While your meta title and meta descriptions are incredibly important for SEO, URL construction is possibly the most important factor. Your URL most certainly should have your target keyword phrase within it, but that’s not all. Your URLs should also be structured in a way for proper data gathering in your analytics.
For example, if your business is one of e-commerce and you have multiple products, services, etc. to sell, wouldn’t you like your analytics to tell you which products are getting the most attention in search? Sure, analytics will show which product pages are getting the most hits, but what about your categories of products? Your categories of services? Or if you have multiple locations, which locales are getting hit for search the most?
You can’t tell any of that without proper URL construction. Here are some tips for structuring SEO URLs with analytics in mind.
Create a URL Pattern
A URL pattern is typically folders for your content. All of one type of product in one folder, all of one location in one folder, etc. If you create a template for these folders, then it’s far easier to find your analytics data. It also makes creating new pages a snap.
In WordPress, this is incredibly easy to do thanks to Categories. Then for your URL to automatically use these categories in the URL, you will have to adjust your permalinks in settings. Most CMS styles allow for this. If you don’t manage your CMS yourself, make sure your tech support is on it.
Ideas for URL Patterns
If you’re an e-commerce business, then product categories are how you want to go. I’d even suggest making a URL with /products/product-category in it. For example, if you sell athletic wear, then /products/sports-bras is an example.
If your site produces various content, such as news, sports news, blog posts, opinions, etc., then separate those article types. That said, if your articles are just a piece of your website, such as this blog is to my own business, then you need a /blog/ or /articles/ or /guides/ folder.
Locations is another good group. If you sell the same products in different locations, then separate them in your URLs! Here’s an example of what I mean—/products/new-york or /sports-bras/new-york.
Choose Your Pattern Wisely!
The cardinal rule for good SEO is to NEVER change your permalinks (URLs). It will undo virtually everything you have worked for, sometimes even with a 301 Redirect in place. Therefore, when you pick your pattern, pick it with an air of absolute permanence. Think long and hard about what you believe your business will not deviate from in terms of products, services, etc.
Need help with structuring your URLs? I’m more than happy to! Contact me any time.
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