Directory Structure etc

Naming Files & Folders

[stuart]

Is it very important to name files in relation to their content for SE's. If so, should they be organised in a certain way - for instance I've got about 150 files (pages) each with 10 pop-up windows all in a folder named 'market'. At the moment the page files are named by a code for their catergory and the pop-ups and images by the unique id of the item. Any ideas ??

Also, do SE's prefer the submission of index.htm to say mydomain.com/home.htm etc.

[Brett_Tabke]

index home and default in .htm and .html filetypes all carry the same weight imho. Although, I do always use index.

Organizing them? I try to keep the number of directories as short as possible. There is some fairly signifgant data that suggests more than 3 directories deep decreases your rankings on some engines.

Filenames and paths should also be kept as short as possible. My working guideline is less that 35 characters total including the domain name.

The filenames should of course be a keyword related to page content. Directory/path names should be the next logical grouping hire. Most often I use the path to build a keyword phrase. For example: "searchengineworld.com/spiders/google.htm".

[oilman]

I agree with what Brett said. It is also important to consider relative vs. absolute urls in this discussion. There is a great thread here [webmasterworld.com]. In the thread there is a link to a great article on the subject. You can find it here [searchengineworld.com] if you like.

[stuart]

Does 35 characters include [www....] - this makes 42 to my sub.dir without the new filename itself. Less the http.etc and a shorter url I have gets me to 25 chars. I'm thinking here of doorway pages which I read are good from another (distant) url but my other url only drops the last 6 characters - the rest is the same and so is the IP (can change IP). Any thoughts appreciated ?

Also should I name the images relative (I hope not !!!). Thanks for all your help.

[glengara]

Bump.

Just wondering how relevant the suggestions on character length are today.

[brotherhood of LAN]

Before I read that links that oilman posted, I am *sure* an upper limit of 55 characters on your URL's are ok.

I can vaguely remember something about yahoo penalising long URL's

either way, the shorter the better.

Ive been using descriptive names for files under numbered folders, though more larger projects in the future look like they will inevitably have to be numbered for continuity

[Marcia]

These posts are from quite a while back, but it seems Brett's recommendations are still valid:

I try to keep the number of directories as short as possible. There is some fairly signifgant data that suggests more than 3 directories deep decreases your rankings on some engines.

Here's something posted just this week by Robber in the thread about the current FAST update [webmasterworld.com]:

One thing I have been investigating, but don't have good evidence for is that pages more than a couple of levels downs (in terms of directory structure) have taken a hit in terms of both ranking (eg top 3 to third page) and possibly getting excluded.

Like I say, no firm evidence since it is not something I've really looked at until now, but this does seem to be quite consistent with my situation.

[brotherhood of LAN]

The thing is with what Robber is saying about FAST is that this has also happened to me, and there was no change in directory structure since last spidering by FAST

FAST updated 3 times to googles 1, all 4 spiders getting the same directory structure, but FAST this time round reducing the amount of pages available from my site.

I guess its quite safe to say that directory structure is not a factor there (or a major factor in light of my experience)

In regards to naming the files for the purpose of SE's, I name most of my folders as letters or numbers and use keywords for the htm or asp pages themselves, sort of giving an "indication" of what the content is to SE's, hovering over link n looking at status bar etc

It almost gets to the boundaries of ridiculousness when SE's dictate what folder structure you use and what you call them

[Marcia]

bh, someone very time-seasoned pointed out a while back that SEO has to be looked at in the long term. Algorithms shift, and a site may suffer for a season; then a while later it'll shift back, and the site will be back up again. Something about the algorithms "recycling."