Question about putting high traffic keywords in my Primary navigation menu.

[MarshallThompson31]

Hello,

I seem to be having a bit of a dilemma with making a crucial site architecture decision about which high traffic keyword I should put in my primary navigation menu.

I am the owner of a computer repair business that I am currently re branding out of necessity for a few reasons.

My existing business website has been established for the past 5 years now and I do all of the SEO and have been on the 1st Page of GOOGLE for anything computer repair related since day 1 however, like I said  am re branding my company and migrating from Joomla to WordPress so it is a great time to make some positive and effective changes to my site architecture.

I am going to be using the Silo Site Architecture on the new Site and I have a very firm working knowledge on the process but I seem to have hit a snag or dilemma with one of my Primary Navigation Categories for the Silo Theme.

My specif question is this please..

Doing keyword research the Keyword Phrase "Computer Repair" is the most highly searched for keyword phrase for people that have computer related problems (naturally) and Ideally "Computer Repair" should be one of my Main Menu Navigation Silo Category Themes.

But... here lies the problem....

If I go with "Computer Repair" in the (Main Nav Menu) then although it gets - 823,000 Local Monthly Searches  I would be opening myself up to a potential problem because normally, most people associate the Phrase Computer Repair with Desktop Computer Repair. So in essence I would be forced to use an alternate other than "Computer Repair" for the Desktop Computer Repair structure in the Silo Theme (Sidebar Nav Menu).  The Keyword Phrase "Desktop Repair" gets only - 12,100 Local Monthly Searches  so basically no one uses the Search Phrase "Desktop Repair. when they are looking to get their computer repaired.

I hope that I did not just confuse you? Still confused? Continue reading and I will dissect my psycho babble for you.....

"The Semantic Historical Logic"

Historically, a Desktop has always been referred to as a computer. Hence the reason why even still today, when our "Desktop" has problems and we need to get it fixed, we Search for "Computer Repair". Why is that? That's a very good question and here is "exactly" why.

Long before we had Laptops, Netbooks, Tablets and Smart Phones we had the all encompassing and mighty "Computer" that allowed us to connect to the rest of the world. It was not until  Laptops actually came about where there was a need to assign an actual _"Classification System"_and all mighty and powerful "Computer" became a "Desktop Computer**"!!! **

So, there you have it. This is the reason why  "Computer Repair" is synonymous  with "Desktop Repair" and why "NO ONE" searches for desktop repair when their Desktop Computer is broken!

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ACTUAL EXAMPLES WITH SCREEN SHOTS BELOW!

If I go with Example A: I have the the Highest Traffic Keyword Phrase in my Mast Head (Main Nav Menu)  but would be forced to use Desktop Repair to classify (Desktop Repair) in (Sidebar Nav Menu)  instead using the keyword phrase "Computer Repair" to classify Desktop Repair.

Example A:

Main Nav Theme Category =   "Computer Repair"  = 823,000 Monthly Loc

Child Pages/ Categories  =           -Desktop Repair  =  **12,100 ** Monthly Loc

-Laptop Repair    =  165,000  Monthly Loc

-Tablet Repair    =  165,000  Monthly  Loc

-Remote Desktop =  1,000,000 Monthly  Loc

I am using WordPress - (Pages / Child Pages) not Categories & Posts!

So, as you can see from (Example A:) above, not being able to use the keyword phrase "Computer Repair" to classify the "Desktop Repair" section kind of opens me up for failure to a good extent as most of my business is done on regular desktop computers which people generally think "Computer Repair" when they are searching to have their Desktop Repaired.

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Example B:

Main Nav Theme Category =   **"Computer Service"  =  **246,000  Monthly Loc

Child Pages/ Categories  =           -Computer Repair  = 823,000 Monthly Loc

-Laptop Repair    =  165,000  Monthly Loc

-Tablet Repair    =  165,000  Monthly  Loc

-Remote Desktop =  1,000,000 Monthly  Loc

I am using WordPress - (Pages / Child Pages) not Categories & Posts!

Now, with (Example B:) even though the keyword Phrase "Computer Service" is not the more favorable item to have as the Silo Theme Category in the Main Navigation Menu, we can see that it is  much more favorable in terms of Local Monthly Searches over the just about non searched for phrase "Desktop Repair"

So as you see, I have a bit of a dilemma that a more experienced SEO could counsel me on. The question is, through your experience, which scenario would you see as more favorable for the site Architecture example A: or example B:

This brings me to my next question that also creates some confusion for me. If you say I think (Example B:) would be my better bet what would you recommend that I do with the URL Structure if "Computer Service" is the Parent Page for the Silo Theme?

Example:

I am using the /%category%/%postname%/ permalink structure for the Silo Site Architecture for the (Blog Section) only - and am using WP Pages and Child Pages for my Silo Content for my Services (Not Posts).

Would this URL  be a problem in Googles eyes or a customers eyes and be perceived as SPAMMY ...

http://www.pcmedicsoncall.com/computer-services/computer-repair/

More than likely, I would say yes because it looks that way to me!

My question to you in regards to the  link structure above is, If I take the "Computer Service" page and change the "SLUG" to (services) yes it will look better but... will that effectively work against me???

