Html 5 main and secondary navigation for SEO best performances
-
I am building a website which will have a main navigation related to the site and each link of the main navigation will have a secondary navigation. We do not want to use a megamenu style navigation. I will try to explain it with a example:
Let's start with an example for a computer store "My PC Store", the Main Navigation would be:
Desktop PC's Notebook & Tablets
MultimediaWhen clicking on the "Notebook & Tablets" the user is directed to the page domain.com/notebook-tablet.html and on this page the secondary navigation appears: Laptop Netbook Tablets / iPad I am confused on how I should organize the semantic navigation for best SEO performances and I need advice / suggestions. I thought about 2 different ways to do it but which one is more appropriate in terms of SEO? PROPOSITION A Home Page:
<header>
My PC Store <nav>
- Desktop PC's
- Notebook & Tablets
- Multimedia </nav> </header>
Sub-Page (Notebook & Tablets):
<nav>(or
<aside>?)
- Desktop PC's
- Notebook & Tablets
- Multimedia </aside>
</nav>
<header>
Notebook & Tablets <nav>
- Laptop
- Netbook
- Tablets / iPad </nav> </header>
As you notice on the home page the Main Site Navigation is included in the
<header>while it is not in the sub-pages.
PROPOSITION B
Home Page:
<header>
My PC Store
<nav>
-
Desktop PC's
-
Notebook & Tablets
-
Multimedia
</nav>
</header>
Sub-Page (Notebook & Tablets):
<header>
Notebook & Tablets <nav>
- Desktop PC's
- Notebook & Tablets
- Multimedia </nav> # Notebook & Tablets * Laptop
- Netbook
- Tablets / iPad </header>
The main navgation remains always in the
<header>(home page / sub-pages) of all page.
I need suggestions... How would you guys organize the nav ?
</header>
</header>
-
Apologies, typed that up wrong. Have updated above post.
-
Why are you inserting
outside
<header>?</header>
-
My apologies. I would go with the following example in order to maintain a good SEO with your webpage headers and also a solid navigation:
Home page:
<header>
My PC Store
<nav>
-
Desktop PC's
-
Notebook & Tablets
-
Multimedia
</nav>
</header>
Sub Page:
<header>
<nav>
Notebook & Tablets
*** Desktop PC's**
- Notebook & Tablets
*** Multimedia**
</nav>
</header>
**<nav>
- Laptop
- Netbook
- Tablets / iPad </nav>**
Hope this helps.
Matt.
-
-
OK but you don't answer to my question since we do not want any mega menu or drop down menu.
-
This is true if it is wrapped within JavaScript, so that the search engines cannot read it. However, if you use two separate navigation menus then you can negate this problem.
Also, if you were to code up the 'mega menu' style navigation with CSS3 then you could also avoid these crawling problems and make the navigation much more search-engine friendly.
In general, I try to avoid using sub-pages within site to extend navigation (unless it is completely different product areas or business verticals).
Matt.
-
Well there are in general SEO concerns in the use of navigation Mega Menu style and this is why we want to avoid it.
-
Hi There,
I think I have got the jist of what you're trying to achieve.
What I would recommend is that you have links to Desktop PC's, Notebook & Tablets, Multimedia, Laptop, Netbook, Tablets / iPad directly from your homepage. The reason being that this will allow the search engines to crawl your webpages easier and the subcategory pages won't be so deep within the domain.
What I mean is that I would use either a drop down list, so that when the Notebook & Tablets is hovered over, the subcategories are then displayed below it. Alternatively, you could have a secondory naviagtion on the homepage, i.e. with an extensive drop-down list lower down or at the side of the webpage.
Great examples of this type of navigation can be found on: http://www.ebuyer.com or http://www.musicmatters.co.uk/shop.html (look at the secondary nav on the right for the Music Matters shop page.
I hope this helps.
Matt.
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
-
How can a Pincode finder website be SEO optimised?
Guys, I wanted to build a simple Pincode finder website for India. The targeted visitors as is obvious will be from India. Alike other Pincode finder websites, the users in this case too will have to key in the location / area of whose pincode he is looking for and they will get Pincode from that very location / area. Other than this, users will also come to this website when they search for something like " <location name="">pincode</location>" on Google (for instance, users will search for something like "Hiranandani Gardens Powai Pincode") Along with data fethced from our sources via Indian postal departments and other data available in public domain, we shall be using data from Google Maps API too. My question in regards to the same is as follows: What should the page-structure / structure of the website be for ranking well on Google? What should be the URL structure? Other suggestions to rank well on Google in this regards? Competition: (You can search for the term "Hiranandani Gardens Powai Pincode" to know how these sites show data) http://www.getpincode.info http://www.pincode.net.in Pls. help...
Web Design | | ShalinTJ0 -
What would be the best way to translate my website for international seo?
I am planning on creating a multi language website that targets different countries and would like to know what would be the best way to translate my content from English to multiple different languages (French, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese, etc.). I would hire a translator but doing so for all these different languages would be too costly. Using Google translate will leave me with at best a rough translation. What are my other options? Is there a website that can provide me a better translation? Would Fiver be a better/cheaper alternative? Thoughts?
Web Design | | Shawn1240 -
Does Using Magento With Multi Sites Affect SEO
We have a client who has 3 separate websites targeting the US, Australia, and the UK. Each of them has relevant ccTLD's such as: .com .com.au and .co.uk. Our client wants to use the Magento multi-site function so it combines all the stores (which are the exact same products) and merge it into one through Magento. These sites are all hosted in the US and had nothing to do with me haha! I understand Rand has mentioned on a video it would be best having the websites with ccTLD's hosted in that country (if budget permits), however in this case the budget doesn't permit us to go down that road. Has anyone any advice on this matter, has anyone did this before and had a lot of success with the SEO? At present there doesn't seem to be a lot of information about it and opinions are varied and sometimes divided. Any help would be very much appreciated guys Thanks, Matt
Web Design | | HigherthanSEO0 -
Do you suggest a SEO Plug-in for Dreamweaver?
I would like to know it there is any plug-in for Dreamweaver that helps our SEO work
Web Design | | Naghirniac0 -
What is the best SEO friendly CMS platform?
Would like to build some content sites and would appreciate some guidance on what you believe to be the most SEO friendly CMS platform. I'm also hoping to find something that doesn't require much HTML and is pretty easy to jump into.
Web Design | | EdStaton0 -
Lazy Loading Content and SEO
I'v been seeing a lot of websites use a technique to present content to website visitors when the scroll down the page called "Lazy Loading". Does this hinder SEO and indexing since the content is not actually on the page until the user acts/requests it?
Web Design | | JusinDuff0 -
Any discussions on the actual web page design and how it might affect SEO?
Are there any links to previous discussions or tips, techniques for how creative design has any impact on seo??
Web Design | | theideapeople1 -
Are HTML sitemaps still in use today?
I'm trying to help a client understand the importance of having a well-organized HTML site map as a method of helping usability. As part of this process, I spent some time searching for good examples of well-organized HTML site maps, and found that many sites don't offer one (including SEOmoz). I'm wondering if webmasters and/or SEOers think they aren't valuable any longer?
Web Design | | EricVallee340