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FYI, we finally found our error. The short URL turned out to be the same name as the folder (photo-gallery) so once this was changed, wordpress was able to access the correct path. A bit of custom javascript had to be amended as well, but that was limited to our custom code. Using your web-sniffer.net link we were able to test immediately and fix it fairly quickly. Thank you for your help!

Thanks for the swift response, Gianluca. I think I understand the problem you have pointed out, but I'm rather surprised that it has been set up in such a way... Or that that would have more of an adverse affect than multiple URLs with the same standard content. I'm willing to change that to see if it fixes the problem though. Please take all of the time you need... It is a very large site which has been pieced together, bit-by-bit, over many years! Matt

Even if you don’t want a page to rank, Page rank is ranking factor? I don't think so... I am not opposing you but in my category there are many websites which are performing well with low page rank. And, high page rank website is still at bottom. Have you any idea about it?

I wholeheartedly agree. Any efforts made to personalize the pages, engage visitors and not appear like a generic page of a large e-commerce site is a step in the right direction.

I agree with Keri that this is appears to be a case where Google is extracting text from within the body content and creating its own Title for the page. The most important thing to remember in this situation is the signal Google is sending you by doing this. The message is: Your chosen Title does not accurately represent the content on the page. There are two ways to fix this: If your content is well optimized for the keywords you are targeting, Rewrite the Title Check whether the content on the page is adequately optimized and rewrite so that it better addresses the content in the Title. (Don't do this one without careful thought). Hope that helps, Sha

The first thing I would ask to myself is: are these URLs over-optimized? If the URLs looks like: www.domain.com/category/sub-category/keyword-keyword-keyword and keyword can be a three words query... then probably that url is over optimized and can be more a danger than a competitive factor. Good practice tells us that is better to have the primary keyword in the url, better if matching, and not used like a digest of all the keywords we want to rank for in a page. Apart that, you have to consider also these other two factors when it comes to urls: Usability: too long urls are very hard to remember, therefore you are loosing the opportunity to receive direct traffic from users typing the url directly in the browser (for instance, as many of us do typing directly: www.seomoz.org/q to enter the SEOmoz Q&A Too long urls tend to not be used as a way of creating natural linking citation, as when you cite - for instance - a post using its url and not creating a classic link with anchor text. Therefore I would not use any of your alternatives, but this: www.domain.com/keyword1 and 301 the old urls. Finally, about on page optimization, I suggest you to read this old but still valid post by Rand Fishkin: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/perfecting-keyword-targeting-on-page-optimization

I am working with a client on the same type of change. The only difference in the case of my client, is I made the recommendation of a URL change as well. His current URL was of the pattern www.brand-Canada.ca. I have recommend the new URL as www.BrandCanada.com. (The actual brand.com site is already taken). His current site is left in tact on the old URL and old server. His new site will launch later this month on the new URL. While working with the site, I noticed some issues with his current host so I recommended a new one. When the new site launches, it will be a new URL and host. While his old domain has been around for several years, it has relatively few backlinks. The plan is to establish the new site and maintain the old one as well for now. The old site is HTML/CSS/Zen Cart setup, where the new site is a Joomla/ZenCart solution. The look and feel of the site is completely different. I am sharing this experience to suggest you may wish to run both sites for a time. Not all sites offer that opportunity, but many do.

Options +FollowSymLinks RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^./index.php RewriteRule ^(.)index.php$ http://www.yoursite.com/$1 [R=301,L]

Thanks chaps for your great responses. I will probably go for a combination of option A and option C. If I can justify redirecting to the home page or another page on the new site I will. Otherwise I'll let the page die a 404 death (rather than daisy-chain redirecting it).

Wow! Thanks Ryan. I'm sure it won't surprise you to know that I'm always reading eagerly when I see you respond to a question as well.

I would be happy to help in any way I can. If you are willing to share your URL, perhaps you can gain some direct, actionable feedback from mozzers which will help your site even more. As for the example you shared, links are important, but they are only part of the equation. There are over 200 factors used to ultimately determine ranking of a site for a particular term. You can rank very well for a keyword or phrase even without any backlinks at all. It all depends on how well you perform on the other factors, and how well your competition performs. I am wondering how to get on the first page of a competitive term without getting a back link using an exact anchor text. Every term is different. SEO is a 100% pure competition. If you make up a new term such as "Moztekan Jewelry" then you can rank #1 with no backlinks at all. You mentioned a competitive term so it depends on exactly how each of the other 10 results on the first page perform with respect to their SEO metrics. The Cherokee example shows a solid (not perfect) site which is well presented, authentic, has good content directly related to an exact search, and offers numerous on page SEO mechanics to support the ranking. Previously I misunderstood your statement "with no backlinks with that term." I thought you meant the term was not used in backlinks. I looked at the page's links and the anchor text is mostly "cherokee medical scrubs" or "cherokee scrub pants". While not a perfect match, it is close enough to have a positive effect on search results. My recommendation for you is to offer the best web page you can. Pick a search term that you feel will drive traffic to your site that would convert well. Perform a search and thoroughly examine the top 5 or more results. When you create your page, make it world class. Have it blow the doors off the other pages. The page should be linked from your site's home page. You can use a "latest news", "popular stories" or varies methods. See how well it ranks. If it is not on the first page of Google, share the URL and we can review the page and offer tips.