Home page replaced by subpage in google SERP (good or bad)
-
SInce Panda, We have seen our home page drop from #2 in google.ie serp to page 3 but it has been replaced in the same position @#2 by our relevent sub page for the keyword that we ranked#2 for.
Is this a good or bad thing from and seo point of view and is it better to have deep pages show in serp rather than the homepage of a site and what is the best line of action from here in relation to seo.
Is it best to work on subpage or home page for that keyword and should link building for that phrase be directed towards the subpage or the homepage as the subpage is obviously more relevent in googles eyes for the search term.
It is clear that all areas of the site should be looked at in relation to link building and deep links etc but now that google is obviously looking at relevancy very closely should all campaigns be sectioned into relevent content managed sections and the site likewise and treated on an individual basis.
Any help that you may have would be very welcome.
Paul
-
Many quality websites have deep pages that outrank their homepage. This is actually a natural organic pattern.
In general most homepages can be classified as director pages with clear navigation to content...it is these content pages that are usually linked to.
-
Thank you guys just thought it unusual to see a fall of 3 pages over night for home page. Looking at it in conversion terms it is a positive, thanks
-
this got posted whilst I was writing my long winded version below else I could have just commented on this post with 'what he said'
-
Hey Paul, that is one confusingly worded question
it's really pretty simple though, you want the user to land on the page that best serves the intent of their search. So, to go back to tried and trusted SEO coloured widget example.
- if client searches for widgets we want them to land on the homepage
- if client searches for green widgets we want them to land on the green widgets page
- if client searches for green widgets, we don't want them to land on the homepage as they then have to click through to the widgets page and they may not bother.
Forget about link building, forget about SEO, think about your user and what is best for them and let that colour your actions. If you are looking at this from a link building perspective, then some links to the homepage with green widgets would be a terrible thing but ideally you want these to point to the green widgets page.
Hope that helps, it is an overview as without examples, it is hard but if you have any questions, just fire and ill try to help.
Cheers!
Marcus -
I think the most important thing is that the most relevant page for the keyword is shown. In most cases this is a deeper page than the home page and will usually have a better chance of converting.
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
-
Non-indexed or indexed top hierarchy pages get high PageRank at Google?
Hi, We are creating some pages just to capture leads from blog-posts. We created few pages at top hierarchy like website.com/new-page/. I'm just wondering if these pages will take away more PageRank. Do we need to create these pages at low hierarchy like website.com/folder/new-page to avoid passing more PageRank? Is this is how PR distributed even now and it's same for indexed or non-indexed pages? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Does the more number of ranking pages improve the website ranking?
Hi all, Let's say there is a website with 100 pages ad 95 pages are not ranking for any keywords; but the other 5 pages including homepage are ranking for some keywords. In this scenario, the 95% non-ranking pages does impact the other 5% pages rankings? Or every page holds their credibility in ranking irrespective of other pages in website? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
URL in SERP: Google's stand
Months back, we can notice "keyword" will be bold and highlighted if its in the SERP URL. Now Google no more highlights any URLs even with exact match of keyword we search. Beside UI, Does this mean Google might devalued or reduced the importance of URL as ranking factor? We can see many search results match partially or completely in URL with search keywords.
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Google sidebar advertising dropped
Has anyone noticed how the google sidebar advertising has completely disappeared? They only display top 4 adwords and then remaining on the bottom of each search page. I can't find any info on it or when it actually happened?
Algorithm Updates | | Purplesars110 -
Could Retail Price Be A Google Ranking Factor???
I have not done any detailed studies on this but it seems that Google might be using low retail prices for specific items as a ranking factor in their organic SERPs. Does anyone else suspect this? Just askin' to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | EGOL0 -
Using Brand Name in Page titles
Is it a good practice to append our brand name at the end of every page title? We have a very strong brand name but it is also long. Right now what we are doing is saying: Product Name | Long brand name here Product Category | Long brand name here Is this the right way to do it or should we just be going with ONLY the product and category names in our page titles? Right now we often exceed the 70 character recommendation limit.
Algorithm Updates | | mlentner1 -
Using ™ and ® in page titles
Is it bad to use registered trademark symbols in page titles? Does this somehow hurt in search rankings?
Algorithm Updates | | mlentner0 -
Will google punish us for using formulaic keyword-rich content on different pages on our site?
We have 100 to 150 words of SEO text per page on www.storitz.com. Our challenge is that we are a storage property aggregator with hundreds of metros. We have to distinguish each city with relevant and umique text. If we use a modular approach where we mix and match pre-written (by us) content, demographic and location oriented text in an attempt to create relevant and unique text for multiple (hundreds) of pages on our site, will we be devalued by Google?
Algorithm Updates | | Storitz0