Does a page's url have any weight in Google rankings?

[rdreich49]

I'm sure this question must have been asked before but I can't find it.

I'm assuming that the title tag is far more important than the page's url.  Is that correct?   Does the url have any relevance to Google?

[Wayne76]

Hi Richard,

The short answer is, yes, domain names and URL structure are certainly key to positive ranking for particular keywords. Some would argue that domain names carry too much weight (I personally think so!), but it's a fact, so be careful when picking your domain name and also be sure you are properly formatting your URLs.

If you have specific questions regarding either, I'm happy to try and help.

Best,

W

[rdreich49]

Thanks Wayne,

I'm okay with our domain name, but the urls of some of our pages have long navigation  paths (e.g. http://www.lifeinsure.com/education-center/life-insurance-videos/how-much-life-insurance-should-i-have).  A lot of our pages have urls like this.

Do you see any problem with a url this long and does Google put more weight on the title tag than on the url?

Best,

R

[RachelN]

Your URL example is fine, it's the gobble-de-gook URLs that are a problem

[Wayne76]

Richard, here is a document I would check out: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/11-best-practices-for-urls. It's from the man (Rand) himself and much of what is stated holds true today.

[rdreich49]

Thanks, Rachel.  That's what I thought, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to check with some Pros.

Best,
Richard

[rdreich49]

Thanks for your help Wayne.

Best,

Richard

[irvingw]

both are important for SEO - the filename in the URL should match up with your title tag. all filenames should be unique. for example

www.coolsite.com/kids-toys/blue-schwinn-bike

not

www.coolsite.com/kids-toys/blue-schwinn-bike/index.php

this latter example would cause you to wind up with Google seeing every page with the same filename index.php

[irvingw]

both are important for SEO - the filename in the URL should match up with your title tag. all filenames should be unique. for example

www.coolsite.com/kids-toys/blue-schwinn-bike

not

www.coolsite.com/kids-toys/blue-schwinn-bike/index.php

this latter example would cause you to wind up with Google seeing every page with the same filename index.php