Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Are These Urls for Targeted Cities OK?
-
I am working for a waterproofing company out of long beach that wants to rank for other neighborhoods around the area. But I just noticed that their URLs are targeting two locations. They have the cities built on the URLs after the long beach part. Will that affect rankings? Not be as potent as a truly SEO friendly url like example.com/services/mold-remediation/mold-remediation-brooklyn-ny? Here is an example: https://zavzaseal.com/mold-remediation-service-provider-long-island-ny/mold-removal-pro-in-copiague-ny-11726/ Another thing is the URLs say "mold removal pro" if I am targeting "mold removal copiague, NY" will that matter to rankings that the URL has pro in it?
-
@ThisTimeWereOn said in Are These Urls for Targeted Cities OK?:
I am working for a waterproofing company out of long beach that wants to rank for other neighborhoods around the area. But I just noticed that their URLs are targeting two locations. They have the cities built on the URLs after the long beach part. Will that affect rankings? Not be as potent as a truly SEO friendly url like example.com/services/mold-remediation/mold-remediation-brooklyn-ny? Here is an example: https://zavzaseal.com/mold-remediation-service-provider-long-island-ny/mold-removal-pro-in-copiague-ny-11726/ Another thing is the URLs say "mold removal pro" if I am targeting "mold removal copiague, NY" will that matter to rankings that the URL has pro in it?
Using city names in URLs can be helpful for local SEO, but having multiple city names in a single URL can make it less user-friendly and potentially confusing for search engines. While having city names in the URL can be beneficial for local targeting, it's usually best to keep URLs concise and directly relevant to the content they represent. In your example, a URL like "https://zavzaseal.com/mold-remediation-service-provider-long-island-ny/mold-removal-copiague-ny-11726/" could be more effective for SEO and user experience, as it directly addresses the location and service without unnecessary additions like "pro." Reducing URL complexity and ensuring it matches your target keywords can positively impact rankings.
(
PMP Exam Prep) ( Business Analyst Salary Vancouver) (Study abroad) (Canada PR) -
The structure of your URLs can indeed impact your SEO efforts. Including the specific location in your URL, like "example.com/services/mold-remediation/mold-remediation-brooklyn-ny," is generally more SEO-friendly and can enhance your local search rankings. The example URL you provided, "https://zavzaseal.com/mold-remediation-service-provider-long-island-ny/mold-removal-pro-in-copiague-ny-11726," is a bit lengthy and could potentially be simplified for better user experience and search optimization.
As for the term "mold removal pro" in the URL, it's essential to align your URL keywords with the specific search intent of your target audience. If you're targeting "mold removal Copiague, NY," having "pro" in the URL may not be as relevant. Consider revising your URLs to reflect the exact keywords that your audience is likely to use when searching for your services in Copiague, NY. This can help improve the relevance of your URLs and potentially boost your rankings.
(Study abroad) ( Masters in Computer Science in Canada) (Canada PR) (PMP Exam Prep) -
Including location names in URLs can be beneficial for local SEO. It helps search engines understand the geographic relevance of your content. URLs like example.com/services/mold-remediation/mold-remediation-brooklyn-ny can signal to search engines that the content is specifically relevant to Brooklyn, NY. However, it's essential to strike a balance; URLs that are too long and stuffed with keywords can be seen as spammy.
Excessiveness in URLs: Your example URL, https://zavzaseal.com/mold-remediation-service-provider-long-island-ny/mold-removal-pro-in-copiague-ny-11726/, appears quite lengthy and somewhat redundant. Long URLs can be less user-friendly, and very long URLs may not be fully displayed in search results, impacting click-through rates. If you can simplify and make them more concise, it may improve user experience and SEO.
"Pro" in URLs: Including "pro" in the URL, such as mold-removal-pro-in-copiague-ny-11726, might not align perfectly with the keyword "mold removal Copiague, NY." If possible, aim for a URL structure that matches the specific target keyword more closely. For instance, you might use mold-removal-copiague-ny-11726 for better alignment.
Redirects: If you decide to change the URL structure, implement proper 301 redirects from the old URLs to the new ones. This will ensure that you don't lose existing SEO equity and that users are redirected to the correct pages.
Thanks
inovies -
Using city names in URLs can be beneficial for local SEO, but overly long or complicated URLs might not be as SEO-friendly as shorter, more concise ones. In your example URL, https://zavzaseal.com/mold-remediation-service-provider-long-island-ny/mold-removal-pro-in-copiague-ny-11726/, the URL structure is quite lengthy and includes several location-specific terms. While it's not necessarily bad for rankings, a shorter and more straightforward URL like https://example.com/services/mold-remediation/mold-remediation-brooklyn-ny can be easier for both search engines and users to understand.
Regarding the use of "mold removal pro" in the URL when targeting "mold removal Copiague, NY," it may not have a significant impact on rankings, but it's essential to have your target keywords in prominent places, such as the page title, headings, and content. The URL is just one of many on-page elements that search engines consider. The most crucial factor is the overall quality and relevance of your content to the target keywords and location.
.
.
.
(Canada PR) (Canada PR process) (Study abroad) (PMP Exam Prep)
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
-
What Service Page Strategy Should We Use to Target City-Specific Local Intent Service Keywords?
