Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Category Pages with Sub-Categories
-
The image will explain it all... Each category page starts on the subject of the first sub-category page. This happens twice (well actually 3 times since this section of the site is called showroom and it starts on the tab mowers).
Is this a terrible approach? If so, how could a site like this be better navigation-ally organized.
-
I think I have it. Yes, tabs could be the answer... unless this is getting too crazy.
So, on the front page I will use an image to say "showroom" and make the alt text = "zero turn mowers".
Then, beneath that main category I will also include: edgers, blowers, etc... as if they are sub categories (but in reality it will all be links to the 2nd layer if you know what I'm saying).
So, basically I will have a page that is optimized for zero turn mowers with this content:
/zero-turn-mowers
ZERO TURN MOWERS (h1)
TORO ZERO TURN MOWERS (1st tab & h2)
Description
Toro Zero Turn Homeowner (1st inner tab &h3)
Mower 1
Mower 2
etc...
Toro Zero Turn Commercial (2nd inner tab & h3)
Mower 1
Mower 2
etc...
GRAVELY ZERO TURN MOWERS (2nd tab and h2)
[same structure as Toro]
/edgers
[repeat structure for edgers 1 page]
Although, it is probably too ambitious to go after "zero turn mowers"... I wonder if this double tab structure is bad on page optimization or excellent as this is going to cause me to have a ton of content on each page.
-
You don't have to create anything to start planning out your URL structure. Lots of times when building something I think about the keywords and then just start laying out the URLs that I think will suport those keywords from a search and overall usability perspective. I'll do this even before I start mocking things up.
From your design you could put all mowers by one company on the same page and then have tabs to separate the content. Implement the tabs in javascript so that they just enhance some good solid HTML lists or divs. That would create one page for each mower brand. Are you hoping to SEO well for "mowers" or "toro mowers"? Perhaps you are already planning on doing this?
In regards to the anchor text, can you just link to "Toro Mowers" and then have people click the tab they want. Othewise perhaps you could do something link "Toro Mowers - Home", "Toro Mowers - Commercial". At least that gets the keywords at the front of the anchor text.
The structure of your site will be important for SEO but start by finding the list of keywords to target. Consider keyword competition and search volume when making the list. Come up with one page for each of those keywords. Then try to come up with an overall URL structure where you can SEO all those pages well. Finally, don't worry about SEO on each and every page you create. You are going to have some pages that add to the overall experience of your site that might not target keywords.
You are smart to think about creating only the pages that you have good content for. I wouldn't force myself to create any other pages.
-
I haven't actually created anything yet - hence the research.
Right now, my mock-up is completely based on ease of use for the user, and I am now factoring in SEO concerns - and this is my first concern.
Basically you have a homepage that has 3 main links in the middle of the page as well as some information about us, map, phone, etc... below. These links are:
- Showroom
- Workbench
- Knowledge Base
The screenshot you see on my first post is the "home" of the showroom.
As you can see, when you click Showroom - the first page you are taken to is Homeowner Toro Mowers.
That means the anchor text for showroom actually links to "homeowner toro mowers" - which can't be good.
Take it one step down and you see the same issue. Click the tab "gravely mowers" and you are taken to "homeowner gravely mowers" - with commercial being another tab.
In a perfect world I'm guessing I should have a page called "showroom" optimized for keywords.
Then, I should have a page called "mowers" with links to the different brands.
The company and I have no interest in creating all these "category home pages" because we don't have the content for them nor would they support the user in any sort of way.
This must be a common issue and there has to be a good answer to it - I just can't seem to come up with one.
I hope this helps...
-
Could you be more specific? I'd love to see the full URL path before of the categories and sub categories before I weigh in.
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
-
Can I replace categories with a static page
Hello there. I want to replace all of WordPress categories with static pages so that users see a well designed and constructed presentation of all the articles within each topic instead of just a long list of excerpts. I've already done this with 2 categories and although it is hard work I can't help feeling it is a much better thing for my users. However, I'm concerned that I am embarking on this project without being totally sure that it makes sense from an Seo point of view, or whether there are any downsides I haven't thought of? My idea is that the WordPress categories are set to noindex and nofollow. Search engines should find all of my static category pages and all of the content within each category will be spidered from there instead. Just to be sure you know what I mean here is a link to a normal category - https://www.whitegoodshelp.co.uk/category/consumer/ and here is my static page replacement for it - https://www.whitegoodshelp.co.uk/consumer-rights-appliances/ Both pages contain links to all articles within the category except the one generated by WordPress is just a long paginated list, and my replacement is a proper category page, which is hopefully far more useful . Can someone please confirm that there are no downsides to this strategy? 🙂
On-Page Optimization | | Snowdune1 -
Schema Markup for eCommerce Category Pages?
