Are all pages on a website equally important for ranking?

by olarsson

Posted: 10 years ago 18 replies

I understand that the amount of text, title, total number of pages, inbound links, headings, etc. matter for SERP. But are all pages on a website equally important for website SERP-ranking or is it not so?

I assume that the front page / landing page / index.html is more important for the total score then other pages, is that true? Is it possible control which "weight" different pages will get in the total ranking score?

Thank you for any comments and suggestion on this topic.

#equally #important #pages #ranking #website

devinesoul186 10 years ago

Originally Posted by olarsson

I assume that the front page / landing page / index.html is more important for the total score then other pages, is that true?

It is true if you have only few keywords to rank on. And if you much topics than you can't put all keywords in one page or index page. You have to focus on other pages also. So all those pages matter that you want to rank on search engines.
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writeaway

10 years ago

No. But if you use the right structure, you can use your strongest pages to link to your weaker pages. This is where picking the right longtails come in.

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godoveryou

10 years ago

Originally Posted by writeaway

No. But if you use the right structure, you can use your strongest pages to link to your weaker pages. This is where picking the right longtails come in.

This is an interesting post... And for a few reasons.

A) Is it really the case that you want your "strong" pages to link to your "weak" pages as an effect of distributing pagerank judiciously? (pagerank being the reason one page is strong while another is weak)

B) Or should "weak" pages be used to strengthen certain pages (or make them stronger) for both better search engine ranking for those terms and as a means of primary navigational importance? And on the same token, these "weak" pages can still be linked to from the 'strong' pages and donate a well optimized subheading tag to that 'strong' page only allowing it to rank more easily for additional longtail traffic itself.

I understand this might be a little confusing, but that's because I'm attempting to differentiate two different ways of looking at the same issue.

Let's talk category pages with Wordpress.

They can hold significant content and every page that they link out to will typically be done using a H3 (sometimes H2 or H4) subheading tag. While this might be looked at as a 'Strong' category page linking out to 'weak' longtail pages - I'd venture to look at this through another lens.

If that Category page was strong in terms of content and other on-page SEO factors, all of those closely niched and related subheading tags would likely contain variations of the primary keyword phrase targeted by the main category page. What you are really creating with that category page now is a 'Source Document' that (when assembled properly) contains useful and relevant information to answer queries related to a specific search term and secondarily is also optimized through effective use of subheadings which are filled with longtails and variations of the primary keyword phrase the main category page addresses.

IE - you now have a strong document for ranking - BUT - it is actually the page that benefits from those other 'weak' pages that it links to, if for no other reason than the efficient use of subheadings.

And it get's better...

Assuming that your category is titled in such a way as to attempt to rank for a specific keyword phrase (and associated longtails), ever page that was linked to from that main category page will link back to it with an optimized anchor text only more strongly identifying with Google what that main category page should be ranked for.

IE - Now that main category page is not only benefiting directly from the well optimized subheading links to the other 'weaker' pages, but now it is also getting an anchor text optimized link back to it from each of those pages which means that it is the 'weaker' pages that are actually strengthening the 'strong' page in two ways now.

Example:

Category Name - (H1 Heading) White Hat SEO
Links to Pages Titled:
(H3 Subheading) White Hat SEO For Beginners
(H3 Subheading) White Hat SEO Techniques That Work
(H3 Subheading) White Hat SEO Linkbuilding Methods
(H3 Subheading) White Hat SEO Tools
(H3 Subheading) The White Hat SEO Rule Book
(H3 Subheading) Why White Hat SEO's Have It Right
(H3 Subheading) Hungry? Then Get White Hat SEO. It's What's For Dinner
(H3 Subheading) This White Hat SEO Is Laughing His Way To The Bank
etc etc etc etc

Now that main category page has a lot of subheading tags on it that all contain the term 'White Hat SEO' or very close variations of it, which will be beneficial if that is the search term you are trying to rank for.

In addition, every one of those will link back to that category page with the anchor text 'White Hat SEO.'

So assuming that we are in a link-sterile condition (no inbound links) the reciprocal links between the two pages should hypothetically be a zero net benefit in either direction.

HOWEVER, it is the main category page that is getting the benefit of all of the subheading tags and the very specific anchor text optimized links back to it.

So - this is where I question... is it the case of the 'strong' page benefiting the 'weaker' pages, or is it the case of the 'weaker' pages actually doing double duty to strength the 'strong' page?

Now Equally....