Hey guys! We are targeting a number of cities in the Nassau and Suffolk County areas for foundation repair, insulation, and mold remediation keywords, and we were debating on creating city-specific pages for each location and service, or creating one service page for each type of service that contains all of the services and solutions within that service category for each city. Example: City-Specific Pages for Each Service: One page for say foundation repair, one page for foundation crack repair, one page for foundation problems, etc. (for each target city) Service Category Pages for Each City: One page for foundation contractors that lists all services on one page in sections. Which one do you think is better for local SEO and rankings? Both seem to have their advantages and disadvantages to me. Just to throw a couple out there, the category pages may not rank as high as the city pages for each individual service if our competitors have a whole page designed for that service and we only have a part of a page covering the topic. At the same time, they would save labor hours, technical issues would be less, and they would be condensed, and we would have WAY less mess on the backend. I appreciate your expert opinion on this one. The site is www. zavzaseal.com in case you want to check us out.
Local SEO | | everysecond0 -
New business / content marketing
Hi all SEO experts, if a website is brand new, so published in the last 3 months- new domain name and website design. We have rebranded recently, using a new domain as entered new business partnership, there doesn’t seem to be much guidance on this at all, from various SEO websites, so our question is would you delay publishing new blog posts / content marketing as frequently because the company website is brand new? So would SEO’s decrease the frequency of publication of blog posts, because the website is new? Or perhaps it does not matter, and would still post every week as you would if the website has been live for a long time? So, in nutshell, what we are wondering is, is the “Google Sandbox” still in use?
Local SEO | | Ryan070 -
How Do You Think My Local SEO Multi-location Geotargeting Strategy Will Work?
I have a question. I just got a full-time job at Zavza Seal, an upstanding insulation contractor targeting neighborhoods of Suffolk and Nassau counties in New York. I was hired as an SEO content specialist. (Thanks Rand! You're one of my mentors~!) So, they handed me a spreadsheet of pages for city-specific terms, and they had a system in place for local rankings. But I was taught to do service-specific city pages a certain way. If the search term is for people looking for a service in that town, that's what you give them. However, I was told to proofread them, and as an SEO specialist, I couldn't keep my hands off of them. The pages were skimpy. (Example: h2, paragraph, bullets, short paragraph summary, short paragraph about the city.) What threw me off is that the content, while it was service specific, it was blog topics localized. Those are great (when long enough and optimized to compete in SERPs) but I've never seen them done on service pages. (Example: Why is Mold Remediation Necessary in Baldwin?. Now, this went in two directions in my mind. (and I wanted to do the best for the company, because I'm a wicked brat for teams, AND I get commissions on leads, so that was motivation, too.) 🐷 Anyway, 1. This could be a new approach and worthy of an SEO study on my startup site, where I take on part time clients after work, because I've never seen it done before and it could, if optimized for the target service and city rank high in SERPs AND build thought leadership and authority as a local expert. (Whereas city service pages in standard format would just promote your service. ..) What do you guys think? I just put the topic up for discussion for my team, asked them about it in detail and asked if they wanted to A'/B test a few to see what get's better traction organically. Mr. Fishkin was one of my mentors. I really wish I just had his number for this one LOL.
Local SEO | | ThisTimeWereOn0 -
How to optimize landing pages for local search?
I'm trying to understand how to optimize landing pages to appear in local search. For example, if someone in Chicago searches for "plumber", Yelp has a page "Top 10 Plumbers in Chicago." They are generating these pages for numerous business types and cities. I can't see anything on the page or metadata that indicates a geographic location or business type. What optimizations are they doing to get Google to know that it's a page for a specific city and type of business?
Local SEO | | Tourizee0 -
Unsolved SEO Tracking Tools Local Search Results (Affordable!)
Are there any tools that would help our agency track hundreds of websites against specific local search terms affordably.
Moz Local | | woshea0 -
Unsolved Duplicate LocalBusiness Schema Markup
Hello! I've been having a hard time finding an answer to this specific question so I figured I'd drop it here. I always add custom LocalBusiness markup to clients' homepages, but sometimes the client's website provider will include their own automated LocalBusiness markup. The codes I create often include more information. Assuming the website provider is unwilling to remove their markup, is it a bad idea to include my code as well? It seems like it could potentially be read as spammy by Google. Do the pros of having more detailed markup outweigh that potential negative impact?
Local Website Optimization | | GoogleAlgoServant0 -
Do You Risk A Penalty From Local Paid Directories in 2022?
Hi there, I have a client who wants to advertise in a local directory along the lines of "find your nearest plumber". The directory only has paid listings and they are follow links and they also mention your site or generated landing page may get a nice bump on google. Is there a risk that they may get a penalty for using this directory? The client wants to use it regardless of if it gives them an SEO boost but obviously wants to avoid any penalties at all costs. Thoughts on this? Thanks in advance
Link Building | | Scottlinklater0 -
Is it ok to delete and repost to YouTube?
Client has rebranded and has a new url. They have a lot of great video content on YouTube that has old branding on it. Bad phone numbers, old url, old company name. I was planning to download, rebrand, then re-upload... But some of the videos have 200 - 2000 views and I prefer not to loose that traction. I assume responses will be along the lines of "you have to weigh which is more important - the brand or the current video rank". Where I'm stuck is how valuable is 200 - 2000 views on 15-20 videos. Not at all I guess, if they are sending people to the wrong place. I guess I'm just thinking out loud, but would love to hear some thoughts other than my own!
Local SEO | | vernonmack0