Will creating sub folders for foreign versions of the website, remove rank juice from the main site?
-
Hi,
We plan to create sub-folders for our german, spanish and italian language versions. If we do will this pass rank juice to the new sites, but at the same time badly effect our main site, regards link juice/serp?
Or is this not such a huge factor in people's experience?
Many thanks.
James.
-
No. We are just telling the search engine that the German version of the website (www.example.com) is located at www.example.com/de/
So all the pages/folders originating from that directory become the part of this process. (www.example.com/de/2ndpage OR www.example.com/de/another-page.html )
-
Do I need to create a new <loc>for each separate page (eg www.example/de and example/de/2ndpage) or just for each separate URL or Folder?</loc>
-
As far as I'm aware James, using sub-folders will mean that authority is passed to your domain as a whole but you will still need to build authority separately for each of your subfolders for them to rank in each country SERPs that you have targeted in webmaster tools and using the hreflang tag.
-
Create all the language lines in a single XML file. Don't create multiple XML files for this. And follow the same instructions mentioned in the above Google link
-
That was very helpful, thanks a lot, i did not realise there was a sitemap annotation available, so I just need to add the code indicating each different version + href lang to each language pages' site map?
-
Hi James
Hope you are planing to target users for different languages or countries. You can achieve this by adding rel="alternate" hreflang="x" annotations in sitemap
Using rel="alternate" hreflang="x"
Using rel="alternate" hreflang="x" anotations in sitemap to tell Google that there is different versions of same website exist on the web. Otherwise Google will consider it as duplicate content and block it from SERP
Example Steps
- For your German version of your website create a sub-folder like www.example.com/de/
_- Now you need to create a XML sitemap for this and you can name it as _languages.xml
_- Upload the sitemap and tell Google where it is located _through Google Web Master Tools
Useful links for this process
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=189077
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2620865
Hope this will help you
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
-
With MFI, should we delete our mobile version of our site?
I'll start by stating that a brand new responsive site is under development and will be launching early 2019. Until then, with Mobile First Indexing, we're curious if we should remove our mobile site altogether. Looking at Google guidelines, it looks like we have Dynamic serving content, so when a mobile device is used, a VERY TRIMMED down version of our site content is presented. I read that if a mobile version doesn't exist, google will use the MFI indexing on the desktop version still, since that is what is rendered on a mobile device. If Google starts using our mobile site for its indexing, we're not going to be looking good. At this point, are there negative affects to removing our mobile site and having the desktop version render on all devices?
Search Behavior | | Technical_Contact0 -
Thoughts on User Behavior Data as a Ranking Signal
Hi Community! We have been having an ongoing internal discussion on user behavior data as a ranking signal. We found this Moz article discussing the topic and it leaves us asking questions such as: What onsite user behavior metrics are being used (if any)? How exactly is Google collecting this information - Chrome? Google Analytics (which they have already claimed GA is not used for ranking purposes)? With privacy policies in place, how exactly is Google able to utilize this information? The article discusses Google patents for collecting this information (The Monitoring Engine), Chrome's MetricsService which is "a system in charge of the acquisition and transmission of user log data", as well as the Reasonable Surfer model. Some highlights from the article include: "Google has designed and patented a system in charge of collecting and processing of user behaviour data. They call it "the monitoring engine" "Google's client behavior data processor can retrieve client-side behavior data associated with a web page. This client-side behavior data can then be used to help formulate a ranking score for the article." The monitoring engine can: Distinguish whether the user is actually viewing an article, such as a web page, or whether the web page has merely been left active on the client device while the user is away from the client. Monitor a plurality of articles associated with one or more applications and create client-side behavior data associated with each article individually. Determine client-side behavior data for multiple user articles and ensure that the client-side behavior data associated with an article can be identified with that particular article. Transmit the client-side behavior data, together with identifying information that associates the data with a particular article to which it relates, to the data store for storage in a manner that preserves associations between the article and the client behaviors. MetricsService: "Chrome's MetricsService is a system in charge of the acquisition and transmission of user log data. Transmitted histograms contain very detailed records of user activities, including opened/closed tabs, fetched URLs, maximized windows, et cetera." “Reasonable surfer” is the random surfer's successor. The PageRank dampening factor reflects the original assumption that after each followed link, our imaginary surfer is less likely to click on another random link, resulting in an eventual abandonment of the surfing path. Most search engines today work with a more refined model encompassing a wider variety of influencing factors. In addition to perceived importance from on-page signals, a search engine may judge link popularity by observing common user choices. A link on which users click more within a page can carry more weight than the one with less clicks. Google in particular mentions user click behaviour monitoring in the context of balancing out traditional, more manipulative signals (e.g. links). I do not expect a concrete answer here, I know there is a lot of uncertainty on the topic but I am very interested to hear your thoughts. Thank you!
