10 replies to this topic

[rjcarr]

I am in the process of adding a lot more pages to my site, but I want to make sure I do it in a way that gives the maximum benefit. I know this is a hard question to answer, but I am thinking of two approaches.

Approach A: Have a main page linked from the home page that has links to sub pages on it.

i.e. Home Page > Main Page > Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, etc.

My concern with this approach is Google could deem this level unimportant, and then I get no value for all these sub pages.

Approach B: Use the terms throughout the site, and link to the specific optimized page. So basically, have no hierarchy for these new pages, and instead just link them from inner pages.

I like this approach because it appears more natural. But maybe I could do a combination of the two? This way I have the sitemap links for Approach A, but the natural links from B, so Google has a better chance of indexing these pages.

Any opinions?

[OldWelshGuy]

I think you are thinking too much about this. ideally seasrch engines like a nice hierachy to work with, they understand the natural order of things, and it means that everything is neat and tidy, we are of course talking about the use of folders here? so it will be domain.com/folder/index (main page) then the other pages within that folder.

That is the best way to do it as it will theme the folder.

[Jill]

When you say "have a link from the home page" do you mean that's it? The only link to this page will be from the home page? Or do you mean it will be linked to from the main navigation and therefore every single page of the site will also link to it?

If it's the former, then you're correct, it won't be given much credit. If it's the later, it will be as you will have told the search engines and your users that this page is a very important part of your site.

[rjcarr]

Thanks for the feedback. Jill, yes the link would be from every page. Basically it would go in my footer links. I only have 4 or 5 of them, but they would be repeated on every page.

OldWelshGuy, thanks for the feedback. Yes it could be structured in folders, but I just wasn't sure if Google counts these pages well when I structure them this way. I am leaning towards a hierarchical structure, but also adding a link at the bottom of all my pages, and sprinkling links to these pages throughout the site in a natural way, via the content. For instance, on our company page while I am promoting our expert web developers, I would add a link to a "web developer" optimized page.

Of course, these pages also show on my sitemap, which also has a link from every page of the site.

One more question. I have come up with a list of 500 or so keywords. I am struggling to see how I could even integrate a small fraction of those into our site. Not without having a massive number of seo pages that don't really integrate well into the overall site. Just trying to get my mind around that number, and how I might do it correctly.

One thought is I could take those 500 keywords and break them into categories. Then create a main page themed around the basic topic, and have links to more pages that optimize for 2 or 3 terms each. Right now I have maybe 30 seo pages, but they are linked to one main page that isn't really connected to them well. Maybe this points out a flaw with how I have structured the current pages?

[Jill]

Jill, yes the link would be from every page. Basically it would go in my footer links. I only have 4 or 5 of them, but they would be repeated on every page.

Oh, in the footer. So you don't really want people to visit those?

If the pages are truly important, seems to me they'd be front and center in your main nav.

[rjcarr]

Oh, in the footer. So you don't really want people to visit those?

If the pages are truly important, seems to me they'd be front and center in your main nav.

Actually, links to the main page exists in a few places. The footer, the sitemap, and then a link from the (i.e. More Services) menu which contains links to the sub pages. But I think I may revamp the structure and have multiple main pages, each in the sitemap, footer, and navigation.

Right now I have...

Home Page > Services > More Services > SEO Page 1, SEO Page 2, etc. So every one of my keyword optimized SEO pages are under "More Services". I think I will change that to something like...

Home Page > Services > Custom Software > SEO Page 1, SEO Page 2, etc.
Home Page > Services > Database Consulting > SEO Page 1, SEO Page 2, etc.

So from the pulldown menu, under Services, you would see Custom Software, Database Consulting, etc. The body of these pages will contain links and sub menus to additional keyword optimized pages. For instance, under Custom Software I might have pages for "made to order custom software", "how to create professional custom software", "tailor made custom software", etc.

The key is grouping the right pages/terms together.

[Jill]

Home Page > Services > More Services > SEO Page 1, SEO Page 2, etc. So every one of my keyword optimized SEO pages are under "More Services". I think I will change that to something like...

Okay I see the problem.

You're thinking that you want/need special SEO pages rather than optimizing the actual pages of our site. That's why you're having problems figuring out how to integrate them into the website. By their very nature "SEO pages" have no place within your site, which is why you want to only link to them in the footer and the sitemap (i.e., they're not really for people).

What you need to do is change your way of thinking. Rather than creating brand new pages for the search engines, figure out how you can make your existing pages more relevant to the keyword phrases that they should be relevant for? After all, if you want to show up for a particular keyword phrase, surely it must have something to do with the pages that already exist on your website. If not, then you probably shouldn't be ranking for them (which is why you're not).

Have a look around the Tips for Newbies articles if this is confusing to you. Your vision of SEO is more like 1990's SEO where you create special SEO pages. It was never necessary then, and even less so now. Plus, they don't work like they did in the 90's.

[rjcarr]

What you need to do is change your way of thinking. Rather than creating brand new pages for the search engines, figure out how you can make your existing pages more relevant to the keyword phrases that they should be relevant for? After all, if you want to show up for a particular keyword phrase, surely it must have something to do with the pages that already exist on your website. If not, then you probably shouldn't be ranking for them (which is why you're not).

Thanks for pointing out the problem so clearly, Jill. I see exactly what you mean. I will definitely take your advice and rethink my strategy.

Thanks again Jill.

[OldWelshGuy]

Just as Jill says, you need to carry out your KW research (as you have), then look at the pages within your site where those words fit. And not create a page for each phrase. That is actually likely to be counterproductive as it will water down the natural semantic use of closely related words

[ganalon]

Great discussion! I, too, am trying to adapt my old-fashioned 1990's notions of SEO to this decade.

My latest attempt is to have a list of keywords/keyphrases on a piece of paper next to me as I blog. I try to incorporate the more relevant ones as I blog.

For example I might say:
"I trade options on the S&P500 (SPY)" rather than
"I trade SPY options"

because I would like to emphasize "trade options" in the search results.

I think I'm starting to get a clue... right?

Thanks again for the great Q&A.

[Jill]

I think I'm starting to get a clue... right?

Yes, kinda sorta.

But it's important to note that blog posts are not really meant for your more competitive phrases, but for long tail ones. The competitive ones you'll typically need to optimize the more higher level pages of your site for.