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    4. URL best practices, use folders or not ?

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    URL best practices, use folders or not ?

    On-Page Optimization
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    • 77Agency
      77Agency last edited by

      Hi

      I have a question about URLs. Client have all URL written after domain and have only one / slash in all URLs. Is this best practice or i need to use categories,folders?

      Thanks

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Dr-Pete
        Dr-Pete Staff @77Agency last edited by

        It's a trade-off, for both SEO and users, and I don't think there's one answer that fits every situation. The category level can add information, but it also makes URLs longer, which can be bad for both bots and people. If you have short, descriptive categories that aren't repeated in the product/page names, and those categories mimic your site structure, then I think it can be positive.

        My argument was mostly against people adding categories just for SEO benefit (it's probably minimal, at best) or repeating every category, sub-category, etc. to the point of absurdity, causing keyword cannibalization and massive URLs. For example:

        www.bobscamerashop.com/cameras/digital-cameras/canon-cameras/eos-cameras/camera-canon-eos-rebel-t3

        Of course, that's also keyword stuffed, but I'm exaggerating to prove a point. You can go too far in either direction.

        In general, though, I don't think categories in the URL are necessarily bad. In some cases, as Woj said, they could be a positive for users and possible even SEO.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • wojkwasi
          wojkwasi @77Agency last edited by

          Think about it from the user's point of view. What would work best for them? Maybe even get some feedback from some site users if possible

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • wojkwasi
            wojkwasi @77Agency last edited by

            Will the site categories/products grow? If so, then the slash could be used to organise the structure & prepare for the future

            In the example, you presented:

            1. www.example.com/accounts-titanium
            2. www.example.com**/**accounts/titanium

            These are the same length & make no real difference

            When we compare these 2, however:

            1. www.example.com/open-demo-account
            2. www.example.com/accounts/open-demo-account

            You can see that #1 is shorter, doesn't repeat keyword (even though they are plural) & would be more likely clicked in the SERPs

            Does that help some more?

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • 77Agency
              77Agency last edited by

              http://www.seomoz.org/blog/should-i-change-my-urls-for-seo

              In this article point 2 is saying that the unstructured is better 😃 so i`m confused.

              wojkwasi Dr-Pete 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • 77Agency
                77Agency @77Agency last edited by

                the site is small about 60 pages and max depth level is 3

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • wojkwasi
                  wojkwasi @77Agency last edited by

                  I'd use folders or categories if the amount of products/items is large and/or going to expand

                  If it's a small amount & finite then make the URLs as short as possible 🙂

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • lavellester
                    lavellester @77Agency last edited by

                    Information architecture is important from a usability and search engine prospective.

                    I'd say go for the categories divided by the /

                    www.example.com**/**accounts/titanium
                    www.example.com/accounts/open-demo-account

                    This makes more sense and lends itself to scalability etc.

                    hope this helps.

                    there are some really good articles on information architecture on the seomoz and the web

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • 77Agency
                      77Agency @lavellester last edited by

                      URL is without any category or folder

                      www.example.com/credits

                      www.example.com/accounts-titanium

                      www.example.com/accounts-demo

                      www.example.com/open-demo-account

                      is this right or i need to use:

                      www.example.com**/**accounts/titanium

                      www.example.com/accounts/open-demo-account

                      lavellester wojkwasi 77Agency 4 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • lavellester
                        lavellester last edited by

                        not quite sure what you mean exactly - can you expand with and example?

                        Thanks

                        77Agency 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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