Folder name inside Domain name?

@KimberlhMar 26.2008

Hello,

I have read several domain/search engine/optimization books and of course I get several different answer or books who have just stolen for other books. So I figured I would start a conversation on here and see what what other real webmaster think.

Once you get your domain name you are happy with. How important are folder names inside domain names to your web site popularity.

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~~[I]~~~~[B]~~Made-up Examples[/B][/I]:

Say you are doing a web page about how lovable pit bull can really be.

~~[url]~~www.lovepitbulls.com/animal/dog.html[/url]
~~[url]~~www.lovepitbulls.com/dogs/pitbull.html[/url]
~~[url]~~www.lovepitbulls.com/dog/pitbull.html[/url]

Some books say do not repeat word in url because that is spamming search engines while other say to repeat words as long as it is relevant to the topic.

Other say to use plural and other say not to.

I tried to do a spreadsheet to see which rules where use most often by book supposed experts however the list of conflicting rules got to long to even coming up with a real working list of rules to follow when starting a new web site when it comes to folder domain names.

– – – – – – – – – – –

I guess my question is how do all of you handle folder name inside your main domain name to let search engines (etc) know what you web page about?

Thoughts?

Kimberly

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10 Comments(s) _↴

@bathurst_guyMar 26.2008 — #I think it is actually quite valuable, same as domain name, more valuable than the text in the page - personal opinion.

@MyWebsiteAdviseMar 28.2008 — #Hi Kimberly,

For my opinion, the content is the king. Sometimes you can see very popular web pages without meaningful folder/page name.

But, if you are going to create a website from scratch, do it with meaningful names.

www.lovepitbulls.com/dogs/pitbull.html[/QUOTE]
"dogs" - it's very general expression. Try to change this name to something more specific, more relevant for the content.

@KimberlhauthorMar 28.2008 — #I think it is actually quite valuable, same as domain name, more valuable than the text in the page - personal opinion.[/QUOTE]

That is the way I am leaning. However I am finding myself getting to long on the file names trying to make them count. Such as for section for kids birthday within the web site I want to put in /kids_free_birthday_supplies/ for the folder name which is getting carried away. :o

So I am trying to find a nice balance before opening the new web site set for summer.

Thanks for your input

Kimber

@KimberlhauthorMar 28.2008 — #Hi Kimberly,

For my opinion, the content is the king. Sometimes you can see very popular web pages without meaningful folder/page name.

But, if you are going to create a website from scratch, do it with meaningful names.

"dogs" - it's very general expression. Try to change this name to something more specific, more relevant for the content.[/QUOTE]

Hello, I agree on getting more specific however I do web sites offering free printables and I like to draw in people who do not know what free printables are but would enjoy them. I get a lot of people who love what I offer after finding me but have never heard of free printable so have never found me before. So I am looking at folder keywords to try and decide how to go about using them to help search engine draw in my niche people without using the one word many people have never heard of. I feel like I am beating my head on the wall trying to decide how many way can you say free printables ... lol lol lol ... so this is where I go back to trying to decide how important folder name are before opening another printable site this summer and trying to get keyword by folder figure out before opening instead of as I go. '

Thank you for your input

Kimberly

@MyWebsiteAdviseMar 28.2008 — #Kimberly,

From my experience, domain name is more important than folder name.

For example, my website name is MyWebsiteAdviser.com, and some people find me when looking for "website adviser".

If you didn't buy a domain name yet, buy a domain name with the most relevant keywords in a domain name.

@KimberlhauthorMar 29.2008 — #Kimberly,

From my experience, domain name is more important than folder name.

For example, my website name is MyWebsiteAdviser.com, and some people find me when looking for "website adviser".

If you didn't buy a domain name yet, buy a domain name with the most relevant keywords in a domain name.[/QUOTE]

I agree the domain name is more important. Right now my sites are older sites before content managers and I want to be a bit smart as I move away from the older sites to the new sites. Just leave the older sites as once a month updates.

