Technical SEO Face-Off
Download as PPTX, PDF19 likes12,166 views
This document summarizes technical SEO issues and best practices for URL structures, redirects, duplicate and thin content. It provides guidance on properly handling redirects, avoiding cannibalization, structuring domains and URLs, and dealing with duplicate and thin content to avoid search engine penalties. Key recommendations include using 301 redirects, internal linking, and rewriting duplicate content rather than leaving it accessible to search engines.
Technical SEO Face-Off
- 1. Technical SEO Face-Off How to handle some of the nastiest, most common technical SEO issues in web development & marketing. Rand Fishkin | CEO http://bit.ly/mozseotech2012
- 2. Redirects of All Kinds How to Move Content, Sites, Users & Engines
- 4. 301s Used to Be a Solution to Penalties https://twitter.com/#!/klark0/status/184303676477816832
- 5. 301 Rewrite Rules Make Life Easier http://www.seomoz.org/blog/rewriterule-split-personality-explained
- 7. Cross-Domain Canonical Cross-domain canonical took <48 hours to work Whoa… Dharmesh +1’d the new domain, not the old one. Interesting.
- 8. The Temporary 302 If Bing crawls a 302 redirect five times, it begins to treat the 302 (temporary) redirect as if it were a permanent redirect (301). We’ve observed similar behavior from Google. Don’t use the 302 as a permanent tool/solution as engines may change how they interpret it.
- 9. The Meta Refresh Google picked up the meta refresh immediately, Bing took several months, and still displays the old URL
- 10. Javascript-Based Redirection Hey! Isn’t that a “sneaky” javascript redirect? http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66355
- 11. The CSS Overlay Many websites that require age/location verification use overlays to get input prior to access
- 12. Keyword Cannibalization How to Get the Right Page Ranking for the Right Query
- 13. Why Cannibalization Hurts I really wish this page was #1 for this phrase Multiple pages targeting the same keywords can cause dilution of relevancy
- 14. The Content Targeting Solution http://pro.seomoz.org/tools/on-page-keyword-optimization
- 15. The Internal Linking Solution Identifying the links that point to the content and the anchor text they use internally can be helpful
- 16. The External Link Reclamation Solution Getting external links to change their anchor text or surrounding text can help, too
- 17. The 301 + Re-Build Solution Page You Want Ranking Well Currently Ranking Page for This Query http://website.com/oldurl http://website.com/targetpage New Version of OldURL Take the http://website.com/newurl content from this page and recreate it here. This tactic can help when all else fails (particularly if external link signals are very strong
- 18. Domain Names, Subdomains & Subfolders Structuring Sites for Maximum Marketing Effectiveness
- 19. Root Domains, Subdomains & Subfolders www.website.com Any positive SEO signals on www.website.com/folder/page1 these will help the others rank, too. www.website.com/otherfolder/page2 blog.website.com Positive SEO signals to this one might www.website.com/content not help this one or files.website.com/whitepaper this one. Same root domain and subfolder is almost always the way to go in SEO
- 22. URL Structures The Final Word on SEO Best Practices for URLs
- 23. Rules #1-2 for Great URLs #1: Make the Content Obvious from the URL Not Obvious: website.com/s/wm_bts773A Obvious: website.com/shoes/womens-boots #2: Avoid URL Parameters of Any Kind Parameters: website.com/recipe?q=chicken&t=cordon+bleu Nice & Clean: website.com/recipe/chicken-cordon-bleu If shown without context/anchor text, the link’s content should still be obvious.
- 24. Rules #3-4 for Great URLs #3: Shorter is Better; Maximum of 66 Characters Too Long: website.com/cars/mercedes-benz/2009/models/sedans/c-class-coupe/full-options Just Fine: website.com/mercedes-benz/c-class-coupe #4: Separate Words with Hyphens, or + If Necessary Bad Separators: website.com/mercedes&%20benz Good Separators: website.com/mercedes-benz Long URLs get clipped, and those with bad separators may appear less-click-worthy
- 25. Rules #5-6 for Great URLs #5: Keywords Closer to the Front of the URL is Ideal Less Ideal: website.com/products/electronics/2275/thin-laptops More Ideal: website.com/electronics/thin-laptops #6: Keep Folder-Depth to a Minimum, Yet Still Organized Disorganized: website.com/electronics-laptops-cables-samsung-power-cord Smart Folders: website.com/electronics/laptops/samsung-power-cord Neat, clean URLs perform better in social, search, links and sharing of all kinds
- 26. When is Rewriting Worth It? http://www.seomoz.org/blog/bing-vs-google-prominence-of-ranking-elements
- 27. Absolute vs. Relative URLs <a href=“http://website.com/page>anchor text</a> When absolute URLS get scraped (especially in RSS content), the links will point back and sometimes provide a boost. <a href=“../page>anchor text</a> Relative URLs can make development and migrations easier, but don’t help with the scraping side effect on links. https://plus.google.com/u/1/104591903036738260658/posts/3XSM37yuxYL
- 29. Duplicate & Thin Content Fighting Indexation, Crawl Issues, Penalties and a Big Fat Panda
- 30. Straight Duplicates are Easy http://searchengineland.com/search-illustrated-how-a-search-engine-determines-duplicate-content-13980
- 31. Modified Duplicates are Hard Some material is duplicative, other stuff is unique; that makes this challenging
- 32. Making Duped Material Engine Inaccessible If you have “boilerplate” content that everyone’s using, consider making that inaccessible to engines (or rewriting it)
- 33. Thin Content’s Really Hard This is the best image I could find for this slide. I’m sure you will agree.
- 34. FYI: These are Thin Mints It’s still funny, even though I have to explain it, right?
- 35. A Litmus Test for “Thin” Content http://www.seomoz.org/blog/replicate-googles-panda-questionnaire-whiteboard-friday
- 36. Keep Thin Out of the Index 404’ing may work better than noindex to help get out of a Panda situation
- 37. Content w/o User Signals Can Hurt http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2012/02/find-thin-content/
- 38. Tools Can Help You Make Thin Thick http://www.mediapiston.com/ is an excellent starting point
- 39. Rand Fishkin | CEO @randfish www.seomoz.org/blog rand@seomoz.org http://bit.ly/mozseotech2012