URL Question and Advice on Site Architecture

[MarshallThompson31]

Good morning one and all,

i have a specific question pertaining to my Domain Migration Website URL structure.

I have a computer repair business that I am re branding and my question at this point is centrally focused on how to best handle my URL naming structure that will best suite my needs for my the Search Engines and also my customers UX while not looking SPAMMY

I am a web developer and SEO and I am building a SILO Site Architecture in WordPress using Pages (not Posts) so no discussion is need on the Permalink structure.

I am attaching several Images below of Screen Shots of the new site that I have designed so that you may look at them and see the Silo Architecture Layout in action for the most part.

OK, here we go. Looking at the Silo Mast Head, we can see that the following Main Menu items each represent a specific Silo Theme

Silo Theme # 1  -       COMPUTER REPAIR

Silo Theme # 2  -       VIRUS REMOVAL

Silo Theme # 3  -       PHONE REPAIR

Silo Theme # 4  -       NETWORKING

Silo Theme # 5  -       DATA RECOVERY

My specific question is, if /computer-repair/ is a main silo theme (WP -Parent Page) and /laptop-repair/ is a (Child Page) of Computer Repair is the following example below (the actual URL string) going to 'trigger' a SPAM signal to either the user or GOOGLE or both??

URL String:

http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/computer-repair/laptop-repair/

Here's another example with the VIRUS REMOVAL SILO

http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/virus-removal/malware-removal/

Seeing how computer repair is the main silo theme that cannot be changed in the URL Structure (it can) but I wont change it seeing how COMPUTER REPAIR is the single largest keyword phrase used by individuals when they are looking for computer repair.

Secondly, - LAPTOP REPAIR is also a Keyword Phrase that that has HIGH search queries that I am trying to rank for and that too (ideally) should also  not changed!

How do I deal with this situation? Or, am I seeing this in a overly paranoid way?

I currently have the site allowing only my IP Address so I am afraid that the screen shots below is all that I can do on this in lieu of actually visiting the Site

Currently, I have my URL Structure where Wilmington NC immediately follows the targeted keyword phrase for the Silo Theme like below

http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/virus-removal-wilmington-nc/malware-removal/

The example above, - including the location after the keyword phrase does look much more attractive and breaks it up so it does not read SPAMMY and it will help with SEO but yet another problem exists using the location after the keyword phrase which I explain in detail Below.

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On top of doing a complete re-branding Domain Change I am actually going to be relocating myself and my business to Charlotte, NC at the end of the summer so I have serious doubts if using Wilmington NC within the URL structure would be a wise idea considering that I will be relocating and an internal 301 Redirect on a Newly Migrated site 2-3 months after the initial site migration and site setup may have some negative impact and confuse Google and compound the situation thus much further despite the fact that it would immediately help me bounce back up with my rankings after the migration process.

Thoughts a suggestions on both explained scenarios please?

I have asked this specif question once already but obviously people do not read my very detailed and well thought out questions. This can also be viewed here>http://www.seomoz.org/q/need-very-urgent-advice-on-wedsite-migration-questions-please#reply_150847>

Thank you

Sincerely,

Marshall Thompson

SEOMOZ-PC-MEDICS-ON-CALL-1.jpg SEOMOZ-PC-MEDICS-ON-CALL1.jpg

[Everett]

Assuming I understand your specific questions correctly...

Having a /computer-repair/ directory with a /laptop-repair/ subdirectory should not cause you any problems in itself. However, if all of the content in /laptop-repair/* also appears in /computer-repair/* you could have a duplicate content problem to deal with. From your response to Thomas' extremely-detailed and helpful - though somewhat off-topic - comment I assume you already know that though.

I would not put the location in the directory, such as /virus-removal-wilmington-nc/. Whether or not you are moving makes no difference. I might make an exception there if you have multiple locations, but even then I think it would be a bad idea to have, for example:

/virus-removal-wilmington-nc/laptop-repair/

/virus-removal-charlotte-nc/laptop-repair/

...unless you had some very specific things to say about each location in regard to laptop repair that could not be expressed on the same page. These would be dangerously close to "doorway pages" which is common in any multi-location industry, and the bane of any SEO's existance when trying to clean up the penalties and filters that so often follow such a taxonomy.

Keep it simple. Having the location in the URL like that is a tiny, wee little factor that gets an inordinate amount of attention from SEOs, in my opinion. You are of course free to disagree with this, as you did when someone had a similar opinion in the other thread. In that case, let me answer your other question from that thread:

"If I include my current location (Wilmington NC) in the destination (New Domain) URL string for any given 301 redirect from my existing website to the new website and then physically move to another city 3 months later is this setting myself up for a BIG Failure? Seeing how I have no idea of how this technically works with GOOGLE as far as how long this (migration process) takes to Fully complete where the OLD domain completely drops off and everything is Fully passed over to the New Domain in terms leaving the 301 Re directs in place on the Old Domain Server. How long does this process usually take with GOOGLE?"

In my experience having done several dozen site migrations on sites of many different types and sizes, it should take Google no more than a few weeks to have their index completely updated for a site the size of yours. This is assuming that they are given the appropriate 301 response codes and are crawling the site regularly (i.e. no existing penalties or major algorithmic filters are in place that would limit crawling).

