Will using my Homepage as a KW target improve my Inner page Ranking?

[AshShep1]

Hello your help please!

I have 2 KWs that i have targeted Inner pages for and they have got them to page 2 in SERPs, but now its getting difficult to move them up to page 1.

Will targeting the home page with a higher authority, for the same terms, help or hinder the inner pages current position?

Many Thanks

Ash

[WhoWuddaThunk]

What's your internal linking like?  Are you linking as often as reasonable to these inner pages with your keyword, or as naturally close to your keyword as you can be?

[AshShep1]

We link naturally to the Inner pages with variants of the keywords and continue to link via blog posts varying the key phrases.

Ash

[SEO5Team]

If your home page has content that is related to the inner page then there is a possibility. With all the Google updates, super relevant in depth content pages related to keywords have the best chance for ranking.

You should also look at the sites ranking on the first page and analyze all the on page and off page factors that are getting them to rank. Compare these factors with your own site and work on them to make it better.

[WhoWuddaThunk]

Well, the first thing to consider is the keyword cannibalization: http://moz.com/blog/how-to-solve-keyword-cannibalization

Optimizing several pages for the same exact keywords can lead to lower rankings across the board.  I just tested this with my own site a couple weeks ago, and it produced the same results as before.  So, trying to rank your home page and internal pages can cause a problem.  This isn't an exact thing, but it is possible.

One thing I did notice about your website is that you are using an IIS based server, which is case sensitive.  That means that the server considers a /Health/ page to be separate to a /health/ page.  Your website utilizes uppercase URLs in the menu, but still displays the lower case if types in.  Are your external links going to the correct style URL?  If not, I would suggest fixing this problem.  You could be leaking authority.

You also have a tremendous amount of links on every single page.  That means that the authority that you pass internally between pages is miniscule, and doesn't provide much value.  Checking one of your pages I found over 400.  400 isn't a big deal with a super authoritative website, but with a DA of 27 you will struggle to get internal pages to rank.

Other things to consider on those pages is the page speed and server requests.

[WhoWuddaThunk]

Forget to link the IIS SEO content: http://moz.com/blog/what-every-seo-should-know-about-iis

[JaneCopland]

Hi Ash,

This can make sense on occasion, but we'd want to look at the specific example to know if this was the right move. Google would prefer to direct users to the most relevant page, which in a high number of circumstances is the internal page rather than the home page.

You can often see internal pages rank well for keywords where they have very few inbound links from third parties, due to the strength of the site as a whole and the site's good internal linking. For instance, there are only 12 unique domains linking to Very's swimsuit page (http://www.very.co.uk/women/swimwear-beachwear/swimsuits/e/b/1769.end), but the page ranks page 1 in the UK for [swimsuits]. Only Debenhams itself links to http://www.debenhams.com/women/swimwear-beachwear/swimsuits, which ranks one place better than Very for the same query.

[AshShep1]

HI Cody thanks for this, I will check out the IIS Server issue later as i am away from the office for  a few days, but with regards to my Internal Links, GWTs actually says that some pages have 1000 internal links and i cant find out why!

The site is built on a DNN CMS platform and somebody said that the internal links were due to the Mega Menu & Mobile menu doubling up the links, but i have never trusted this advice?

If you look at the site in google cache it shows 2 navigation menus?

Its always concerned me that every page appears to be linked to every page...?

How can i resolve this?

Ash

[AshShep1]

HI Jane thanks for your advice the 2 keywords are prepaid funeral plans (19th) & compare funeral plans (8th)

The site is www.over50choices.co.uk

With regards to internal linking structures please see the response i gave Cody - have you come across this before?

Thanks

Ash

[WhoWuddaThunk]

This is always a tough decision.  Typically I make my SEO mind take a backseat, and check the usability aspects.  Are people utilizing all of the links in the Mega Menu, or is there a point in each section where people stop looking.  If the mega menu isn't being used to it's full potential, then you can start looking at ways to improve the usability of those pages.

My favorite example of menu limiting is the Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/  I believe Distilled worked with them on this.  Ted Ulle would often present that people would click far more times into a site than the typical "3" that everyone quotes.  He disproved it with several case studies.  The way he achieved more clicks is by gamificiation of sorts.  If you gave the user enough reinforcement that they were headed in the right direction they would keep clicking up to 6-7 pages in, according to him.

So, if I was analyzing the usability I would determine at what point would a specific visitor enter the site, based on marketing and SEO, and how effective is the website at getting them to the info they need?

I would then examine the home page to determine if I could effectively get someone someplace without the need of a mega menu.  You have tons of options to choose from, so it would take analyzing the motivational force with each visitor, and using those sources to encourage a click in deeper.

As for the two menu problems, I do see it in the source when looking at it.  You would be better off using a script to change the menu for mobile instead of having two separate menus.

I haven't checked any of this code, but this was a resource I found quickly: http://responsivenavigation.net/

[JaneCopland]

Hi Ash,

I haven't, but the code for the menu is definitely appearing twice in the source, once under

id="Mmenu" class="show-on-phones SpeedyDropDown"> class="MenuCenter"><a <span="" class="webkit-html-attribute-name">class</a><a <span="" class="webkit-html-attribute-name">="toggleMenu" href="</a>#">Menu <nav <span="" class="webkit-html-attribute-name">class="main-navigation"> nav

id

dnn_MENU2

and once under

<navclass="mega-navigation"><divid="dnn_menu1">I would say that the home page could be a good target for those two keywords, especially given you are prioritising it in key areas like the home page title tag. You have a bit of a keyword cannibalisation issue here right now because you have the internal funeral planning page and the home page essentially targeting the same set of keywords.</divid="dnn_menu1"></navclass="mega-navigation"> </nav>

[AshShep1]

Thanks Jane

I have only just change the home page Title as i thought it might help give the internal pages a boost, but from what you say, its only likely to compete with them so i should change these back to more generic KWs on the home page?

On that note, if all my internal pages are targeting all my KWs, what should i target on the home page, previously i used more generic terms like, Personal Finance & Over 50s Insurance?

Ash

[JaneCopland]

Hi Ash,

It's generally advised that you either target a keyword with the home page or with an internal page and not both, so depending on which resource you choose as the one you want ranking, I would target that page and that page alone. This is an old post but it illustrates the point well.

[AshShep1]

Thanks for your help Jane!

I will get on to it and make the changes.

Ash