Which URL structure should I use?
-
-
I would agree with Miram Ellis, I try to make my URLs as small as possible and then use Google Custom Variables to categorise content on the site for Analytics.
Therefore my answer would be: samhillbands.com/Charlottesville-VA-Wedding-Bands
-
HI Brian,
Have you thought about what you want to target with such URL structure?
I believe that there should be two main targets that you shoul pursue:1- Making URL the most frendly as possible. e.g.: Domain.com/Charlottesville-VA-Wedding-Bands
2- Using the complete URL usefull for you or your visitros: e.g.: Domain.com/bands/Charlottesville-VA-WeddingOf course, there has to be some keyword research and planning there. I understand that the keyword you're using is "Charlottesville VA", including "bands" and "wedding" as long tails.
I do recommend you, as a guidance, to take a thorough read of these posts:
15 SEO Best Practices for Structuring URLs By Rand Fishkin Begginners guide - Chapter 4- Section - Go to the "URL construction guidelines" part.Hope it's usefull.
GR -
Are you going to have valuable category page at /bands/ or /wedding/ and /wedding/bands/? Using subfolders can be great for filtering in analytics, analyzing indexation as well as for the users who want to view things at a category level.
Consider what makes most sense for your users. Are they looking for a type of band first or by location first? I would imagine that I would want to look in my location first, then move on to the type of band. In this case, you might want to consider building your directory path to be samhillbands.com/charlottesville-va/wedding-bands/ or something similar.
-
Hi Brian!
Why not use:
samhillbands.com/wedding-bands-charlottesville-va
It's very simple. Is there a reason for using sub-folders?
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
-
URL and title strategy for multiple location pages in the same city
Hi, I have a customer which opens additional branches in cities where he had until now only one branch. My question is: Once we open new store pages, what is the best strategy for the local store pages in terms of URL and title?
Local Website Optimization | | OrendaLtd
So far I've seen some different strategies for URL structure:
Some use [URL]/locations/cityname-1/2/3 etc.
while others use [URL]/locations/cityname-zip code/
I've even seen [URL]/locations/street address-cityname (that's what Starbucks do) There are also different strategies for the title of the branch page.
Some use [city name] [state] [zip code] | [Company name]
Other use [Full address] | [Company name]
Or [City name] [US state] [1/2/3] | [Company name]
Or [City name] [District / Neighborhood] [Zip Code] | [Company name] What is the preferred strategy for getting the best results? On the one hand, I wish differentiate the store pages from one another and gain as much local coverage as possible; on the other hand, I wish to create consistency and establish a long term strategy, taking into consideration that many more branches will be opened in the near future.1 -
Does anyone have a good program they use for full site audits?
I'm looking to find a program that will do the following: Scan for page errors including code issues, hosting issues, redirect issues, etc. Pages missing Google Analytics Google + Local audit to identify issues with NAP, citations, category selection etc. Find pages with title issues including missing page titles, duplicates or titles that are too short or too long, header tag issues such as missing H1 tags Meta description issues including missing meta descriptions, duplicate meta descriptions or meta descriptions that are too short or too long Link issues including broken internal or external links or missing anchor or ALT text Identify internal or external links using rel=”nofollow” Image issues, such as missing ALT or title text and broken images Identify pages using Schema.org microdata I know there are probably a couple programs that will do little bits here and there so I'm open to suggestions. Thank you.
Local Website Optimization | | SimonWorsfold0 -
Multiple Locations with Branded Name/Keyword in URL
I have a client, let's call him "Bob". Bob has 2 stores where he sells "Widgets", Bob's Widgets and Bob's Widgets South. These locations are roughly 40 miles from each other and serve two different marketplaces. Each location has their own website "www.bobswidgets.com & www.bobswidgetssouth.com". Each location is run by different individuals. The Store Manager at Bob's Widgets is complaining that when you type "Bob's Widgets" into the search engines "Bob's Widgets South" website is indexing in the 2nd and/or 3rd position. The Store Manager at Bob's Widgets feels that Bob's Widgets South could be stealing business from him because of the way Google is indexing the sites. I have explained to him that the keyword the user is typing in is in both names of the locations and in each URL and this is prompting the search engine to index both sites. Am I missing something else???
