How should directories be set up on ecommerce?
-
I have a ecommerce site. I am trying to figure out the best layout for my directories. Here are my two options.
Option 1. - Each directory in root domain.
Carrying Cases - plastic.com/carryingcases/
Case Type - plastic.com/casetype/
Specific Product - plastic.com/sproductOption 2 - Put them in subdirectories
Carrying Cases - plastic.com/carryingcases/
Case Type - plastic.com/carryingcases/casetype/
Specific Product - plastic.com/carryingcases/casetype/sproductI know this is a very basic question but I am looking for the right answer. I keep getting conflicting answers from different sources.
-
It depends a bit on the depth and breadth of the products/categories you've got, but assuming the site has only a few dozen categories and maybe half a dozen brands/types, I'd go with option 2 and use subdirectories. They can help you in your analytics to sort and see what's happening in specific areas, can show up in Google with the category > subcategory delineation in place of the URL (which can help enhance CTR), and provide more detail (and a tiny bit more keyword relevance) for anyone looking at the URL in a browser, in email, in social media, etc.
However, I'd stop before going overboard, e.g. site.com/laptops/thin-light/samsung/series-9 is fine, while site.com/laptops/thin-light/black/gray-highlights/samsung/series-9/make140/model2334 is not
Use good judgement and you'll be fine!
This post is still a reasonably good reference: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/11-best-practices-for-urls (though I should probably do a rewrite sometime soon)
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Schema Markup for eCommerce Category Pages?
My research indicates that applying an ItemList schema markup to our category pages is likely the best way to go. However, I've also ready that Google discourages schema markup on category pages. I'm just wondering if any of you have applied schema markup to your category pages and, if so, how did you do it? John,
On-Page Optimization | | JohnBrown75
Essay Writer1 -
Should Ecommerce Site Give Registration Option to Customers?
Hi All, Should Ecommerce Site Give Registration Option to Customers? What are then advantages and disadvantages? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | Arnold31 -
Blog Site Set-Up/Frequency
Hello! I am a new blogger that is just getting started. All I have done so far is purchase a domain name and signed up with Blue Host. From what I am reading, WordPress seems to be the most recommended plug-in to get going. There is a lot of material out there on SEO and I wanted the community's thoughts on where to start. My blog is intended to provide readers with information on a particular topic. It is a vast area with much to write about - I intend on populating the content myself/with the help of experts in the field. It is not news so it is not time sensitive. Here are my questions: 1. As this is a brand new site, should I be blogging every day or is couple of times a week sufficient? I am able to produce content fairly quickly in the beginning as there is a lot to write about. Should I write a whole lot of content first and then release it on a schedule (twice a week, daily, etc.)? As it is a new site, I don't want it to launch with just one article.. 2. I am taking a WordPress class next week, but as someone that is not too familiar with copy/backlinks, other mechanisms to boost SEO. does WordPress make it easy enough to optimize your site for search results or does it require more expertise? As far as I see, my first tasks are to 1. ) set up the site effectively so people can find it and 2.) create valuable/engaging content. Appreciate any advice on setting up the site, blogging frequency, other tips to get going. I don't want to launch a site and get dinged by Google for reasons I am unware of..At some point, when I have a robust set of content, I am thinking of FB advertising to increase traffic to the site. Seems a bit premature to do that at this point.. Thanks all in advance for your feedback!
On-Page Optimization | | mmprakash0 -
Domain sub-directory not performing
We've restructured our site over the past 6 months and I'm going to run you through the whole scenario as I would love any feedback you guys have. 6 months ago we had 2 websites http://boulders-climbing.com (climbing facility) and http://bouldersuk.com (shop). We made the decision to merge the websites and leverage the SEO on 1 site. Although boulders-climbing.com was the older and more established domain, the company wanted to use bouldersuk.com so a whole new website was designed and boulders-climbing.com was redirected to bouldersuk.com. The climbing facility website now sits at bouldersuk.com and the shop was moved to bouldersuk.com/climbing-shop with 301's for all shop pages. This has lead to a significant a increase in domain rank for bouldersuk.com and much better rankings for the climbing centre related terms. The desired effect has been achieved, well half of it anyway. The search rankings for bouldersuk.com/climbing-shop have never reached the previous heights and are still heading in the wrong direction, even though the overall domain ranking has increased by 50%. What can I do to get the SEO for /climbing-shop working again? We're adding fresh content to our latest news with links through to products and categories, all category pages have A grades. we are attempting to link build but it is much more difficult for e-commerce than for the facilities pages. Is the SEO of the main site hampering(masking?) the /climbing-shop? All feedback on the whole process would be much appreciated. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | benj450 -
Data Highlighter - custom page set
I would like to make a custom page set to highlight data on my product pages. However, I don't have a CMS catalog. I use static html pages with names that correspond to the products. They are not all in a "product" folder so don't all have "product" in their name. (or any other consistent term that I could filter out) So it seems that I can't make a custom page set of my product pages. Is it worth renaming all my pages, or moving them into a folder in order to be able to use the product tagging? That would mean that I would have to make 301 redirects for all existing product page urls. Would that adversely affect rankings and wipe out any advantage of the data highlighting?
On-Page Optimization | | bhsiao0 -
How to make desirable meta description on eCommerce website?
Today, I have read very interesting blog post about meta description:Improve snippets with a meta description makeover I have developed meta description on my eCommerce website. [Vista Stores] Home page, category page, static page and blog post contain user generated meta description but, product page have auto-generated meta description. What is best method to develop meta description on product pages for eCommerce website?
On-Page Optimization | | CommercePundit0 -
Is Google Places appropriate for an ecommerce site and blogs
I'm working with a client that has an ecommerce site. He has e physical addresses where they work, however, neither would want customers to go to their office. Is it inappropriate to create a Google Places listing in this situation? I'm working with another client who runs a blog for his PR agency. Is it OK to create a Google Places listing for a blog? He would welcome people to visit his agency.
On-Page Optimization | | EricVallee340 -
Urgent, Duplicate page title and content at eCommerce site- how to solve
Hi, there, does anyone can help to solve 'duplicate page title, duplicate page content' problem? it is a eCommerce site, each categories has hundreds of products, so there are more than 10 pages, but the report crawl the errors, i totally have no idea, can anyone help? Thanks a lot! Anna
On-Page Optimization | | anna-2944510