My research indicates that applying an ItemList schema markup to our category pages is likely the best way to go. However, I've also ready that Google discourages schema markup on category pages. I'm just wondering if any of you have applied schema markup to your category pages and, if so, how did you do it? John,
On-Page Optimization | | JohnBrown75
Essay Writer1 -
Shifting target keyword to a new page, how do we rank the internal page?
I have been targeting one keyword for home page that was ranking between the postilion 6-7 but was never ranking on 1st as there were 2 highly competitive keywords targeted on the same page, I changed the keyword to an internal service page to rank it on 1st, I have optimized the content as well but the home page is still ranking on 11th, how do I get the internal page rank on that keyword
On-Page Optimization | | GOMO-Gabriel0 -
Can you use the canonical tag and rel=next and rel=prev on category pages.
We have a conflict of information between our web developers and our SEO company. We are an on-line retail company hence we have a fair number of different categories. Our site is set up with the rel=next and rel=prev tags. Our SEO company have asked us to implement canonical links on our category pages and leave the rel=next and rel=prev tags as they are. Our web developers are saying by doing this we are asking Google to ignore all of our products on all of the pages except page 1 which would mean Google would not index a lot of our products. I have looked at a few articles but I am struggling to understand which way to go. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
On-Page Optimization | | Palmbourne0 -
Tags vs. Categories? What should I use?
I'm starting with a blog (self-hosted wordpress) and I'm thinking of the following content structure so that the readers are easily able to locate relevant content: Background: It's a blog which gives people relevant info about government jobs. To start with we will just be publishing information about these jobs but over a period of time also intend to post content that helps readers prepare for these jobs. In other words, right now it's just about detailed job notifications but in the coming months, we shall also post about preparation-related information. Typically, each of the job notifications can be bifurcated like: Jobs basis industry Banking Railways Clinical, etc. Jobs basis company ABC co. DEF co. XYZ co. etc. Jobs basis State / City City 1 City 2, etc. Jobs basis educational qualification Graduation Post-Graduation, etc. Now, I'm seriously confused how should I structure this data from the perspective of Categories & Tags such that it's reader as well as SEO-friendly. Do note that each of the government jobs post ideally falls in a couple of above mentioned categories. Thanks..
On-Page Optimization | | Shalin.TJ0 -
Missing meta descriptions on indexed pages, portfolio, tags, author and archive pages. I am using SEO all in one, any advice?
I am having a few problems that I can't seem to work out.....I am fairly new to this and can't seem to work out the following: Any help would be greatly appreciated 🙂 1. I am missing alot of meta description tags. I have installed "All in One SEO" but there seems to be no options to add meta descriptions in portfolio posts. I have also written meta descriptions for 'tags' and whilst I can see them in WP they don't seem to be activated. 2. The blog has pages indexed by WP- called Part 2 (/page/2), Part 3 (/page/3) etc. How do I solve this issue of meta descriptions and indexed pages? 3. There is also a page for myself, the author, that has multiple indexes for all the blog posts I have written, and I can't edit these archives to add meta descriptions. This also applies to the month archives for the blog. 4. Also, SEOmoz tells me that I have too many links on my blog page (also indexed) and their consequent tags. This also applies to the author pages (myself ). How do I fix this? Thanks for your help 🙂 Regards Nadia
On-Page Optimization | | PHDAustralia680 -
How to avoid keyword stuffing on e-Commerce Category pages
Hi, I'm optimizing a large, consumer electronic e-commerce superstore. Based on client's choice of keywords, I'm using product category pages as my target urls. Because of the proprietary CMS structure, product names and titles, featured on my landing pages (product category pages) create a keyword overkill, affecting various ranking factors. For example, one of the target urls / landing pages, dedicated to a specific product category, mentions the keyword over 190 times because of so many product titles in the "body" section. Would inline "rel="canonical" help? If yes, what part of the website should it "canonize"? If rel="canonical" is not the answer, what strategies would you suggest? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | dimanyc0 -
Creating New Pages Versus Improving Existing Pages
What are some things to consider or things to evaluate when deciding whether you should focus resources on creating new pages (to cover more related topics) versus improving existing pages (adding more useful information, etc.)?
On-Page Optimization | | SparkplugDigital0