Local Website Optimization | | mittcom0 -
Can I use a state's slang term for local search?
Have a business located in Indianapolis, Indiana. The business name will be BusinessName Indy. The URL will be BusinessName-Indy.com Since I am using Indy instead of Indianapolis or Indiana, is Google's algorithm smart enough to match up local results to my site?
Local Website Optimization | | StevenPeavey1 -
Google Structured Data Verses Yandex Structured Data Validator Query
Hi All, We have implemented Schema.org on our website and we have chosen a specific schema as opposed to just using the standard localbusiness. When we ran it through the Google Structured data tool it did not report any error , however , when we tried it on Yandex, it showed up as us having problems with the way we have tagged our addresses for our different locations so we have made additional changes to fix this. I have read somewhere that the Google Structured data tool is not 100% correct at showing any errors etc and that one should use Yandex as well for validation. I am wondering what others thoughts and if what I read should be taken as correct infomation?... I would be surprised if google did release something like the structured data validator if it wasn't as good at reporting than some others out there. thanks Pete
Local Website Optimization | | PeteC120 -
Perfect Site Structure help please and EMD question
Hello to all, I appreciate your time and trouble greatly, so thank you in advance. Question - 1 - I just watched a video regarding onsite <acronym title="Search Engine Optimization">seo</acronym>. This video explained to instead of using a services page to list each service, instead if possible make a page and menu item for the most popular search terms. So my families business site is allspecialtybuildings.com We do construction. I currently have it setup to have a services page then the listings of the services with its own page under the menu. But from watching this video, would you also suggest that it would be best to take maybe the top 3 or 4 services, then list the services as actual page menus? So say instead of this: Service Menu Link -
Local Website Optimization | | Berner
-Pole Barns
-Indoor Riding Arenas
-Garages
-Horse Barns
-Loafing Sheds Would it be best to have each service as a menu in itself like this: Home
Pole Barns
-Pole Barn Construction
-Pole Barn Kits
-Pole Barn Color Charts Indoor Riding Arenas
-Indoor Riding Arena Construction
-Indoor Riding Arena Kits
-Indoor Riding Arena Color Charts Same- Different word
Same- Different Word So basically create specific and relevant pages and remove the popular pages from a service page. Not sure if this make sense, or is basically not needed? Last Question - Branding- I got 2 <acronym title="Search Engine Optimization">seo</acronym> companies reviews back, and was told to change my branding and domain. See the issue is that the company name is All Specialty Buildings. So All is basically thrown out of some search results, almost like its a stop word. So "Specialty Buildings" shows up on many results. I would like to counter this. So I am curious if I get a new domain, like say something like ColoradoBarnConstruction.com Would this be a better domain for <acronym title="Search Engine Optimization">seo</acronym> rankings and memory for people? Or would I risk an EMD penalty? When I look for dentists, or <acronym title="Search Engine Optimization">seo</acronym> help, I get coloradodentist, or coloradoseo(dot)com's So they all rank well, I just want something brandable and easy to remember. I figured the company name would be best, But these companies that want 3500 a month for <acronym title="Search Engine Optimization">seo</acronym> services are saying different. Again thank you for your time, your ideas, and your advice. Thank you Chris0 -
Want to move contents to domain2 and use domain1 for other content
Hello, We would like to merge two existing, fairly well positioned web forums. Contents (threads and posts) from www.forocreativo.net would be moved to www.comunidadhosting.com. We are testing some scripts which will handle redirect 301 for every single thread from forocreativo.net to comunidadhosting.com. But here is the thing: once all current contents are moved out of www.forocreativo.net, we would like to use this domain to point it to a specific geographic region and to target other niche/topics. Would you say we can do this and Google will not penalize neither of those 2 domains? Any input is more than welcome. Thank you! 🙂
Local Website Optimization | | interalta0 -
If I mention a client in a blogpost about SEO, do I have to use a rel= no follow link?
I do SEO and webstuff (obviously, that's why I'm here). I want to write a blog post congratulating my client for getting to #1 in the local listings for a search for "plumber". When I include my link to my client's site, should it be rel=no follow? Could they be penalized if I don't? Thanks,
Local Website Optimization | | aj613
Adam0