Someone could make the argument that the category page will be linked to from the navigation menu, and Google heavily favors pages that are included in primary navigation. Further more, there may be an unequal pagerank distribution associated to those pages based on the fact that they are on the primary navigation menu, so it's really the links from those category pages to the other pages that is the main benefit.

To that, I would say there is certainly a strong argument to be made for that position. However, that only if we are looking at internal pagerank flowing one way and not taking into account the benefits of the subheadings, and not to mention that the internal pagerank will be split up among all of the links out to those 'weaker' pages within the category, where as those 'weaker' pages may only be linking back to the category page and/or closely associated tags (which will serve a similar purpose in a dual plane silo.)

So....

I've rambled on for awhile.

I'm not attempting to say there is only one way to look at the issue. The opposite is actually true. I'm saying that there are several ways to look at the issue of internal link distribution and ultimately it is up to the individual operator to decide for themselves how to leverage it properly based on their content strategy.

FWIW, I keep the mindset and develop my content strategies around the idea of ranking the category (or 'stronger') pages for main keyword phrases and many associated longtails while the 'weaker' pages merely serve to suck up stray secondary terms while primarily contributing to the benefit of that main category page - as it will often be where the money is really made and responsible for turning a user into a customer.

If your category pages were covering very general topics, such as "SEO" instead of "White Hat SEO" then I would probably flip my point of view and depend on the 'weaker' pages to do most of the heavy lifting and develop my content strategy with that in mind.

How many people did I just confuse?

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Icematikx

10 years ago

Originally Posted by godoveryou

How many people did I just confuse?

I've been adopting it into my new affiliate sites.

homepage.com/breville/breville-8492-review

The category page "breville" gets stripped from default content by removing the typical "archive" type coding.

Install HTML in categories plugin.

Beef up the category to rank for "Breville Food Processor Reviews" and link to the review pages through a table or something similar.

For example, "Compare The Best Breville Food Processors:"

Then list the reviews in a table.

Naturally, the category is filled with 500-1,000 words of text, images, videos etc to beef up the category page and essentially create another page that's bringing in traffic.

The URL structure naturally tells Google the category the post belongs to. I've just had one of my new affiliate sites shoot up to #6 in a matter of 3-weeks (the fastest I've managed to achieve since 2014).

It's boasting the same PBN links that all of my others are - the only difference is the above layout. I strongly believe it has played an immense part in the rapid ranking and well-performing nature of the site.

All of my new sites will be built in the above layout.

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nik0

Banned 10 years ago

Breaking news: A category page can be turned into a full fledge page and we can apply internal linking.

Woohoo, who would've ever though of that.

Thanks
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godoveryou 10 years ago

Originally Posted by nik0

Breaking news: A category page can be turned into a full fledge page and we can apply internal linking.

Woohoo, who would've ever though of that.

I really hope that you still have me blocked and that you aren't this big of an idiot....
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- nik0 Banned 10 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by godoveryou
  
  I really hope that you still have me blocked and that you aren't this big of an idiot....
  
  No I'm not such an idiot to forget that H2 or H3 tags naturally appear at category pages, as well as anchor texts, are you?
  
  I really wonder if noobs fall for this basic stuff that could be summarized in one or two sentences
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  godoveryou 10 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by nik0
  
  No I'm not such an idiot to forget that H2 or H3 tags naturally appear at category pages, as well as anchor texts, are you?
  
  Actually, you're showing that you are in that you completely missed the purpose of those tags, not just that they existed.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  nik0 Banned 10 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by godoveryou
  
  Actually, you're showing that you are in that you completely missed the purpose of those tags, not just that they existed.
  
  Goob job, advising people to add something that already is there.
  
  Same like suggesting and explaining why brakes are a must for a car
  
  Keep it coming!
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  godoveryou 10 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by nik0
  
  Goob job, advising people to add something that already is there.
  
  Same like suggesting and explaining why brakes are a must for a car
  
  Keep it coming!
  
  I'm not sure if you are too stupid to realize that you don't matter or that you realize you don't matter and are upset and over-reacting about it....
  
  Either way, can you name any purpose you've served in this thread?
  
  Seriously, tell us one thing you've contributed other than being a little bitch?
  
  Thanks
  
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MikeFriedman

10 years ago

Originally Posted by nik0

Breaking news: A category page can be turned into a full fledge page and we can apply internal linking.

Woohoo, who would've ever though of that.

You are unbelievable. That post that GOY just left is absolutely brilliant compared to most of the stuff posted in this section. It might be common knowledge to some of us, but to 99% of the members here, that is a post they should probably bookmark and come back to once in awhile.

His post is about so much more than just the fact that h2 and h3 tags show up on category pages and there is some internal linking going on.

