Many SEO experts told us that permalinks play a very important role for ranking our blog posts in Google, they are 100% correct but I’ve seen many SEO experts saying that limiting categories and sub folder in the URL can yield to high ranking in Google. Let’s see if it is true or just a myth. Let’s start :
I know many of you have not understood my question, so here is an example.
Suppose, I’ve a blog xyz.com and I am using permalink structure www.xyz.com/post-title.html
and there is another blog which is using permalink structure www.abc.com/category/post-title.html
Now, most of the SEO experts say that permalink structure that is followed by the first blog i.e www.xyz.com is far better than 2nd blog. Is this true in Google’ eye? Lets see
Both permalink structure have same value in Google’s eye
- Yes! According to Google both permalink structures have same value no matter the post is in sub-folder, in root folder or anywhere else
- Many people think that if our post is in number of sub folders, chances of indexing and ranking will be low, it is not. Google treats all the links same whether the post title is in root folder or in any number of folders.
- Rather, it is good to follow the 2nd permalink structure because it keeps our post organized under specific category
If you think, I am wrong check out this video what Matt Cutts is saying about this in detail.
I hope by now, your misunderstanding about the permalink structure is over. Happy blogging !!
This article is written by Andy. He blogs at iPhone 4 Jailbreak.
Whats the best permalink structure for a blog having quotes or thoughts as post ?
It could be something like /quotes/billgates/ format mate. 🙂
Thanks HBB, My doubt cleared 🙂
Thanks for clearing the myth behind the whole existence of a Google preferred permalink structure. I’m sticking with those that have post ids in them as they make the site faster.
100% agree with you man. that’s why in google search every type of permalink structure posts are indexed.
A very useful and informative video… I still prefer to use the 1st option as it keep the url short and I think short URLs are indexed in SEs faster… Is it not so?
Also, short URLs look good 😉
Nice Info about the Permalink structure the category permalink is a good option as it really helps a lot in organizing the posts..
I think whatever structure one has choose one should remain stick to it. Its important what URL has in it (content)
Me using Year/Month/Post structure and customizing its like product-abc-review.
This is great thank you for sharing
It seemed to me and this post cleared it.( about permalink SEO )
Thanks for such an excellent guidance.
Great video…..best permalinks helps in indexing fast from search engine ….
Totally agree with you….I also like this /category/postname/ structure.
I also have written the article where I have promoted the same
Complete Optimization of WordPress Permalinks
You have really cleared one of the myths, I believe lot of people carry (including me). That’s the benefit that I get when I come to your blog.
i also follow the second structure as the users know in which category the post is published and some category will have keywords which will be helpful in SEO..
I’m using /date/postname/ permalink. Is it good?
According to the author, it’s good… or rather, the same with without the date part.
Simple and concise post. I agree with you. In fact, you probably can’t go wrong as long as you have your keyword phrase in the url.
Thanks for clearing the Doubts for Permalink Structure that should be kept for a Blog Post.
I agree Permalink structure of a blog post should contain the targeted keywords for the blog post
Permalink structure is the key factor to rank high on the Google Search engine. Not just Google but Bing and Yahoo too. You have explained the Permalink structure very correctly.
I think webmaster will take your advice and optimize their web pages according to it. This will really going to help them to rank high in Google search engine.
Thank You very much.
Well Google may equally treat both (www.xyz.com/post-title.html and http://www.abc.com/category/post-title.html) but the human eye doesn’t and thus it should also be considered.
It would be better for the eye to see it after a http://www.xyz.com/category/post-title.html or http://www.xyz.com/year/month/post-title.html as the category would make it easy for the eye to see if the category interests it, and the later would be beneficiary as some posts are relevant only for certain time frame, such as a news report.
but still i feel the 1st type is better. because eventually it will reduce the length without affecting the good part about having the keywords in the URL. i have personally seen that apart from SEO the disadvantage of have long url is that , when a person clicks the facebook share button o the page having long URL, the share layout gets affected ie the thumbnail and title will not load. Try it yourself.
Yeah, they maybe have the same value to Google but the permalinks starting with numbers could increase the loading speed. That’s what I read on WordPress.
I too would like comment on the speed issue. it is detailed at http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks. Apparently, it is not just proceeding postname with a number that help, but essentially proceeding postname with anything, such as "blah" could help page load speed.
I prefer the second link structure with categories or tags because it is also easier for the user to see into which category a specific posts actually belongs.
That’s very good info, I actually had lots of doubts myself and I admit I never really bothered checking for more information on the topic.
I understand permalinks are often underestimated by bloggers, and I see sometimes still people not using them at all – painful.
True!
But having a sexy URL structure over the whole website definitely adds the juice to the website.
I always stick to http://www.domain.com/post-title/
i was confused with this premalink for lots of day… now i got the solution. thank HBB…
my premalink is like http://www.tech2hell.com/year/month/post title…
i hope this also same in Google’s eye.. is in it?
hi Raja,
whether ur URl is title or
its
Both have same value acording to Google !! 🙂
That’s good to know! I’m on the right track 😀