Does using parent pages in WordPress help with SEO and/or indexing for SERPs?

[micromano]

I have a law office and we handle four different practice areas. I used to have multiple websites (one for each practice area) with keywords in the actual domain name, but based on the recommendation of SEO "experts" a few years ago, I consolidated all the webpages into one single webpage (based on the rumors at the time that Google was going to be focusing on authorship and branding in the future, rather than keywords in URLs or titles). Needless to say, Google authorship was dropped a year or two later and "branding" never took off.

Overall, having one webpage is convenient and generally makes SEO easier, but there's been a huge drawback: When my page comes up in SERPs after searching for "attorney" or "lawyer" combined with a specific practice area, the practice area landing pages don't typically come up in the SERPs, only the front page comes up. It's as if Google recognizes that I have some decent content, and Google knows that I specialize in multiple practice areas, but it directs everyone to the front page only. Prospective clients don't like this and it causes my bounce rate to be high. They like to land on a page focusing on the practice area they searched for.

Two questions:

(1) Would using parent pages (e.g. http://lawfirm.com/divorce/anytown-usa-attorney-lawyer/ vs. http://lawfirm.com/anytown-usa-divorce-attorney-lawyer/) be better for SEO? The research I've done up to this point appears to indicate "no." It doesn't make much difference as long as the keywords are in the domain name and/or URL. But I'd be interested to hear contrary opinions.

(2) Would using parent pages (e.g. http://lawfirm.com/divorce/anytown-usa-attorney-lawyer/ vs. http://lawfirm.com/anytown-usa-divorce-attorney-lawyer/) be better for indexing in Google SERPs? For example, would it make it more likely that someone searching for "anytown usa divorce attorney" would actually end up in the divorce section of the website rather than the front page?

[ZoeRigley]

Hi Micromano,

I'd say that having one big website, rather than four smaller ones, is what I'd recommend also, combined with a really sound and solid website structure. Whilst authorship is less of a focus, I wouldn't remove any work you've done on that, as there've been mentions from Google staff that this may come back in the future. Re: branding, I'd say that it's incredibly important- if a company has a really strong 'About Us' page, which details experience and history and really demonstrates that your company is real and trustworthy, this will help both rankings and user trust (leading to greater conversion rates).

In response to your two questions about parent pages, I'd say the URL is less important. What's important is that you use the parent pages to build your site's architecture in terms of links. So, the homepage of your website should have clear, bold links to the 4 areas you cover, and your website's navigation should ideally be structured with 4 links, and maybe drop-down menus for the sub-pages of each area? If search engines can infer the structure of your site just by following your links, this will help (and will help users too!)

You should also make sure each of the 4 'area' pages is filled with rich information, and is structured as a landing page with general information, and links to the most important sub-pages.

In summary, site architecture is a lot more important than just the URLs of the site, I'd recommend you use good internal linking structures to indicate that your site is structured in this way.

Hope this helps! 
Zoe

[micromano]

Thanks for detailed response, Zoe. I actually have the exact structure you're describing, but I still can't seem to get the main pages of the practice areas to show up in SERPs. Individual pages in the separate practice areas absolutely come up (for example: a search for "spousal support" will bring up the "spousal support" page in the "divorce" practice area), but a search for "divorce attorney" never brings up the "divorce attorney" page or the main page for the "divorce" practice area. It always directs users to the homepage.

This observation (not only on my page, but others) has caused me to wonder if Google is actually indexing pages according to profession or business type-- rather than sub-type-- for certain search terms, and then directing users to the homepage. For example, assume a strange restaurant specialized in three different types of fare (Indian, Japanese, and Mexican), and that their webpage had several pages for each cuisine (organized under each cuisine type). I'm wondering if a search on Google for "Indian restaurant" would cause the restaurant's page to come up in the SERPs, and if a click on the link would necessarily always result in the user landing on the main page of the restaurant's website rather than the page for that specific type of cuisine. This is not to say that a user couldn't find a more obscure page on the website by typing in a more specialized search, but if the user types in a rather generic search for a business type (e.g. "restaurant"), I'm wondering if Google has decided to index those search terms a certain way for a more simpler user experience.

My goal was to get the practice areas to come separately in the SERPs, rather than to force all users to the homepage. I can't seem to do that.

[MiriamEllis]

Hey There,

I doubt that the URL structure is the cause of the internal landing pages not ranking for your queries. I agree with Zoe's comments about the way you are linking internally to these pages counting, and beyond this, it's going to be the strength of the individual pages that counts most.

The most common issue I see with multi-location/multi-service businesses is that they build pages for their various keyword combos, but the pages are weak on content, or worse, duplicative of one another. If you are confident that you are publishing the best page in your industry/geography for each service topic, and there are no thin or duplicate issues going on, then the next thing to look at would be the third party links pointing to these pages, giving Google cause to believe they deserve to rank higher than your home page or competitors' page for given queries.

Barring any technical issues preventing these pages to be indexed and trusted by Google, it's likely to boil down to a combination of site architecture, page quality, links and age. Nothing too groundbreaking here, but general advice.

[micromano]

Thanks Miriam. Much appreciated.