I guess people should go and read your thread about how great footer links really are instead.

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Blaine Smitley

10 years ago

Originally Posted by MikeFriedman

So yeah I read GOYs post and bookmarked it for later reading. I'm new to all of this silo stuff. Using onsite links to push pages in the ranks... I'm still learning and can't get enough of this stuff. I'm still not sure if I'm doing it right.

Anyway. I thought your post was funny in a cosmic kind of way.. Beings I had just saved this thread in my bookmarks.

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godoveryou

10 years ago

Originally Posted by Icematikx

I wasn't really referring to the URL structure as much as I was purely on-page elements like subheadings and anchor text, but I see where you are coming from there. I actually do not preserve that URL structure to avoid keyword redundancy.

Such as in my example:

www.seosite.com/whitehatseo/white-hat-seo-rules

Too many mentions of white hat seo and seo for my liking, but that's just an opinion.

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Icematikx

10 years ago

Originally Posted by godoveryou

Sure... But..

seosite.com/link-building/how-to-acquire-the-best-links
seosite.com/social-media/how-i-earned-10k-on-facebook
seosite.com/link-building/why-fiverr-doesnt-work-for-ranking

etcetc

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godoveryou

10 years ago

Originally Posted by Icematikx

Sure... But..

seosite.com/link-building/how-to-acquire-the-best-links
seosite.com/social-media/how-i-earned-10k-on-facebook
seosite.com/link-building/why-fiverr-doesnt-work-for-ranking

etcetc

I'm not trying to devalue your point, although I also don't apply it for a reason. It's also just not how I plot my content strategy as I niche my categories a little more tightly.

An example being that Facebook wouldn't fall under social-media in my modeling but instead be in it's own facebook-marketing subcategory.

I'd rather benefit from having 20-30 posts sending an anchor text link of 'Facebook Marketing" back to the "facebook-marketing" subcategory page which will then benefit from having a bunch of H3 tags on that page, all which include the word(s) "Facebook" or "Facebook Marketing."

In your example you might have 100 posts linking back to the category "social-media" with the anchor text of "Social Media" but to me, that is too broad of a term to try to effectively rank for based on leveraging internal links alone (or nearly alone.) On the other hand, ranking the category "facebook-marketing" with few links is much more realistic as you will be chasing a smaller keyword phrase and while simultaneously using the benefit of the H3 tags on that page that aren't diluted.

I suppose what I'm saying is that TO ME it is not worth having a url structure like that at the cost of giving up precise anchor-text attribution and while at the same time diluting the subheadings of those main pages that I want to rank.

I view it as throwing away the advantages you could have in favor of a more general category page that will have a much more difficult time ranking on it's own merits based on it's broad/competitive primary keyword phrase, and I just don't see the advantage in doing that in terms of SEO.

That having been said: If you are a fan of dual-plane silos there's no reason you can't have your cake and eat it to by tagging the Facebook Marketing posts with 'social media' and then building out that tag page as well. Or you could use two categories - which I know that people think is the worse thing you can do, but we are talking about 200 character of duplicate text (not a big deal in the least), and since tags and categories are both just archive pages anyways, there's no real function difference to begin with. - But I still wouldn't use that URL structure, particularly in this case as you'd have two URL's that were then 70%+ duplicate, and actually two entirely different pages that were 100% duplicate text. This is a scenario where the URL structure loses badly. -

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Icematikx

10 years ago

Originally Posted by godoveryou

I'd rather benefit from having 20-30 posts sending an anchor text link of 'Facebook Marketing" back to the "facebook-marketing" subcategory page which will then benefit from having a bunch of H3 tags on that page, all which include the word(s) "Facebook" or "Facebook Marketing."

Oh, sure, I agree.

I was under the assumption that we were talking about smaller sized, static websites, like affiliate sites.

If I was launching a site that has dynamic and consistent content, then I'd be going as specific as possible category wise. I'd actually build the categories out as eCommerce categories (so to speak). Text at the top, archived posts as the main layout with an archived rel=next and rel=previous structure. Then at the bottom, have 300 - 1,000 words in a tab to stop the page being 500ft long.

Makes sense to make the categories as niche specific as possible. But again, depends how many posts you're publishing, and how many categories you're targeting. The great thing about these category pages is that the content always changes everytime a new post is published - forcing Google to keep in regular touch with that category page.

For my affiliate sites though, the /brand-name/product-name-review/ structure works perfectly as they are static sites. Once their #1, I rarely add new content. And generally, because the niche is so product-specific, there's only so many terms you can target and want to spend time on.

