URL keyword separator best practice
-
Hello.
Wanted to reach out see what the consensus is re-keyword separators
So just taken on a new client and all their urls are structured like /buybbqpacks rather than buy-bbq-packs - my understanding is that it comes down to readability, which influences click through, rather than search impact on the keyword.
So we usually advise on a hyphen, but the guy's going to have to change ALLOT of pages & setup redirects to change it all wasn't sure if it was worth it?
Thanks!
Stu
-
Some yes some way off. I'll move on that basis.
Thanks
Stu
-
are you ranking well for all or most of the keywords? if yes then I wouldn't suggest you to do that because even if you use 301 redirect you will loose some link juice. If that is not the case you can go ahead.
My suggestion was purely based on what Google's recommendation and in terms of readability.
Thanks
-
Thanks.
Though would changing 100s or urls adversely impact ranking? Per this: https://moz.com/community/q/will-changing-a-url-negatively-affect-ranking
so perhaps a strategy of change going forward, but don't mess with anything existing? Or otherwise?
Thanks again.
Stu
-
Hi,
IMO Your assumption" is correct. Existing url structure need to change with hyphen.
According to Google "The URL http://www.example.com/green-dress.html is much more useful to us than http://www.example.com/greendress.html."
Full article is here @ https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/76329?hl=en
Hope this helps.
Thanks
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
-
Keyword position
I fixed all the crawl issues but still my website is in second page.
On-Page Optimization | | NueveSolution0 -
Keyword density or No. of Time keyword used
Now, I know that there is no set figure to be used here, whichever metric you are using and it will depend on the article and what is natural. However, lets suppose for a minute that we are taking a keyword in isolation, and I have a 2000 word article using the keyword 17 times and rank no. 3 in Google SERPS. The no. 1 slot uses the keyword 8 times but only has a 800 word article and only a B grade on the onpage ranker. Of course, there are off page factors as well, but just wondering what your thoughts are on whether you look at density or total keyword usage. It is easy to just write without think about keyword density or usage, but occasionally you end up using the keyword about 50 times, and it is then I have to actually think about it. Other articles I barely use the keyword because the article just writes itself and it works out fine, but these are generally shorter. With longer articles on my best converting pages, I can't help but think about it more and it ends up a little hit and miss.
On-Page Optimization | | TheWebMastercom1 -
What are the Best On-Site SEO Practices before an E-commerce Site Goes Live?
Hello, I’m working on a client’s E-commerce website. This website is not live yet. Before the site goes live, I am curious to know what the best practices of On-site SEO are. Please let me know from which factor should I start analyze? Thanks.
On-Page Optimization | | TopLeagueTechnologies0 -
Should I rewrite all my URLs ?
Hi all, I'm pretty new here and this is a question I'm struggling with since years ! All my URLs are very long. Years ago I wanted to put as many keywords as possible but today I'm not sure anymore it was such a good idea. Example: http://www.spirit-of-metal.com/album-groupe-Take_Me_To_Janus-nom_album-Ripping_the_Heart_from_the_Chest_of_the_Earth-l-en.html The problem is I have more than 300K of these pages. I'm afraid to create a huge mess even if I 301 them all to the new pages. What's your opinion ? Is it worth the effort ? Many thanks in advance for your precious help !
On-Page Optimization | | kivanSOM0 -
Avoid Keyword Self-Cannibalization
<dl> <dt>Cannibalizing link</dt> <dd>Several links...
On-Page Optimization | | 678648631264
</dd> <dt>Explanation</dt> <dd>It's a best practice in SEO to target each keyword with a single page on your site (sometimes two if you've already achieved high rankings and are seeking a second, indented listing). To prevent engines from potentially seeing a signal that this page is not the intended ranking target and creating additional competition for your page, we suggest staying away from linking internally to another page with the target keyword(s) as the exact anchor text. Note that using modified versions is sometimes fine (for example, if this page targeted the word 'elephants', using 'baby elephants' in anchor text would be just fine).</dd> <dt>Recommendation</dt> <dd>Unless there is intent to rank multiple pages for the target keyword, it may be wise to modify the anchor text of this link so it is not an exact match.</dd> <dd>How do I fix this?
</dd> </dl>0 -
Keyword in url, which way better?
Hello, is there a difference between urls for targeting keyword "brazil tourist visa" fastbrazilvisas.com/tourist or fastbrazilvisas.com/brazil-tourist-visa ? ran the report In-Page Optimization it tells "no keyword usage in url". is there an idea behind that? thanks
On-Page Optimization | | Kotkov0 -
Search engine friendly URLs
I'm going to create some new content for my site, I'm trying to decide on the best search engine friendly format. Namely, is it ok to use a subdirectory or should I keep all content on root level? Is the SEO effect of either of these URLs superior to the other? domain.com/cooking/lasagna.php vs domain.com/lasagna.php
On-Page Optimization | | limens0 -
Should you try to rank for misspelled keywords?
Hi there, 2 part question: Is it best practice to try to rank for misspelled keywords that bring in lots of traffic or should you instead just try to rank for the correct spelling of that keyword and hope that you rank better on the misspelling as an indirect result? E.G. The misspelled keyword "Hamilton island accomodation" is a common misspelling that brings in traffic but we have an "F" rank for that term (obviously because we spell accommodation correctly on our site). We don't want to misspell anything but are there techniques to rank better for misspellings that won't hurt content quality? The On-Page Optimization tool says that our website doesn't rank in the top 50 on Google Aus for "Accomodation Hamilton Island" or "Hamilton Island Accomodation" but when i do a manual search, we actually are the first result. Is this an error with the On-Page optimization tool? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | HamiltonIsland0