EDIT:  ^^ Answered my own question on the Services deal directly above. ^^

Thank you for reading my very long winded questions but I am pretty detailed and I think that the better that I explained it the less writing and guessing what I meant would be better for all concerned (typing wise)

Thank you very much and I look forward to your insightful expertise and wisdom.

Marshall

COMPUTER-SERVICE-MAST-HEAD.png COMPUTER-SERVICE-MAST-HEAD.png

[MarshallThompson31]

Good afternoon Jeremy and it's nice to meet you!

Thank you for your response to my question but I feel that I have mislead you with my screen shot as I had not added the sidebar yet so I guess that I might have sent the wrong signal due to the partially illustrated intent.  Sorry about that...

Jeremy, I agree with you that looking at the existing Navigation Menu "Categories" are very to the point and they are all very high searched for key words in my business and there would be no confusion with my potential customers finding exactly what they need. - Currently as is, my site is very to the point of what I do to both the END USER as well as the Search Engines.

But, back to my Specif question on the (existing) "Computer Repair"  category in the Main Nav Menu  vs  using "Computer Service" in its place.

I have a couple of concerns with this situation which are legitimate ones.

If I use "Computer Repair" as one of the main Themes in the Silo "Main Nav Menu" I will be forced to use "Desktop Repair" to classify Computer Repair in my Sidebar Navigation and that is a problem for a couple of Reasons!

1st Problem - The Majority of People that need Computer Repair do indeed have a desktop computer. However, when people think of getting their Desktop Computer repaired they view it as just Computer Repair and DO NOT search for (repair desktop computer) because they DO NOT classify their DESKTOP as one would classify ( Laptop Repair , Tablet Repair or Phone Repair) because HISTORICALLY  a DESKTOP is just a computer and it was not until laptops, netbooks, tablets, etc came about where there was a need for an actual CLASSIFICATION system.

However, case in Point - (even still) today, 95% of the WORLD thinks and Searches for Computer Repair when their Desktop is broken or has a virus or whatever the case may be.

This is backed up by the Numbers taken directly from GOOGLE Keyword Tool as shown below.

"Computer Repair"  =  823,000 Monthly Local Searches

-Desktop Repair  =  12,100   Monthly Local Searches

2nd Problem -  Desktop Repair only Gets 12,100   Monthly Local Searches and derivatives of Desktop Repair related searches get about the same or in most cases, they get significantly less queries  than the very LAME 12,100 Monthly Searches!

3rd Problem - Potential semantic URL Structure problem ( may look SPAMMY) considering that I GEO Target my Business Location in my URL Structures

So I am taking multiple things into account here because as we all know, one decision will directly affect 1 or multiple elements which has the potential for disaster in instances such as this.

As far as the Migration Process Site design content creation, 301 Redirects on Page level and all of that other jazz, I have that under wraps because I have done extensive research for weeks now on migrating. Plus I am also a coder and am trained and educated on the Server side of things and have been doing web mastering, site development and SEO for 5 1/2 years now and have been working with computers for 32 years on top of that.

I would like a strategical view point for this complex dilemma from some other eyes and view points on this matter so I can exchange some ideas and have an intellectual and strategic discussion on this matter in terms of advanced seo and site structure.

Here is one Updated Screen shot with the Sidebar Nav in place. Please keep in mind this site is online but blocked to the outside world with the exception of my IP Address. So in short we are looking at  place holders and nothing is set in stone yet as I am currently trying to figure out the best way to go with the Silo Site Structure, Proper Semantic URL Mapping, etc etc.

Please do interpret this as an advanced SEO Strategy Planning question from someone who has very advanced skill sets and has been developing with WordPress for 2 1/2 years now exclusively.

As technical and challenging as you can get with your responses, I can interpret just fine and handle that. :  D

P.S ..  I know how to build out the Silo Site Architecture and am also coding a SPECIFIC Sidebar Nav Menu for Each Silo Theme (Category) that will reflect and stay EXACTLY on Point with the Information Architecture of that Specific Silo Theme.

I have only one Problem that I need counsel on and that is.... would it be more advantageous to use "Computer Repair" or  "Computer Service" in the Silo Mast Head (Main Nav) ? Please re-read my first post in addition to this post and help me go in the direction that would be most strategically correct taking all other factors into consideration.

Cam

PC-MEDICS-Screen-Shot-YELLOW-HOVER.png

[jeremycbray]

Sorry Marshall zoned out on that last bit, with the slug, I would say you don't want to overload the keyword in the url, you could set up your categories to reflect different areas of expertise eg computer, software, network

so the slug is computer/computer-repair or network/network monitoring....

I think the key is your on page content.

[jeremycbray]

Hi Marshall,

Great level of detail there, which will really help people to help you.

Personally i don't think it has to be a massive complex problem, we know that google loves genuine community enhancing information and while you are providing that you will rank highly. I would personally not mess much with your current page layout or information, purely because what you are doing is working. I would however add a second or third level, sidebar menu to list all your services.

This will allow you to target the other keywords for services you offer.

I would create a page specifically for each service where you target that keyword as you have done for your main page.

when migrating to wordpress make sure you use friendly permalinks and a good seo plugin and cleanly written theme, for the local market, make sure your site is mobile friendly. Not telling you how to suck eggs, just making sure you have all the info.

Jeremy