URL paths and keywords

[mikescotty]

I'm recommending some on-page optimization for a home builder building in several new home communities. The site has been through some changes in the past few months and we're almost starting over.

The current URL structure is

http://homebuilder.com/oakwood/features

where

homebuilder = builder name

Oakwood Estates= name of community

features = one of several sub-paths including site plan, elevations, floor plans, etc.

The most attainable keyword phrases include the word 'home' and 'townname'

I want to change the URL path to:

http://homebuilder.com/oakwood-estates-townname-homes/features

Is there any problem with doing this?  It just seems to make a lot of sense. Any input would be appreciated.

[RyanKent]

There is not any problem with taking that approach in and of itself. I would suggest there is not any need nor a substantial benefit to sticking those extra keywords in the URL. If it was my site, I would think "oakwood" is probably enough instead of "oakwood-estates", and the town name should not be needed in the URL at all. I would think Oakwood is associated with only one town.

The URL would then be http://homebuilder.com/oakwood/floor-plans for example.

As a general rule for most of SEO, the more terms you add the more you dilute your other keywords. People have a tendency to want to stuff in extra terms to gain relevancy. The process is not user friendly nor does it help with SEO.

[mikescotty]

Thanks. That makes sense.

Consider this though.  I should have been clearer.

The keyword phrase that I would be targeting in almost every case would be 'townname homes for sale' and/or 'townname homes'.

'Oakwood Estates' and the other community names don't really generate much traffic, and while I need them for the small amount of traffic they produce, I'm more interested in penetrating the broader area names.

Your take?

[SimonCullum]

This is a really good answer by Ryan, covers both Usability and SEO.

I'd suggest going with this recommendation, sticking with the shorter style URL structure to benefit user experience and to focus on the main primary keywords for SEO.

It would also make it easy to clearly target other towns/cities at a high level, e.g. http://homebuilder.com/townname/

[smstv]

I would start with the major cities, surrounding the area, and create zip coded directories.

I found the more directories, I create and submit, and coinciding names & keeping then relative to what the search reports are.
This is after the a close look at your GA Reports.

I hope it helps.

[RyanKent]

Perhaps this video would be more helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRzMhlFZz9I

The URL is a ranking factor, but it should not be focused to this level of detail. It is one of over 200 ranking factors, most of the weight goes to the domain name and the keywords deeper in the URL have very very very little effect on ranking. Where it matters more is for users to be able to read the URL prior to clicking through. If you make your URL too long, then it will get cut off and the most important terms at the end wont be viewed.

If you feel "Oakwood estates" is not helpful and you also feel the town name is very important, then you could make your URLs homebuilder.com/town/floor-plans.

The effect of keywords in your URLs comes more into play when sites link to you using the URL. If sites do not link to you, it's not really going to matter. If sites do link to you but use anchor text, it wont matter either. Even if sites link to you using a keyword stuffed URL, there will be so many terms in it the weight given to each term will be so low it wont make any meaningful difference.

[mikescotty]

I had a feeling that there was something inherently wrong with my approach which is why I asked the question.  Good to know that there's folks willing to help out - thanks for the clarification(s).  And the separate town pages is a good solution.  Thanks.