URL length does it really make a difference
-
I am currently working redevloping my site, I have terribly long URL's according to SEOMoz, can someone cover the real benefit of my editing my URLs, and then putting in all of those redirects. Should I edit old material? My site has been in wordpressformat for a couple of years now.
-
I don't know what happened to the url. Sorry about that. Try copying this and pasting it into a browser window:
-
Mike, I'm getting a 404 when I try to visit that page and find out the context of the example. Their example doesn't make much sense, as having subfolders like "direct" really aren't telling you if the traffic is direct.
I agree that it is better to not have a site 10 layers deep, but it's also beneficial to not have 20 parameters on a URL.
However, considering the OP is on Wordpress, I imagine we're talking about the post structure where you have the date as part of the URL. If the site in question is the recipe site from your profile, the following URL doesn't seem too horribly bad.
http://www.copykat.com/2009/02/07/cheddar-chicken-spaghetti/
However, if you're redesigning anyway and want a cleaner URL, you may want to consider a structure that does not include the date. The date really doesn't hold a lot of meaning in this case. I honestly don't care if your spaghetti recipe is two weeks old or five years old when I'm looking for a recipe. I use the Redirection plugin on my Wordpress site, and that plugin has been updated a bit more recently than the other plugin listed so might work a little better with the newer versions. http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/redirection/
Would love to see other comments and opinions.
-
Hi Stephanie,
If you do end up re-writing your URLs there is a very useful plugin here;
http://www.techzene.com/wordpress-tips/change-url-structure-wordpress/
It'll make sure your site doesn't produce thousands of 404 errors when people are finding your site via old backlinks/google
-
No.
It's what you do with it that counts! Way-hey!
-
url length per se, no, but URI structure, yes. You should not have your site designed 10 layers deep, for example. There's a discussion of it here: http://www.webmasterworld.com/google/3579234.htm and I like this example they give:
/readme.php?source=direct&page=34&articletype=widgetingforests&loc=uk
should rank better than:
/readme-source-direct-page-34-articletype-widgetingforests-loc-uk.html
or
/readme/source/direct/page-34/articletype/widgetingforests/loc-uk/
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
-
Getting different search queries in Google Webmaster
Hi All, I have a website Afrofood.com. In it's Google webmaster search queries i have more than 90 Queries, but not a single query is related with this site. All queries are from different site or subject, they have no any relation with my site. Can any one please tell me how to correct this... Site is Afrofood.com related with African foods, recipes, spices and all that. But showing search queries are: [canada goose](https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/top-search-queries?hl=en&siteUrl=http://afrofood.com/&authuser=1#canada goose) [canada goose outlet deutschland](https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/top-search-queries?hl=en&siteUrl=http://afrofood.com/&authuser=1#canada goose outlet deutschland) [polizei shop düsseldorf](https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/top-search-queries?hl=en&siteUrl=http://afrofood.com/&authuser=1#polizei shop düsseldorf) [canada goose deutschland](https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/top-search-queries?hl=en&siteUrl=http://afrofood.com/&authuser=1#canada goose deutschland) [canada goose weste](https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/top-search-queries?hl=en&siteUrl=http://afrofood.com/&authuser=1#canada goose weste) [canada goose kaufen](https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/top-search-queries?hl=en&siteUrl=http://afrofood.com/&authuser=1#canada goose kaufen) [canada goose hamburg](https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/top-search-queries?hl=en&siteUrl=http://afrofood.com/&authuser=1#canada goose hamburg) [canada goose größentabelle](https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/top-search-queries?hl=en&siteUrl=http://afrofood.com/&authuser=1#canada goose größentabelle)
On-Page Optimization | | 1akal0 -
How do you handle URLs with slashes?
I asked this question before, but with a different scenario. I upgraded my plan to a more advanced cart and all of my URLs changed about 1.5 years ago. I knew nothing about redirects and such, so none of that was done. Basically, let's say my site was: http://www.abc.com, but when people actually visit my site, they are directed to https://www.abc.com/. I have asked my host about redirecting and she that it is not possible. In the past, the link shared has been just www.abc.com . Will this hurt my ranking? My second question is ...let's say I have a link http://www.abc.com/blog , but now, the link is http://www.abc.com/blog/ . Will I be affected, since all my old links omit the slash?
On-Page Optimization | | tiffany11030 -
Can you canonical from one domain page to a different domain page
We are a boating site and have our main site with all it's products. We have an engine section within our main site. But we also have an outside domain, specific to a certain manufacturer of engines. So we want our customers to still find the engine information for this manufacturer within our main site, as well as find the manufacturer targeted engine site in the SERPS. My question is this: Can I canonical those pages within our main site to pages on the outside domain? Or does are canonicals to be used only within the same domain? Thanks,
On-Page Optimization | | tdawson090 -
Should I redirect mobile traffic to a different url? Will it hurt SEO?
I'm working on a site that has lots of great content and ranks well but essentially the money is generated by affiliate links. I don't have a mobile version of the site but the company I'm affiliated with does offer a mobile redirect to their domain. Will redirecting mobile traffic to a different url hurt my SEO? I think the user will get a better experience by landing on a mobile page but I don't know if google will see it like that. Any thoughts?
On-Page Optimization | | SamCUK0 -
Onpage optimization different outcomes for keyword with or without accent
I am a little bit confused with the results of the onpage analysis. I am trying onpage optimization for a spanish word which has an accent.. The results differ from Grade A, if i use the keyword with an accent, e.g. ropa premamá (the spanish word for maternity wear) to Grade C if I run the report without the accent ropa premama. I assume that most users will rather search for the keyword without accent. Would this mean that I need to change my keyword to non-accent or doesn´t it matter?
On-Page Optimization | | svenmu0 -
Minimum Title Tag Length
Hello everyone, I'm curious here, what is the minimum length a Title Tag should be so it doesn't receive the "Title Element Too Short" error here on SEOMoz? Thank you.
On-Page Optimization | | Michael-Goode0 -
Difference between "And" and(!) "-"
I have a brand name "Smith and Jones". I am looking for the current best way to refer to the name in titles and text on my site. The manufactureres website is smithandjones.com . The H1 on their home page uses Smith & Jones. The 2 versions are used throughout their site. In a prior thread (http://www.seomoz.org/q/and-vs) the answer was to use nothing ie "smith jones". I was thinking that a "-" might be better since google says it tends to show a strong relationship between the 2 words. What do you think? Thanks Handcrafter
On-Page Optimization | | stephenfishman0 -
No Data Available for this URL
Hi,
On-Page Optimization | | ostiguyj
I really don't understand why I have this message "No data available for this URL"
in my SEOMOZ campain. (www.bienchezsoi.ca) When I look at my page rank, I get a score of 0 I have no idea of to fix it. Please help. Thanks0