What more can be done to get Google to change the landing pages it uses for certain search terms?
-
For one of my SEO campaigns, Google is using the website's home page as the landing page for the majority of search terms being tracked. The website splits its products by region and so we want specific region pages to rank for search terms related to that region, rather than the home page. We have optimised each regional page to a reasonably high standard and we have ensured that there is a good amount of internal linking and sign-posting to those region pages, however, Google is still using the home page. The only complication is that for the first few months there were canonical tags on these pages to the home page. These were removed around 3 months ago and we've checked that the region pages are indexed properly.
Is there anything we are missing?
Has anyone had any success in getting Google to change its landing pages?
-
That's partially a question of how soon the linking pages get indexed/recrawled, but in general it's very fast. On our last project where we had an issue like this it only took ~4 days before our pages were showing up correctly in the search results. We were targeting two pages specifically, and built around 8 links per page.
Keep in mind though that the homepage is almost certainly going to be stronger than any of your other pages, so rankings might slip a bit at first when the engines start to attribute the pages correctly.
-
Hi Jared,
That's very helpful and your response is greatly appreciated! From your experience, what sort of time frame would you expect from implementing these signals and the pages being reindex to seeing an effect in the ranking?
Many thanks
-
Hi Harry,
Logan is right, this happens a lot when new projects get started, especially when a site is newer.
The easiest way that I've found to combat this (in addition to what you've already done) is to build some almost "over optimized" links to each of the pages in question. When our team does this, we make sure 1) to include exact match anchor text of links that are built, 2) the links and linking domain itself are extremely relevant to the destination page, and obviously, 3) they are pointed at the very specific pages in question that you're trying get ranked properly.
I certainly wouldn't be this blatant all the time, but when trying to "separate" these pages in the search results I would definitely make sure this is on your checklist.
The search engines are incredibly "intelligent" but they're still machines and can't necessarily infer what page needs to be ranked without the proper signals. So making sure the on and off page signals are there to provide as much context as possible is really important.
Hope that helps Harry!
-
Thanks Logan, I'll check out!
-
Hi Harry,
I've done this a number of times when taking over campaigns for other 'agencies'. It's a pretty common task for most SEOs. It usually involves some de-optimization of the ranking page in order to shift that emphasis over to your preferred page. Check out Moz's on-page grader, that might give you some insight into why the homepage is overpowering the interior pages.
Rand did a really good Whiteboard Friday on this topic about a month ago. It's definitely worth watching if you haven't already, you might find the key to what you're looking for: https://moz.com/blog/wrong-page-ranks-for-keywords-whiteboard-friday
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
-
Meta descriptions in other languages than the page's content?
Hi guys, I need an opinion on the optimization of meta descriptions for a website available in 6 languages that faces the following situation: Main pages are translated in 6 languages, English being primary >> all clear here. BUT The News section includes articles only in English, that are displayed as such on all other language versions of the website. Example:
Local Website Optimization | | Andreea-M
website.com/en/news/article 1
website.com/de/neues/article 1
website.com/fr/nouvelles/article 1
etc. Because we don't have the budget right now to translate all content, I was wondering if I could add only the Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions in the specific languages (using Google Translate), while the content to remain in English. Would this be accepted as reasonable enough for Google, or would it affect the website ranking?
I'd like to avoid major mistakes, so I'm hoping someone here on this forum has a better idea of how to proceed in this case.0 -
Does A Local Therapist Need A Blog, or Should They Focus on Main Service Pages?
Hi everyone! I am just starting to practice SEO by assisting a friend with her local relationship therapy practice, and I'm not sure whether or not she needs a blog. Here's the content they currently have: A page for specific categories within relationship therapy (unmarried couples, marriage, divorce, pre-marital, etc) On each page, she describes what that type of therapy is, what clients can expect, and how she will help them during the process. My question is this: Does it make sense to start a blog, or, is it better to build out the main, static service pages with more content? I'm worried that if she does start a blog, that it could potentially take away from the authority of the main service pages. For example, let's say she writes a highly specific post titled "how to talk to your husband about marriage". Is it better to just incorporate aspects of this post on the main marriage page, or keep it as a blog post? I really appreciate any suggestions and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Local Website Optimization | | onitamara0 -
Google My Business
I have a question about Google my Business. Currently I have a business that's been verified. I would like to add another business with the same address. The businesses are different (name, website, phone number) but the primary address is the same. Is this something that can be done? Thanks for your help.
Local Website Optimization | | Kdruckenbrod0 -
Question about landing pages
I currently have a service based website with landing pages for surrounding towns. For example the keywords targeting and url for the town are "service+town+state". I recently noticed that I am not showing up at all for "service+zip" even though I have the zips included in all the landing pages. I was told if I made more landing pages dedicated to zip I would risk killing the rank on other landing pages. Would it be advisable to make another totally different website that focuses on just the "service+zip" landing pages. The name of the page would be the same the company obviously but the phone numbers and content would be different along with domain url. Any advice or suggestions are welcome. Thanks.
Local Website Optimization | | Spartan221 -
National Results when Searching
I have a client that sells health and life insurance. It's a local office in a smaller town. When I do a google search only national results come up but when I tack on the city and state I get local results. I've done keyword research and narrowed the area down to the county. The search volume I get from just the keyphrase like "health insurance" lets say is an average of 70 per month but when I tack on city and state that number drops to 10 per month. What would be the best strategy for gaining traffic. It's not realistic to compete with national company like State Farm. Any Ideas?
Local Website Optimization | | DunckleyDesign0 -
Page Title for a Local Shop
Hello everyone 🙂 I would like to have your opinion on one thing: I am working on a local shop selling pottery and other things. So I was thinking, would it make sense to title the page something like: “Pottery Object, San Francisco, Awesome Pottery” which means “keyword, location, company name”? Or is there a better way to optimize the title of the page for a local shop? Thank you very (very) much 🙂
Local Website Optimization | | Franco19780 -
Which SSL should I get or does it even matter?
We do not have an eCommerce on our site but we do have a worldwide website and a local website, which SSL certs should I get? I found a lot here over at namecheap but not sure if the 10.95 would do just fine or what here: https://www.namecheap.com/security/ssl-certificates/geotrust.aspx ?
Local Website Optimization | | surfsup0 -
Recommendations on implementing regional home pages
My site is a directory that serves several regions. Each region has it's own "home page" with specific content for that visitor about their region. Right now we use Google location recognition after you visit the home page to redirect you to your regional home page. I am in the process of reviewing the best way to implement our home page for SEO purposes. Any advice or recommendations on how to present home pages that are location specific would be greatly appreciated. Thank you Steve
Local Website Optimization | | steve_linn0