URL Names not so important in future?
-
I read somewhere (hard to say where with all the information about SEO and google!) that in the future, Google will put less importance on the URL name for ranking purposes. Any thoughts?
-
URLs will always be important in lots of ways;
- They are seen by users in many cases (as links, in social media and even the SERPs) and can help improve CTR.
- They are extremely important to the overall site architecture - and especially for information architecture.
- They can often become the anchor text in links.
- They help a user when browsing the site, as if they represent the structure or "level" depth (almost like breadcrumbs) is can make the navigating experience easier.
I don't think URLs are something Google looks at in a simplistic way like "oh you're URL says X keyword, we're gonna weigh that keyword more" - I think all of these factors feed into the importance of URLs and I don't see that value diminishing anytime soon.
-Dan
-
I think ever since firefox came out with the amazing bar and google became the new http they have had to rank domain names high in the SERPS, as there is always a chance that that is what you are looking for if you put it into your browser address bar.
However, it is not beyond thinking that google will rank things differently depending on how you search. Searching on a mobile phone provides different results to searching on your desktop. So why not searching from your browser location bar giving different results to searching from the google homepage? With the google homepage giving less relevance to domain names as a signal.
I am sure Google are more than capable of being data led and seeing if those things correlate and making the necessary changes.
Other ways in which domain names become less relevant are through such things as apps and social media games. Take instagram as an example. An online business that made its name before it even had a domain name. It was a solid app, searched for and shared through the mobile phone market places and then via facebook.
With the battle from facebook to essentially become your desktop and the entire internet - like AOL tried doing many years back, in which everything should be run through their systems and their framework I hope that domain names do not become obsolete as the prospect scares me a little.
First time posting here.
Figured I had to start somewhere.
-
Im sure it is possible it could devalue down the road, but Title, URL and Body are one of the easiest ways to identify if the content is relevant. Google also takes in account bounce rate so if 'title', 'url' and 'body' are targeting 'shoes', but your website is about garage install it will be able to tell immediately that your site is not relevant.
-
I can't speak for the future but late last year I changed the url structure of my site and saw a pretty significant improvement in my rankings.
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
-
Are Meta-descriptions important for blogs?
I am tasked with optimizing an existing sites SEO. I have added meta's to all the menu pages, however they have blog section with over 700 posts. How important are meta descriptions when it comes to a websites blog? Do I need to take the time to go through 700+ blog posts and create unique meta descriptions for each one?
Algorithm Updates | | rburnett0 -
What are the advantages and disadvantages of having multiple folders in URL?
Example: http://www.domain.com.ph/property-for-sale/city/area/ (3 folders) Would it be great if we'll just use http://www.domain.com.ph/property-for-sale-area-city/ (All pages will be under 1 folder)? Thanks in advance! 🙂
Algorithm Updates | | esiow20130 -
Domain Name History Question
Hi, When launching a new domain, do you think Google holds these back in the rankings for a certain time period? I have noticed with a few, the rankings are held back for a few months (10 page deep results when the site's first indexed and ranked), then almost like a switch rankings start to come through pretty aggressively in some cases. For example: a result could be on page 16 for a month or so, then all of a sudden jump through to page 6 (with no link building or site update), at this point the result would stay steady and would need work to push through. Anyone else get this, or does anyone have any insight about domain history and Google. Cheers
Algorithm Updates | | activitysuper0 -
Why is my domain URL ranking instead of individual pages?
Hello, Google is ranking my homepage for many keywords instead of showing the various sites pages? Any idea why? Thanks, David
Algorithm Updates | | DavidSpivac0 -
How is important domain age now?
Just as topic states, how important do you think domain age is? Do you think getting old domain for the new website will do any difference? Lets say website A used to sell apples... went out of business after 5 years of business. If I would get that domain and will star selling apples again can I expect some extra boost because of the age? Cheers
Algorithm Updates | | DiamondJewelryEmpire0 -
Is URL appearance defined by crawling or by XML sitemap
I am having a problem developing a sitemap because I have long URLs that are made by zend. They go like this: http://myagingfolks.com/professionals/20661/social-workers/pennsylvania-civi-stanger Because these URL's are long and are fed by Zend when I try to call them all up, to put on the sitemap, the system runs out of memory and crashes. Do you know what part of a search result, in google, say, comes from the URL? Would it be fine for me to submit to google only www.myagingfolks.com/professionals/20661. Does the crawler find that the URL is indeed http://myagingfolks.com/professionals/20661/social-workers/pennsylvania-civi-stanger or does it go with just what the sitemap tells it?
Algorithm Updates | | Jordanrg0 -
Local SEO url format & structure: ".com/albany-tummy-tuck" vs ".com/tummy-tuck" vs ".com/procedures/tummy-tuck-albany-ny" etc."
We have a relatively new site (re: August '10) for a plastic surgeon who opened his own solo practice after 25+ years with a large group. Our current url structure goes 3 folders deep to arrive at our tummy tuck procedure landing page. The site architecture is solid and each plastic surgery procedure page (e.g. rhinoplasty, liposuction, facelift, etc.) is no more than a couple clicks away. So far, so good - but given all that is known about local seo (which is a very different beast than national seo) quite a bit of on-page/architecture work can still be done to further improve our local rank. So here a a couple big questions facing us at present: First, regarding format, is it a given that using geo keywords within the url indispustibly and dramatically impacts a site's local rank for the better (e.g. the #2 result for "tummy tuck" and its SHENANIGANS level use of "NYC", "Manhattan", "newyorkcity" etc.)? Assuming that it is, would we be better off updating our cosmetic procedure landing page urls to "/albany-tummy-tuck" or "/albany-ny-tummy-tuck" or "/tummy-tuck-albany" etc.? Second, regarding structure, would we be better off locating every procedure page within the root directory (re: "/rhinoplasty-albany-ny/") or within each procedure's proper parent category (re: "/facial-rejuvenation/rhinoplasty-albany-ny/")? From what I've read within the SEOmoz Q&A, adding that parent category (e.g. "/breast-enhancement/breast-lift") is better than having every link in the root (i.e. completely flat). Third, how long before google updates their algorithm so that geo-optimized urls like http://www.kolkermd.com/newyorkplasticsurgeon/tummytucknewyorkcity.htm don't beat other sites who do not optimize so aggressively or local? Fourth, assuming that each cosmetic procedure page will eventually have strong link profiles (via diligent, long term link building efforts), is it possible that geo-targeted urls will negatively impact our ability to rank for regional or less geo-specific searches? Thanks!
Algorithm Updates | | WDeLuca0