keywords in URL / filename

how much is allowed?

[giveawayrooms]

I would like to get both my keywords into my filename - not just in the URL - I think I am right in saying that this gives an extra boost

for example ...

on a page for hotels in paris - which would be optimised for the 2 keywords 'paris' and 'hotel' - the present URL would be ..

mysite.com/hotel/france/paris.html

This way, the keywords are both present in the URL

My Question is, would you instead go for ...

mysite.com/hotel/france/paris-hotel.html

This way, you get the 2 keywords in the file name - and they are next to each other for added ranking - but the word 'hotel' is now in the URL twice - is there a danger of spamming if you have too many keywords in the URL or in the filename?

[agerhart]

giveawayrooms,

You shouldn't run into any problems with Option B, and in fact, it will work better as the keywords are together in the URL.

[KevinC]

Would this kind of strategy of using keywords in your file structure prove to be noticeable in rankings? Particulary google, yahoo or the bigger guys?

[agerhart]

>>>>using keywords in your file structure prove to be noticeable in rankings?

You bet.

[KevinC]

great that is what I thought thanx for the advice! How carried away could you get, would it be advisible like metioned above to use files like: paris-hotel.html or is that overkill?

[agerhart]

Kevin, it is best to just use your judgement.

It may be a bit much to do this:

mysite.com/paris_hotels/hotels/paris-hotels.html

On the other hand, you may get away with it.

[Harley_m]

yes, try to think up a file structure that will help as much as possible...

perhaps : mysite.com/france-hotels/paris-hotels.htm

that is helpful to any human to look at, and gets you two juicy keyphrases in there, as well as emphasising your hotel one - without going overboard...

my question is this tho : are more bot smiles given to mykeywordsite.com/big-keyword-page.htm

or mykeywordsite.com/big/keywords/keywordpage

not the best example, but is it best to have it all in the file name on the root, or bury stuff deep in sub directories...?

[WebGuerrilla]

The boost for keywords in file/directory names isn't significant enough to warrant a structure that ends up looking ridiculous.

(mysite.com/paris_hotels/hotels/paris-hotels.html would fall into that category)

Map your content out in a logical manner and make sure your file names are descriptive, but don't create unecessary directories just so you can get in one more occurence of your desired keywords.

[KevinC]

well know we have conflicting advice, is it worth while? or should the energy be spent on something else? on a scale of 1-10 how much importance is given to file structure and file names?

[WebGuerrilla]

I'd give it a 2.

Go to Google some time and spend some time doing searches using

allinurl:

do a search like allinurl:"keyword phrase"

That will show you how many pages Google has indexed that contain your phrase somewhere in the domain/file name structure.

Then go back and do a regular search for your keyword phrase an take a look at how many keyword urls show up in the top 30-40 results.

Search Engine Optimization looks like this:

URLS with Phrase: 8,480
Number in Top 30: 4

Now those numbers will fluctuate a bit depending upon the particular niche, but they never come close to looking like numbers that would support the notion that keywords in url/file names plays a significant role.

[jaski]

That sounds interesting. But I think their is some thing missing in the test performed by WebGuerrilla.

4 in top 30 is fine but I think the figure of total number of results is also needed to compare it with 8,480 got from allinurl. Assuming that number to be X .. if ratio 8480/X is similar to 4/30 then it means key words in url is quite insignificant.

My .02

[martinibuster]

Uh, hello...?

SEO=being relevant for your keywords.

Spend some time making your web site relevant, and less time trying to trick the search engines, and you will find happy customers, and good rankings (except for this current update.