Basic URL Structure Question

[RobertChapman]

Hi,

Putting together a URL for a product we are selling. We sell IT Training courses and the structure is normally

Top Folder=Main Courses section

Sub Folder=Vendor

Page Specific=Course Name + Term

An example is

courses/microsoft/mcse-training

However I have a product where the vendor and course name are the same. How should I best organise the URL - double mention or single mention

So a)

courses/togaf/togaf-foundation-training

or b)

courses/togaf/foundation-training

[shortsboy]

B. courses/togaf/foundation-training

1. The value of the Keyword reduces with each character. The first character has highest value and the last the lowest.

2. Google only counts the first mention of a Keyword and the 2nd mention of Toga doesn't add any value.

3. Plus Google only displays 35 characters of the URL so one should aim to keep the total length of the URL below 35 chars.

Hope this helps.

[irvingw]

1. The value of the Keyword reduces with each character. The first character has highest value and the last the lowest. where did you hear that? the file name is more important than the folder name for SEO

2. Google only counts the first mention of a Keyword and the 2nd mention of Toga doesn't add any value. Agree, more than one instance is stuffing. This is exponentially true when you create URLs that have a keyword mentioned twice in the URL, and then if the page is linking several times to these sections you create too high of a keyword density. Google prefers less and doesn't want keywords shoved down their throat.

3. Plus Google only displays 35 characters of the URL so one should aim to keep the total length of the URL below 35 chars. I respectfully disagree, just because Google only shows 35 characters in the display doesn't mean they disregard the keywords in the remainder of the URL - they are just doing that to keep the display looking clean - 35 characters is nothing. Most blogs go WAY over that with autogenerated filenames, it's all a matter of making sure you don't keyword stuff.

[Adam.Whittles]

Personally, I would go with the second option:

courses/togaf/foundation-training

Mainly because it looks a lot neater and you don't really need to mention 'togaf' twice in the URL.

Really you should try to keep your URLs as neat and user friendly as possible whilst keeping the relevant keywords. I generally try to keep them as short as possible without sacrificing essential keywords and pay no attention to the advice about keeping the length of your URL to 35 characters because google only displays 35, this is incorrect.

Hope that helps,

Adam.

[Adam.Whittles]

This information is misleading and inaccurate.

A search for [car insurance] in google UK returns a moneysupermarket page at number 1 that contains 39 characters in the URL. Looking further down the results there is a post office result with over 50 characters in the URL.

Also, your theory about the 'value of the keyword reducing with each character' is total nonsense.

[GeorgeAndrews]

I'm going to thumbs up Irving's response on this. I will add that my preference would be to use this URL structure if you only have one type of training per vendor:

/courses/togaf-foundation-training

/courses/microsoft-msce-training

And if you have multiple training courses per vendor, I would use the following:

/courses/togaf/foundation-training

/courses/microsoft/msce-training

Hope this helps!

[AndyMacLean]

i personally wouldnt entertain subfolder/aftersubfolder/aftersubfolder but look at how you may be able to do something like /subfolder-productx-examplez. Dont bury the pages too far in your url structure.

[shortsboy]

Crimson, The URL is not the only factor in the ranking.

Many other factors including -

1. Off pages SEO

2. Content

3. Domain authority

Etc.

The points in my answer above display how to optimize your URL.

But you can't just optimize your URL and reach the top of the rankings.

[shortsboy]

Irving,

1. If you see Google's blog you'll realize that keyword value decreases with each character in the URL.

http://www.johnfdoherty.com/lessons-from-google-about-url-lengths/

But your point is also correct that the file name has more value than the folder name.

3. Agree that it's important to put all required keywords into the URL. And sites like Quora have really long URL's.

But one should try to keep the URL length to a minimum I feel as shorter URL's tend to have higher click through rates.

[Boodreaux]

Does the order of the words in the URL matter?

[shortsboy]

Also you can check out this resource -

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-best-practices-for-url-structure/7216/

According to Google’s Matt Cutts if there are more than 5 words…

Algorithms typically will just weight those words less and just not give you as much credit.”

[Adam.Whittles]

**1. If you see Google's blog you'll realize that keyword value decreases with each character in the URL. **

http://www.johnfdoherty.com/lessons-from-google-about-url-lengths/

Pranav, I fail to see where you are getting this information from. Firstly, the link you posted is not from Google's blog, it is a blog post from an SEO. Secondly, he does not provide hard evidence to support your claim that keyword value decreases with each character.

[shortsboy]

Crimson,

John Doherty is one of the foremost authorities in SEO.

And please find below my comment where Google's Matt Cutts says that after 5 words Google gives less weight to the other words.

[Adam.Whittles]

Pranav, I suspect you are misinterpreting what has been said and you are also getting your words confused.

Characters are different to words. For example the url http://www.this-is-an-example.com has four words (this is an example) and 33 characters. What you have been saying is that character number 1 has more weight than character 33. This is inaccurate.

What I believe you are trying to say, is what Matt Cutts mentions in the interview you posted, that multiple keywords in a URL are given less weight after about the fourth or fifth keyword. I suggest that you read the articles you quote more carefully before offering erroneous advice.