Home page keyword effecting internal page ranking
-
Hello,
My client has a second keyword for the home page that is competitive.
The home page is not being ranked for this keyword. Instead, an internal category page is ranking.
This internal category page is more relevant than the home page - it shows the categories for the actual products that this term refers to.
But everyone around us in Google's page results has far more backlinks than the internal page, and we're all heavily optimized for this term.
My question is, is it safe to pull the second term off of the home page or is this internal page strong because it is somehow being strengthened by the home page optimization?
-
Sorry for the misunderstanding - I'm just talking about both title tags
-
Since Google already found the most relevant page on your site for the kw (combination), I would say that things would not change. I assume that the general site topic remains the same - even though you remove the text from your homepage (about how much text is it? just text? links as well? <- if yes .. this is where it gets tricky).
-
Welcome. As far as things like that go, I'm not the most well-versed unfortunately. If you are linking to that page with relevant anchor text, then it seems possible because your home page is at least somewhat relevant to the keyword, but it's tough to say.
-
Thanks Eric,
I'd like to take the second keyword off of the home page to focus on the (first) main home page keyword, which we're slipping for. Do you think the home page strength (with my second keyword) is somehow supporting my internal page with the same keyword (the second keyword)?
-
Internal pages are almost always more relevant to specific phrases than is the home page. If you run a website that sells doors, the home page is going to mention regular doors, french doors, etc, but when someone searches for French Doors, the SE is going to send them to your french doors page not the home page because they're not looking for doors of all types. They want french doors.
If your home page is still relevant to the keyword, keep it there. Just don't keyword stuff.
-
What is it you want to pull from the homepage? Some copy-text of a couple of hundred words?
I would recommend not to pull it off, as it works and seems to work good. What is it you want to gain by removing it from the homepage?
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
-
Ranking more than one page.
Our travel website has a number of different places listed. The layout of each place is the same as the next. On place ranks on page 1 for its keywords where as others do not. Is there a tool of some description that may identify why this is.
On-Page Optimization | | twiguins0 -
What is the best way to deal with creating a separate brand with it's own website when the main site already ranks well for the target keywords?
A client currently has a site that ranks well for a number of queries. They recently created a new site for a spin-off brand/company that they now want to focus on ranking for some of the keywords their original site already ranked for. What would be the best way to go about this without throwing away the existing authority and traffic the original site has for those queries?
On-Page Optimization | | P1WS_Sully0 -
How do you find out all the keywords Google is ranking you for?
Hello, Is there anyway of finding out all the keywords that Google is currently ranking our website for so that we can then build on those keyword positions? Many thanks,
On-Page Optimization | | mblsolutions0 -
Sudden drop in ranking for important keyword? No penalty / other issues detected
Hi For our site we previously ranked well for the term "botswana safari holidays" on the page: http://www.naturalworldsafaris.com/destinations/africa-and-the-indian-ocean/botswana.aspx We've suddenly seen a dramatic drop for this term, currently ranked #43 on Google UK. There are no penalty notices in Webmaster tools and the only edits to the page recently have been to include the term "Botswana safari holidays" in the page title and the on-page h2 (previously Botswana safaris and holidays). Any suggestions why we have seen a large decrease for this term? We expect to see some fluctuation but this one seems a bit dramatic. We've not lost any backlinks to the page that we know of. Thanks for the help.
On-Page Optimization | | KateWaite0 -
Page title changes based on results per page
I have a product listing that allows customers to set a results per page option. This ads a GET variable to the URL. I've added the page number to the title of this page if they go past the first page. If this results per page variable is added to the URL then google see it as a different page. Do I need to change the page title for this?
On-Page Optimization | | BedInABox.com0 -
Particular page fails to rank well
Hi all We are building, managing and marketing a Danish tourism site for VisitSweden. The site targets a Danish market-group with information and travel tips on going to Sweden. We have one page in particular that has always failed to rank well for some reason. http://www.meresverige.dk/rejser/malmo This page targets the keyword "Malmø". Another page, with similar layout and content seems to rank alot better. http://www.meresverige.dk/rejser/goeteborg Keyword "Gøteborg" Any ideas? Smart tips? Have the best of days Fredrik
On-Page Optimization | | Resultify0 -
Finished On Page optimization and slipping in rankings
Just finished on page optimization for a client that was on page 2 for the keyword. Went from an on page score of D to an A. But we are still slipping down the rankings. We were towards to top of page 2 now we are towards the bottom. Is there a time that it takes to change or does the on page not really make a big impact?
On-Page Optimization | | devonkrusich0 -
One domain with keyword optimized pages or multiple domains
Hi There. I have a client in the real estate law services business. Which is better for long term search traffic? 1. A single domain ie. smith and smith law.com with pages focussing on each neighbourhood they operate in ie. .com/real estate law manhattan.php, .com/real estate law brooklyn.php etc or 2. multiple domains each focusing on one neighbourhood the business operates in ie: real estate law manhattan.com, real estate law brooklyn.com etc Thanks for the help, Josh
On-Page Optimization | | dreadmichael0