Switching your location like this is just one of several reasons I wouldn't put the location in the URL as proposed, so yes it is shooting yourself in the foot a little bit, but nothing that you won't be able to overcome. They will index the new URL, complete with the new location, and ranking calculations will be updated accordingly.

Regarding your other question toward the end of that thread, yes you can change the old htaccess file on the other server later, but there is no guarantee that Google will visit those old URLs again unless you have some external links pointing to them. If they came once, saw the redirect to the new URL, and there is no access to the old URL they may not see if you update the old URL's header response to point to a "new new" URL. If that makes sense. You could initiate the crawl by linking to the old URL from somewhere, such as a sitemap - but I'd advise making a "permanent" redirect permanent. In other words, I'd try to get it right the first time. Keeping the location out of that directory name would allow you to do that, unless I'm missing something.

Lastly, I disagree that domain.com/topic-in-charlotte-nc/sub-topic/ is "less" spammy than domain.com/topic/sub-topic/ but we all have a right to our opinions.

Good luck!

[MarshallThompson31]

Thank you once again Thomas but I do understand S.E.O and the many variables involved in it already.

I am more on the lines of advanced level to be more precise, just not on the UBER Level advanced stage. Not discounting the solid recommendations that you gave but my question is specific to URL structure pertaining to my Silo Site Architecture that I designed and formulated through keyword research and knowing m industry, not on how to understand and learn SEO.

Can someone please look at my initial post and read it and give me feedback on my specifc questions?

[BlueprintMarketing]

Hi Marshall,

I have just posted in reply to your other question. And wanted to remind you of one thing the power of video when embedded correctly.

I forgot to tell you about this plug-in

http://yoast.com/wordpress/local-seo/

Because keywords for videos are few and far between compared to a website using text. You have a big advantage by using a video site map along with an advertising video or a instructional video you can give out a small amount of information for free to show people you know what you're doing, and they will remember you as a place that they found help for a problem.

I would recommend if you don't want to spend a lot of money using Box.net to make a screen cast video it will allow you to make a helpful video withjust your computer going through the steps of how to do something simple that people have issues with that you really no is not going to hurt your business by giving out This video as information.

in my opinion the best way to host a video on your website is with a company called Wistia

the reason being is they are the only company that takes care of building the Video site map for you. http://wistia.com/

they give you 3 videos for free life to get you started.

They are not the least expensive company, and if you find that your customers will either pay for video tutorials on how to fix things on their computer or you want to have a larger list of tutorials that you are using as advertisement to get new customers into your store.

There are much less expensive methods.

Using WordPress  plug-ins you can use a less expensive video hosting.

I would personally stay away from using YouTube on your own website. While it works now I believe Google will change that very soon. If you use a business video hosting platform you will not have to worry about Google updates destroying your search in addition to this if you post on YouTube as well as your own site and it is the same movie YouTube in googles ranking every time because of its incredible page rank and authority.

Companies like Vzaar offer 250 videos at approximately $25 per month I know it is less if you buy the annual plan.

http://vzaar.com/

Viddler offers and an excellent platform and will give you unlimited videos at $50 a month.

http://www.viddler.com/

And by far considered the most economical or bang for your buck

Vimeo Pro ( not regular Vimeo it must be Pro)

offers 50 GB and 250,000 plays for $199 a year this will take care of all your video needs and is considered by experts to be the most economical it comes with everything most of the other companies offer at $50 to $200 a month

http://vimeo.com/pro

now what's the catch why not start with these guys well you can and the only way any of these great video hosting companies will increase your rank in Google is with a plug-in my personal favorite and the only one I have tested aside from one free plug-in that was not my cup of tea. IS

Video SEO for WordPress

it costs $69 for life and is licensed for 1 website only you can purchase more at different rates if you want add more websites later this is the way you can start off with a plan like using VimeoPro and have it have the same effect as Wistia altogether you would save a great deal of money and rank extremely well for your videos.

Developed by Joost de Valk

If you refer to him everyone knows of them as "Yoast" and I encourage you to ask other people their opinions of his work. I believe him to be maybe the best WordPress plug-in developer for search engine optimization. I strongly encourage you to ask other SEOmoz members and people you trust to know about search engine optimization and WordPress their opinions of this great coder

http://yoast.com/wordpress/video-seo/

One thing I would like you to know and to read is a blog on this subject from a company that I have faced tremendous amount of respect for these guys do Staples and Microsoft's search engine optimization they know what they're doing, and they're a fantastic company. Here is a link to the post regarding video seo

http://www.distilled.net/blog/video/creating-video-sitemaps-for-each-video-hosting-platform/

this is what you should definitely read if you are going to use Vimeo Pro

http://www.distilled.net/blog/video/creating-video-sitemaps-for-each-video-hosting-platform/#vimeo

Other fantastic plug-ins  by Yoast

http://yoast.com/wordpress/#analytics

http://yoast.com/wordpress/#other

and

http://yoast.com/wordpress/local-seo/