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URL Optimization

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Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals

University of California, Davis

4.7 (1,175 ratings) | 32K Students Enrolled

Course 2 of 6 in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization

Gain an understanding of search engine algorithms and how they affect organic search results and websites. Building on this knowledge, you’ll learn the key elements for creating an effective SEO strategy, including how to select keywords and perform keyword research; consumer psychology and search behavior; and how to conduct on-page SEO analysis to identify opportunities to improve a website’s search optimization.

Skills You'll Learn

Social Media, Keyword Research, Marketing, Mathematical Optimization

Reviews

4.7 (1,175 ratings)

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GH

Jun 24, 2016

Sometimes it's not important to be able to DO the subject, but just understand the language to ask the right questions. This was an informative and helpful insight into optimization fundamentals.

EO

Aug 08, 2016

Very interesting course. It took me through the basics of SEO for a website. I used the concepts thought in this course in my current job and it has helped me gain credibility from my supervisor.

From the lesson

Getting Started and Introduction to On-page SEO

Welcome to Week 1. This module will introduce you to On-page SEO. The lessons will start with introducing you to key areas of SEO so you’ll have a strong understanding of the differences amongst the strategies. Then we’ll dive into using On-page SEO techniques so that you’ll know how to optimize keywords in meta data as well as perform competitive analysis on a web page. By the end of this module, you’ll know how to identify meta-tags and use these to make recommendations for On-page SEO.

Introduction to On-page SEO0:48

Key Areas of SEO2:57

Meta Data and Meta Tags4:07

Title Tags 10110:49

Meta Descriptions Help Too!11:42

A Note About Meta Keywords3:18

URL Optimization6:59

How to Use Heading Tags8:30

Creating and Optimizing Unique Content8:58

Analyzing a Website Using a Web Crawler5:47

Taught By

Rebekah May
SEO Manager & Lead SEO Instructor, Lead Qual

Welcome to the lesson on URLs.

While you may be familiar with these as an Internet user, you'll now have

the opportunity to learn how to optimize URLs according to SEO best practices.

Including the use of keywords, subdirectories, and parameters.

We will look at when there are opportunities to change URLs,

as well as when it is best to leave URLs as they are.

Let's delve into what a URL means.

>> A URL is basically an address that loads a particular site or document.

URLs describe a page to both visitors and search engines.

Like important metadata elements, the URL should be relevant and

contain important keywords while remaining brief.

Also, note how the keyword Winemaking in the URL has been bolded.

The URL is cut off due to character limits, but ideally, it's a good idea to

place important keywords as close to the beginning of your URL as possible.

Keywords in the URL used to play a large role in SEO, but

this has been over-optimized to a point where Google has changed the importance of

URL keywords when determining where a site should rank.

Keywords within the URL are still useful,

they just do not play as large of a role as they used to.

However, URLs should also be considered from an off-page SEO perspective.

If people are linking to a particular page using the URL as the link,

the URL can serve as its own anchor text, and keywords within that URL

might help the page be seen as relevant for those keywords.

For example, if we look at the full URL for the UC Davis program,

this page might be seen more relevant for words like Study and

Winemaking and Certificate, which all point to an overall theme for this page.

When looking at this URL,

you can see various forward slashes containing information.

For example, areas of study and winemaking.

These are subfolders,

also known as subdirectories, which help to categorize documents on a site.

When search engines display the URL, they will generally cut out the middle

categories or subfolders to make the URL shorter and easier for viewers to read.

You can see this in the example search result where I highlighted the area that

Google removed.

If important keywords are included within the subdirectories,

part of the subdirectory name might be included in the search results.

This will be boldened, which will help draw attention to the result.

For example, if I search for how to make wine,

I see that one of the top results links to a site called Dan Murphy's.

If I look at that URL, I can see two of the subdirectories are included.

Both of these have bolded keywords, with the keyword wine.

When analyzing the URL, we can see that the entire subdirectory wine was included,

because of the keyword used.

And then part of subdirectory, more about wine was included.

But only the keyword wine is listed,

as this keyword is specific to our search query.

Then you can see the entire last part of the URL,

which would be displayed as normal, but has been cut off, slightly, due to length.

However, the last part of the URL's bolded as well, which helps capture attention.

While we are looking at this URL, I would also like to point out the long

combination of letters and numbers at the end, which I have highlighted.

These are called Parameters.

And where possible, it's best to leave these out of your URLs.

Parameters not only make your URL's excessively long, but oftentimes,

the parameter can change based on a variety of factors.

This particular parameter is a Session ID, which means it changes based on the user.

If you were to Google how to make wine, and you found this site and clicked on

the result, your URL would be slightly different than the one I have here.

This can create problems with duplicate content, as a URL has changed but

the content has remained the same.

Unless we as SEOs have been brought in during the design stages of a website,

which is unfortunately a rare occurrence, we have little to say in how

URLs are displayed and what subdirectories are created.

You can always change the URL after the fact, but

remember, that page is likely already ranking under the existing URL.

Changing it later would mean it would lose some of the history and

authority it has built up.

If a URL is changed, it is best to ensure it is redirected using a 301 or

permanent redirect.

Once that occurs, it would take time for

Google to remove the old URL from the index and index the new one.

Due to this, changing URLs for the sake of SEO is not always the best option.

Recommendations to do so can be very situational.

Oftentimes, it is better to optimize the page and

other on-page elements to the best of your ability and leave the URL as it is.

The decision to change existing URLs, whether during a re-design or

for SEO purposes, is circumstantial and

should be heavily considered before making a change just for SEO.

However, this knowledge will come in handy when working with clients to create

new pages or in cases where you are building your own site or

working with a client to build theirs.

Whenever you are creating a new page,

follow the best practices we have discussed to create an optimal URL.

Let's review some of the best practices for URLs.

Don't change URLs for the sake of changing them.

If you do have to change a URL,

always redirect that to a new page using a permanent 301 redirect.

It's always best to optimize the URL from the start.

Incorporate keywords into the URL where possible.

Incorporate keywords into subdirectories where possible.

Keep URLs short and succinct.

You should now have an understanding of what a URL is and

be able to locate subdirectories within the URL.

In addition, you should have an understanding of how to optimize a URL

with SEO in mind and how to optimize URLs for a new site or a re-design.

You should also be able to identify opportunities to change URLs as well as

when to leave URLs as they are.

That completes the video portion of this lesson.

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