appears 66 times with a 3.31% density The client has admitted keyword stuffing years ago and hasn't changed anything because it worked and still is working. In the site redesign, we've cut out a lot of the spammy, keyword-rich content and he's worried he'll suffer because of this. Any ideas what to do here? It seems clear that the site is breaching Google's guidelines, but, for whatever reason, isn't being picked up by Google. Cheers, Lewis N.B. The client is just paying us for a redesign, not SEO.
On-Page Optimization | | PeaSoupDigital0 -
On-Site Optimization Issue!
Hello, I have some confusion about how to structure my site to better in on-site optimization. I am using WordPress. Therefore, there are many things that I need to consider as following: Static Page for homepage OR Latest posts? Archive, Category, Author, Attachment and Tag pages - To put meta robots (no index, follow) or not to prevent duplication? If I use Static Page for homepage, do I need to add meta robots (no index, follow) to POINT 2 above or not? If I use Latest Posts for homepage, do I need to add meta robots (no index, follow) to POINT 2 above or not? To have breadcrumb or not? To have recent posts, comment, tag clouds or popular posts/comments widget or not? To have social sharing icons and related posts in single post or not? If you don't mind adding more tips that I don't know it would be very great! Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | dinabrokoth0 -
Ecommerce category navigation structure -best practices
Hello, I've heard that there is a specific strategy for the best linkjuice distribution for categorizing an ecommerce site. How many links should there be on the home pages? Categories 1 deep? 2 deep? This client's customers don't like to go very deep, and they usually don't find our second page Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Forcing keywords into domain structure
Hi there, Over the last few years, I've seen people structuring their site so that their main content is all housed in a folder named after the site's primary keywords. For example, if I had some content about home insurance, normally naming conventions state that I might put the content at a URL such as: www.mydomain.com/home-insurance However, some sites, may change this structure to include their main keyword again in the URL string: www.mydomain.com/insurance/home-insurance The folder 'insurance' would normally hold the site's Sitemap to increase internal linking strategy too. I'd be really interested to hear whether anyone has seen any serious benefits from re-structuring their site in this way? What are your thoughts on this? Thanks,
On-Page Optimization | | theshortstack0 -
Best information organization for a new site?
I'm launching a new stain removal website, and wanted to know what would be considered the best way to organize the content? Since most articles will roughly involve "removing X from Y" or "how to remove Z," I can see two ways... 1. Organize articles by Stained Items, Stain Agents and perhaps Cleaning Detergents. 2. Spread the categories out more, to try and group stained items according to categories... E.g. Hard surfaces, delicates, fabrics, ceramics etc. Any thoughts on which of these two might be the best way to organize the site, or are there any better suggestions? Not sure what the main considerations are here... Either of these two seem equally user-friendly.
On-Page Optimization | | ZakGottlieb710 -
References and SEO?
Hi Everyone, I am really new to the SEO world (having come from paid search), so if this is a stupid question, I apologize. I noticed in Webmaster Tools that the top 25 keywords or so that Google thinks my site is about are keywords pulled from our references pages. Our site has a ton of authoritative content, most of which have corresponding reference pages with overlapping sources. Is this a problem? I am a little concerned that the keywords Google thinks are the most relevant to my site are really the least relevant. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks! nina
On-Page Optimization | | dirigodev0 -
SEO Titles and Keyword Density
Hey guys, I'm doing some on page SEO for a few clients and I've always wondered about this question. I have read tons of articles on the perfect <title>tag, but they don't often mention this.</p> <p>So my titles, like most others follow this format:</p> <p>Keyword 1 | Keyword 2 - Company</p> <p>So say for example I am trying to rank for 'life insurance' and 'life insurance quote' for 'axa sunlife'.</p> <p>It's my assumption that the title should be:</p> <p>Life Insurance Quote - Axa Sunlife</p> <p>rather than:</p> <p>Life Insurance | Life Insurance Quote - Axa Sunlife</p> <p>Am I right in thinking that putting it twice has no added value, and could in fact have an adverse effect?</p> <p>Thanks,</p> <p>Lewis.</p> <p> </p></title>
On-Page Optimization | | SEOMyGod0 -
Is an Overflow SEO friendly
Is an "overflow" (scrollbar) seo and Google friendly? I only ask because it hides part of the visible text.
On-Page Optimization | | BradBorst0