URL structure for multiple cities?

[adamkirk]

Hi, i am in the process of setting up a business directory site that will be used in a number of cities, though i am initially launching with only one city.

My question is, what is the best URL structure to use for the site and should i start using this URL structure from day one?

At the moment i am using www.mysite.com.au as my primary website where it contains all listings for the the one initial launch city.

Though to plan for the future i was considering this URL structure:

www.mysite.com.au/cityname

so for example, if i launch in the city Sydney initially then all website traffic that goes to www.mysite.com.au would simply be redirected (302 temp redirect?) to www.mysite.com.au/sydney.

When i expand to other cities www.mysite.com.au would simply be a "select your city" screen that then redirects to the city of choice (similar to www.groupon.com page).

How would doing a 302 redirect from www.mysite.com.au to www.mysite.com.au/city impact on SEO for the initial launch? Or should i just place this on the root domain since no other cities exist at the moment?

[Dr-Pete]

If it's just a few cities, it's probably not a big deal either way, and the search results could give you a landing page. If you really plan to expand down the road, I think I'd go with your alternative approach, at least for now. Keep Google on the main site, and you can let users select their appropriate city page (and cookie that).

If, down the road, you've got a good structure and solid back-links, and you want to open up the city pages to crawlers, you can always change that later. It's not black-and-white, but in 2012 I think it's best to go out narrow and really focus your link profile on your core pages, expanding once you've got the authority and history to make it work.

[adamkirk]

Thanks Peter.

Just a question in regards to your first point (1). Each city page page will simply have a search box. The results will be filtered to only return entries for that particular city (as derived from the URL - ie Sydney filter will be applied if URL is www.mysite.com.au/sydney).

I am now thinking the best option for this setup would be to have the search box located on the root domain www.mysite.com.au (and no longer have the city pages), and simply have a drop down list box next to the search box to allow the city filter to be applied. What do you think of this idea?

I could then also use cookies to set the default value of the city select list based on previous visit selection.

[Dr-Pete]

Unfortunately, it's a tricky situation, and I'm not sure there's one "right" answer. I think some of the feedback in the comments is definitely accurate, but it depends on the circumstances. There are two big factors to consider:

(1) It's probably best not to spin out hundreds of city pages, if they're just a template with a few geo-targeted words changed around. This used to be common practice to rank for long-tail terms, but since Panda, it's really gotten to be risky. If Google sees hundreds or thousands of thing pages, your entire site could be penalized. Meanwhile, those thin pages don't generally rank well, even best-case.

(2) The 302-redirect is going to leave link-juice at the home-page, but still allow Google to crawl the city-based pages. If you're using geo-location, it probably doesn't matter whether you use a 301 or 302, honestly, because Google is going to come via US IPs and it will never trigger an Australian-based location. So, you need to make sure your solution works for the crawlers and decide where you want them to land.

[adamkirk]

Ok i see.

Does having a much heavier weight on the city page (ie Sydney), rather than the root domain have much of an impact if people are searching for "[business name] Sydney"? I guess www.mysite.com.au/sydney would be shown in search results rather than www.mysite.com.au?

Are you suggesting that having a "city selection" page hosted on www.mysite.com.au would be the best option from an SEO perspective? (Even though there is only one city).

Thanks

[bronxpad]

You wouldn't get penalized for the 302. 302's normally aren't used because they don't pass along link juice but in this case that is not your concern. What might create an issue for you is that people will like your site and then choose to link to it, but it will most likely be the Sydney link structure if that's the route you go, most people copy and paste the URL and then use it as a link. Then when you redo all your structures you will have one city page with a crazy amount of link juice but a main URL with no link juice. You won't be able to fix it either with a 301 because then no one will be able to see your Sydney page. You will create a problem for yourself in that sense. Hope this helps.

[SEOLocal92]

HI, first i will support other answers and will not recommend the redirect from the same reasons.

regard the URL i will like you to look at this site that i am working on www.123locksmith.com and see the way we did the city pages.

working great with this system and this site is up in major keywords and city, i will recommend you have some changes in the content and not just change the city name.

i will recommend to start with the city pages from day one because if you will work on a strong DA by the time you get to this pages it will be easy to work on.

hope that help you

Mike

[MoosaHemani]

Plan for today didn’t make sense to me and as far as the URL structure is concern you should have to have ea long term planning for that.

If I would be at your place I would be happy to see the URL structure which is somewhat similar to you. For example I launch a bakery business in Melbourne my ideal URL should be:

• www.mysite.com.au/melbourne/bakery/bakery224/

this way the URLs will be organized and user can easily find where his business can be available, even by looking at the URL.

As far as your idea of 302 redirections is concern I might not support that so if redirection is necessary at any point then go for 301 permanent redirections.

Hope this helps!

[adamkirk]

Thanks for the reply Joel.

Since there will only be one city initially, is there any negative impact (in terms of SEO), in doing a simple redirect from www.mysite.com.au to /sydney?

[bronxpad]

I'm a believer in planning for the future. So I would go with www.mysite.com.au and then have the city option of Sydney and with a comment "more cities coming soon" this way you wouldn't have to worry about having a 302 redirect or changing domains later. Hope this helps good luck.