Thanks for your imput

@Andy_B2Apr 09.2008 — #Hi Kimberly,

I've done considerable research into site optimisation for my own sites and the clients I host for.

As far as I can ascertain, the search engine crawlers / robots, take note of the domain name first, then the page name and then 3 HTML Headers.

In my experience, cramming the header with meta tags do to make much difference to search engine ratings.

I must admit, I tend to structure my sites to give them the best possible chance of recognition by using site/service-descriptive elements throughout - including the folder structure and maybe 20-25 words in the meta tags.

Best of Luck

@KimberlhauthorApr 09.2008 — #Hi Kimberly,

I've done considerable research into site optimisation for my own sites and the clients I host for.

As far as I can ascertain, the search engine crawlers / robots, take note of the domain name first, then the page name and then 3 HTML Headers.

In my experience, cramming the header with meta tags do to make much difference to search engine ratings.

I must admit, I tend to structure my sites to give them the best possible chance of recognition by using site/service-descriptive elements throughout - including the folder structure and maybe 20-25 words in the meta tags.

Best of Luck[/QUOTE]

Thank you, personal experience answer are very helpful.

My ranking have positive has been down and as I update my pages I have been playing with using <h1> <h2> instead of font number size and it seems to be helping some I believe. Is that how you do with your HTML header codes?

@Andy_B2Apr 09.2008 — #I don't think font size will make any difference.

The crawlers first and foremost pick up the domain name, then the page Title, then the Headers, so they are guided purely by the associated HTML tags.

Also of importance is how your site is linked.

The crawlers follow the links in your site to discover your sub pages. If you use java script or flash for navigation, the search engines can't track them.

When I use flash or scripted menu bars, I also use html links at the bottom of the page to the lead page to each section of the site so the crawlers can find their way around.

@SEO_guruMay 03.2008 — #Hi - I just joined the forums here so my post is a bit late - hopefully usefull anyhow.

There are dozens of factors that determine page ranking at Google, with a weight in value given to each one. Yahoo has it's own set of weights and values.

Those specific combinations change over time as the search engines work to improve the results they provide people doing the search.

If two sites offer the very same products or services, it's very possible to have one site with an emphasis on only some of those factors, and the other site to not use any of site 1's methods at all but still come up higher in the rankings.

Then site 3 comes along and skips all of what the first two sites do but focuses on other SEO factors, and it could then become the 1st listing in the search engine results.

What it all comes down to is whatever combination of optimzation methods you follow or choose to use, your success will depend upon how much energy you put into getting it right.

So it is not about what is better unless you look at all of the other things being done on that site as well. It's the sum-total.

As far as folder names go - you can call your folders and page names (or your domain name for that matter) anything you want if you do other things really well.

The first rule is to look at the top ten competitors for the most important keyword phrases you have designated for your site. Look at their on-page content, their domain names, folder naming, title tags, meta tags, H1/H2/H3 / Bolding / Bullet point lists / Link labels / ALT elements / in-page linking / back-links / depth of site /.. age of their registered domain name... It all needs to be considered if you are going to have the best chance at eventually overcoming their positioning.

So yes - domain names CAN be a factor and folder names CAN be a factor and H1 tags CAN be a factor and so on.

By the way - how much is too much is a major issue whether it's page titles, meta keyword fields (google ignores but other search engines do not), keyword repetition on page.

On some sites I manage, page names are helpful, others it's folder names, and others pages and folders are all irrelevant.

Check out my blog - a handful of straight forward guidelines for the most important elements though you will note that domain names and folder names are NOT discussed in my search marketing blog. - Because I put so much emphasis on other aspects of optimization, I don't worry so much about domain naming and folder naming - and I have a proven track record with several web sites where I have taken them from buried deep at google and for several phrases they are on the first page at google - mostly in the top 2 or 3 positions...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 [COLOR=Black][B]Alan Bleiweiss[/B]
 Senior Manager Special Projects [/COLOR]
 WebSight Design, Inc.
 Visit my White Hat SEO Fundamentals blog

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