Themes and subdirectories

[blaize]

I am wondering if this would be a good way to organize a site using subdirectories:

Level 1
recipes.com

Level 2
recipes.com/vegetarian/

Level 3
recipes.com/vegetarian/soups/

Level 4
recipes.com/vegetarian/soups/black-bean-soup.html

OR would it be better to use the following structure:

Level 1
recipes.com

Level 2
recipes.com/vegetarian-soups/

Level 3
recipes.com/vegetarian-soups/bean/

Level 4
recipes.com/vegetarian-soups/bean/black-bean-soup.html

[Susanne]

Yummy!
The fewer sub directories you have, the better it is. Try to keep as much content as possible close to the root of your site. IMHO it only makes sense to create a sub directory when I have so many files that it becomes almost impossible to handle the site.
Both of your examples are actually identical. You have the same number of sub directories for every level.

[yetanotheruser]

The fewer sub directories you have, the better it is.

Eh? Where does this logic come from? Have I missed something..?

[creative craig]

I have always used this a rule as well, never have more subdirectories than you need.. of course only you know how many you will need ;)

Craig

[Susanne]

yetanotheruser,
Not that pagerank should rule your life :), but for each sub directory you have, you generally lose 1 level of pagerank. Each page at the root of a site have a much greater chance of getting and keeping a decent pagerank. And any pages having a good PR have a greater chance of receiving incoming links than a page with a PR of 1 or 2 for example.

We all know the need to try and get incoming links not only to a site's home page, but also to inner pages. However, if the sites who might potentially link to your inner pages see that the PR there is very low (and they know about SEO) then it might be harder to get them to give a link even if your site is of use to their visitors.

Maybe (but I'm not sure about this) having low PR pages pointing to the home page might reduce the PR of the home page as well. And then it gets even harder to get links from "SEO aware" site owners. Personally I think pagerank should be abolished...

[getvisibleuk]

thats what I thought, then I thought that PR loss is due to the number of links away a page is from the homepage. So what should I be thinking next?

[dwilson]

Maybe (but I'm not sure about this) having low PR pages pointing to the home page might reduce the PR of the home page as well.

PR is basically additive. Low-PR links just don't add as much as high-PR links.

[creative craig]

Any page with PR pointing to the home page will add a slight boost in PageRank how ever small.

[Nick_W]

for each sub directory you have, you generally lose 1 level of pagerank

Not true, though it certainly can appear like that :)

It's about linking: If you have:

recipes.com/vegetarian-soups/bean.html

linked directly from your home page. And you have:

recipes.com/meat/soups/winter/oxtail.html

linked directly from the homepage also they will both have the same PR. The homepage passes it's PR through the linking structure.

IMO, you should go with the 2nd and NOT directly link from the home page. You'll get a lower PR for the page but then you don't really need a high PR for such a specific recipe right? - So, save your PR for your more general phrases and pass it down logically to subdirs that do not need so much PR.

Still, if you can keep a user never more than 2 clicks away from what they want that helps aswell, but that's a usability/IA thing, not a PR thing...

Check out the Theme Pyramid [searchengineworld.com]

Nick

[Susanne]

Nick, I'm getting dizzy (and hungry!) ;)
OK, what about this example:

recipes.com links to /meat/ links to /soup/ links to file.htm
recipes.com links to /fish/ links to /soup/ links to file.htm
etc
etc
The linking only goes in one direction, from the home page and down. PLUS each file links to the home page and to every sub directory. The home page only links to the first sub directories meat, fish and so on.

Second example:

recipes.com links to /meat/ links to file.htm
recipes.com links to /fish/ links to file.htm
Same here. Linking goes from the home page and down. Each file links to the home page and to the sub directory. But home page only links to sub directories.

Which of these two is the best? Second one, right?

[creative craig]

Second, easier for the user and site maintenance IMO.

[Just Guessing]

PR is basically additive. Low-PR links just don't add as much as high-PR links.

PR is basically addictive - many people will do anything to get it ;)

[Nick_W]

Right! - Strictly speaking of course ;)

What folks have been saying about keeping pages near the root comes from the '2 clicks' thing I think. But, there is another factor: If you keep your pages in logical subdirs the weight of the names of those subdirs also has a stake in the algo AFAIK and the more specific a recipe the deeper it should be.

So, whereas your second example would benefit you slightly better PR-wise i think, a deeper more logical structure might benefit you more in terms for SEARCH.

More specific pages don't need so much PR, the dirmames play a part in the algos and your site is more logically structured.

Follow me?

Disclaimer: I'm no expert, I just hang out hear alot and listen to those that are. ;)

Nick

[lorax]

>> I just hang out hear alot and listen to those that are.

*blush* aw thanks Nick...;)

But seriously, I agree with Nick. I'd offer one caveat though. You could use a direct link to a deep page in the case of highlighting a special or some other item you want to promote heavily. Let's say the oxtail recipe is accompanied with a link to your store for oxtail soup mix and you want to promote this. Including a "Special Feature" link on the home page directly to the recipe and mix offer would help improve that page's visibility.

But then I'm no expert either - just act like I am.

[Susanne]

Very good point Nick, I agree fully. Now, I gotta get myself home and do some cooking. Cheers!

[blaize]

Thanks to everyone for responding to my post:)

Your advice has been tremendously helpful in determining the best use of subdirectories for my site, and has clarified my understanding of themes and effective navigation. I am very grateful for your feedback!

[buckworks]

Either approach has merit, so whichever you decide, stick with it and don't fret later about whether you should change your directory structure because [enter assorted reasons here].

A good plan that you actually develop will take you further than a better plan that stays on the drawing board while you fret over how to make it perfect.