Can You Get Better Ranking/Conversion by Reducing the Number of Pages?
-
I am seriously considering reducing the number of pages in a section of our website. We currently have 39 webpages. I'm considering reducing it to 6.
The site architecture would make more sense giving recent design changes. And we could focus more attention on improving conversions from these 6 new pages. But I'm considering doing this mainly because I think it'll help us do a better job of communicating to and converting our audience.
The new pages would be longish. The existing 39 pages are by no means stubs, but these new pages would be longer.
Anyway, what I want to put out for discussion is the SEO impact.
- What are the good SEO reasons for reducing the number of pages?
- Can 6 well-done pages out perform 39 pretty-well-done pages?
- How many queries can one page rank for well?
- Is this SEO suicide?
Honestly, there's a part of me that cannot believe I'm saying this, but I think my heart is in the right place.
-
Hi Justin
Ask yourself:
-
Do all of these 39 pages individually provide value?
-
Can you condense these pages into 6?
-
Have you considered a content audit?
-
Have you checked your rankings for these 39 pages? Check Google & Bing Webmaster Tools / SEMRush
-
Your organic traffic? Check analytics
-
Do these pages have good backlinks? Check Majestic / Open Site Explorer
-
Longer content has correlations with better rankings based on some studies
This is a big decision and a big undertaking. You need to assess the value of these pieces - you said so yourself they are pretty well done. But, if they can be condensed into these six pieces and you have a plan in place to do so, then good luck! But, if you find in your assessment that there is user / search value to these pages, then you need to take a comb through everything and really make sure this is the route you want to take. There are definitely risks.
Hope this helps! Good luck!
-
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
-
How do I redirect a page that no longer exists?
I changed the name of a blog article I wrote and the original name is giving a 404 error. I am not sure why it isn't being directed like the other articles I renamed to improve SEO. Since the webpage no longer exists, I don't know how to redirect it. I use Wordpress and Thesis. Thanks!
Content Development | | dealblogger0 -
Which kind of testimonials increase more the conversion rate of and e-commerce website?
In an e-commerce website is it better to have: a) Email of happy customers.
Content Development | | YESdesign
b) Reviews of customers ad hoc.
c) VIPs that use the product in sale in the website. Which of these from your direct experience works better? Please show us what is working and what is not from your experience, suggestion, ideas, best practice to create an effective testimonial section of and e-commerce website are appreciated! Many thanks in advance, YESdesign team ps. we don't have the budget for images and or videos…0 -
Google Image Search - How to rank?
Hi, How would you optimise for rank higher in image search? Any tips/rules which need to be applied. Thanks.
Content Development | | Bondara0 -
Author Rank for news portals
Hello SEOmoz community 🙂 I would like to discuss the option of implementing AuthorRank on news portals where content changes daily and the importance and the ''weight'' of that content is measuerd mostly on the breaking news factor. Content changes multiple times through out the day and there are many authors / journalists who write for that portal, so my questions would be: can AuthorRank have impact on this kind of site? Did any of you have any experiences with AuthorRank on a big scale sites like news portals and if you would be kind to share some insights. Thank you in advance! sincerely, sinisa
Content Development | | TataSinke0 -
Should I put the date on a new content page to show users when it was written or updated?
I've been asked this question at work and not certain of the answer. Personally if I see an 'old' date in a meta description on Google I often scan for more recent articles. In other words it can act as a deterrent. We are a very big social networking site with a large content section. For some of our content the date might be relevant, such as legal information, but often it isn't. Are there any SEO factors in dating content?
Content Development | | CecilyP0 -
FAQ page to target "long tail keywords".
I'm wondering if there is any benefit to creating a FAQ section on a website for the purpose of ranking for long tail keywords. If so, are there best practices in the way that the page is structured? Also, would doing this just help me rank the FAQ page for these terms or would it also help more critical pages on my website, such as homepage, contact, about, etc... which do not contain these keywords.
Content Development | | pharcydeabc0 -
What are you doing to convert blog readers to inquiries/leads?
I'm curious what tactics people are finding successful in converting readers into leads, inquiries, or sales. Anyone feel like sharing?
Content Development | | BedeFahey1 -
Dashes / Slashes / Full Spots in Meta Tile.
Hello, I have a question how about how google sees dashes, slashes, full stops etc. I am new to SEO so this might be dumb. I sell refurbished printer parts. The majority of people search for the part number in google. A typical part number might be "04.F5/S3A YA50" . A customer might search for "04F5S3A YA50" or "04.F5/S3AYA50" or "04.F5/S3A YA50" or "04.F5/S3A-YA50". They aren't radically different but seem to effect the rankings. At the moment I use the following stucture for the meta tiles, descriptions etc 04.T5/S3A YA50 (04T5S3AYA50) by OEM | mysite Buy refurbished OEM 04.T5/S3A YA50 (04T5S3AYA50). Free next day delivery. 12 month warrnanty on all parts. www.mysite/4F5S3AYA50 Part number (Part number no spaces) by OEM | Mysite Generic text Part number (Part number no spaces) text www.mysite/(Part number no spaces My questions, should I try to include all the different ways a customer might search for a part number in my meta title, description, url etc. Or should I try to include within the content of the page. Many thanks
Content Development | | DavidLenehan0