Are You A Strategic SEO Thinker?

Today, I want you to think about how a set of search engine optimization recommendations may be perfect for one website while lacking or wrong for another. I want you to think about strategic decision making. We know there is more to Internet marketing than search engine optimization and there’s a lot more bells and […]

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Today, I want you to think about how a set of search engine optimization recommendations may be perfect for one website while lacking or wrong for another. I want you to think about strategic decision making.

strategic SEO assets

We know there is more to Internet marketing than search engine optimization and there’s a lot more bells and whistles to choose from these days. How can you combine SEO knowledge with CMS features, design and technology?

Time to don your thinking cap.

For example, imagine that you sell a sole style of cut-off jean shorts, but in several colors. Is it better to combine authority onto one product page or create separate URLs for each color?

A domain with high authority may be capable of presenting search engines with a single page for Cut-Off Jean Shorts whereas a site with lower authority may be served better with separate pages for each color: Blue Cut-Off Jean Shorts, Purple Cut-Off Jean Shorts, Green Cut-Off Jean Shorts, etc.

  • If your site  is a major brand and enjoys a top-flight external link profile, one URL may be your best choice.

Strategic SEO Assets

  • If your product pages get significant off-site links, showing the different color options on one URL can combine link authority. That combined authority can enhance the probability that your jean shorts will rank for color specific searches, provided you optimize it properly for multiple keywords and colors.

Strategic SEO Assets

  • If you plan a promotional campaign for your product or have a strong social media presence, using a single URL will ensure that all the links and authority go to the same page.
  • Alternatively, should you lack the above authority advantages, then optimizing separate pages and URLs for each color probably makes more sense. Each page can be made highly relevant for single colors.

Do You Lead With Authority Or With Relevance?

If you select the single URL, you combine authority to generate greater presence. I’ll re-stress, you also need to optimize your default content for multiple colors and keywords. Instead of showing just one color option you could show all of them with separate images and descriptions.

The advantage of creating separate URLs is that it gives you the ability to focus on and enhance relevance. You can add each color to the title and H1 tag. You can customize product descriptions for each color. If you lag behind your competitors in authority, separate pages with higher relevance may be a better option.

What if you are unsure? You consider both options but don’t know which one to choose?

In such cases, you might select two similar products and test. Use a single URL for one product. Use multiple URLs for the other. See which method works best for your website, within your competitive space

The greater message is this: Don’t just complacently optimize your company’s website for a set of search queries or keywords. Get involved with how your website operates. Seek creative ways to present content, ways that will use your website’s assets and abilities.

The SEO team at our major-brand jeans maker will share how all those links and authority create a competitive asset. They will suggest new ways to use their authority to grow rankings, traffic and sales. They will devise tests and learn from the results. More importantly, they will not accept without question the way their shopping cart is already set-up.

What advantages does your company have? What changes can your website make? How will you develop and utilize those strengths?


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Tom Schmitz
Contributor
Thomas Schmitz is a longtime digital marketing professional who works with startups, SMBs, enterprise, media and not-for-profit organizations. Regarded as an expert in inbound and content marketing, search engine optimization and social media, Tom's an innovative growth creator and turnaround specialist. Follow Tom at @TomSchmitz.

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