Search Behavior | | Joe_Stoffel2 -
Wanting to see when a user exists form site and its jopurney while on site please
Hi there, Wondering if you can help please? I am needing to know bounce rates on a landing page and also wanting to know if they landed on that page and went from that page to another and another... how can i look at that on MOZ please? Thanks Cass
Search Behavior | | AITLtd0 -
How to capture leads from website?
Hi, We have a contact and a registration form on our website to capture leads/enquiries. However, I have come across many websites who give away many resources for free i.e. without asking for any user details. In this case, how do they track or capture the data of people coming to their website and interacting with the content? There are other methods we well like CTAs, pop-up on exit intent etc., but these are different to what I have asked above. Regards
Search Behavior | | IM_Learner0 -
What to expect after removing external and sitewide links?
Hello, I've been working on removing some sitewide links and some directory links and I would like to know what to expect to see on my rankings based on your own experience if you've dealt with this before. Cheers 🙂
Search Behavior | | mbulox0 -
Rankings like this mean what?
I have just redirected our old domain to our new domain using a sitewide 301 redirect. That was on Dec 6. Since none of the pages are showing in the serps unless you search specifically for a paragraph in quotes. But I am also very concerned because scraper sites are coming up before my site. Here are a few examples: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS398US398&biw=1223&bih=799&sclient=psy-ab&q="The+decision+to+choose+between+duplication+and+replication+depends+upon+the+circumstances+of+each+individual+project.+Since+the+creation+processes+for+replication+and+duplication+are+so+different%2C+the+final+products+are+also+very+different."&btnG=&pbx=1 and here is one I just took off the site and put somewhere else: https://www.google.com/search?q="Blu-Ray+players+have+really+come+in+to+their+own+in+the+past+few+years.+Blu-Ray+technology+provides+the+best+sound+and+picture+quality+of+any+media+format+on+the+market.+In+spite+of+the+great+leap+forward+that+Blu-Ray+represents,+there+are+still+a+good+number+of+people+who+haven’t+made+the+transition+from+traditional+DVD+players+to+the+Blu-Ray+format."&hl=en&tbo=d&rlz=1T4GGLL_enUS398US398&ei=Gk7nUN2oMYrA8AT74IEo&start=10&sa=N&filter=0&biw=1223&bih=799 and yet another: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-us%3AIE-Address&rlz=1I7GGLL_en&sclient=psy-ab&q="At+the+Windows+8+BUILD+conference+we+learned+that+Windows+8+will+allow+you+to+mount+ISO+and+VHD+files+natively.+++So+no+longer+is+there+a+need+for+a+3rd+party+ISO+file+software+such+as+Daemon+Tools+however+if+you+have+copy+protected+DVD+or+games+you+will+still"&btnG=&pbx=1 Notice the pattern, all of the results have my site (the originator of the content) at the bottom. I am very concerned with this as I'm sure this means Penalty up the ..... something. What is my best move at this point? Is there any chance of getting out of this? Just be thankful you are not in this position, it sucks. But I'm still positive I can do something with this site. Thanks Rob
Search Behavior | | robdawg0 -
2 gallerys showing the same images on the one website
Hi, I was Just looking through some of our website and noticed that we have a slide show gallery and when you click on the image it loads onto a light box gallery. would this act a duplicate content as it shows in two different types of displays in the one place. Thanks again
Search Behavior | | Feily0 -
Why would my Bounce Rate drop from 40% to 2% over 3 days without making any major changes to my site www.hiltonhead.com?
Our Wordpress site has had an historical bounce rate of 40% for the last 3 years but last Thursday it dropped to 17%, Friday to 7% and now is running at 2%. The pageviews per visit have also increased from 3 to almost 6. Thanks
Search Behavior | | CorkyGifford0