I mean, I wouldn't bother spending time for a category that gets 100 searches/month.

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MarvyDery

10 years ago

Originally Posted by godoveryou

Before I get into another below, I just want to say that Google ranks individuals documents - or pages - so yes they all carry importance.

On the same hand, you can also control pagerank's flow and anchor text application by using all of the pages on your site effectively - so this only bolsters the importance of each individual page.

This is an interesting post... And for a few reasons.

A) Is it really the case that you want your "strong" pages to link to your "weak" pages as an effect of distributing pagerank judiciously? (pagerank being the reason one page is strong while another is weak)

B) Or should "weak" pages be used to strengthen certain pages (or make them stronger) for both better search engine ranking for those terms and as a means of primary navigational importance? And on the same token, these "weak" pages can still be linked to from the 'strong' pages and donate a well optimized subheading tag to that 'strong' page only allowing it to rank more easily for additional longtail traffic itself.

I understand this might be a little confusing, but that's because I'm attempting to differentiate two different ways of looking at the same issue.

Let's talk category pages with Wordpress.

They can hold significant content and every page that they link out to will typically be done using a H3 (sometimes H2 or H4) subheading tag. While this might be looked at as a 'Strong' category page linking out to 'weak' longtail pages - I'd venture to look at this through another lens.

If that Category page was strong in terms of content and other on-page SEO factors, all of those closely niched and related subheading tags would likely contain variations of the primary keyword phrase targeted by the main category page. What you are really creating with that category page now is a 'Source Document' that (when assembled properly) contains useful and relevant information to answer queries related to a specific search term and secondarily is also optimized through effective use of subheadings which are filled with longtails and variations of the primary keyword phrase the main category page addresses.

IE - you now have a strong document for ranking - BUT - it is actually the page that benefits from those other 'weak' pages that it links to, if for no other reason than the efficient use of subheadings.

And it get's better...

Assuming that your category is titled in such a way as to attempt to rank for a specific keyword phrase (and associated longtails), ever page that was linked to from that main category page will link back to it with an optimized anchor text only more strongly identifying with Google what that main category page should be ranked for.

IE - Now that main category page is not only benefiting directly from the well optimized subheading links to the other 'weaker' pages, but now it is also getting an anchor text optimized link back to it from each of those pages which means that it is the 'weaker' pages that are actually strengthening the 'strong' page in two ways now.

Example:

Category Name - (H1 Heading) White Hat SEO
Links to Pages Titled:
(H3 Subheading) White Hat SEO For Beginners
(H3 Subheading) White Hat SEO Techniques That Work
(H3 Subheading) White Hat SEO Linkbuilding Methods
(H3 Subheading) White Hat SEO Tools
(H3 Subheading) The White Hat SEO Rule Book
(H3 Subheading) Why White Hat SEO's Have It Right
(H3 Subheading) Hungry? Then Get White Hat SEO. It's What's For Dinner
(H3 Subheading) This White Hat SEO Is Laughing His Way To The Bank
etc etc etc etc

Now that main category page has a lot of subheading tags on it that all contain the term 'White Hat SEO' or very close variations of it, which will be beneficial if that is the search term you are trying to rank for.

In addition, every one of those will link back to that category page with the anchor text 'White Hat SEO.'

So assuming that we are in a link-sterile condition (no inbound links) the reciprocal links between the two pages should hypothetically be a zero net benefit in either direction.

HOWEVER, it is the main category page that is getting the benefit of all of the subheading tags and the very specific anchor text optimized links back to it.

So - this is where I question... is it the case of the 'strong' page benefiting the 'weaker' pages, or is it the case of the 'weaker' pages actually doing double duty to strength the 'strong' page?

Now Equally....

Someone could make the argument that the category page will be linked to from the navigation menu, and Google heavily favors pages that are included in primary navigation. Further more, there may be an unequal pagerank distribution associated to those pages based on the fact that they are on the primary navigation menu, so it's really the links from those category pages to the other pages that is the main benefit.

To that, I would say there is certainly a strong argument to be made for that position. However, that only if we are looking at internal pagerank flowing one way and not taking into account the benefits of the subheadings, and not to mention that the internal pagerank will be split up among all of the links out to those 'weaker' pages within the category, where as those 'weaker' pages may only be linking back to the category page and/or closely associated tags (which will serve a similar purpose in a dual plane silo.)

So....

I've rambled on for awhile.

I'm not attempting to say there is only one way to look at the issue. The opposite is actually true. I'm saying that there are several ways to look at the issue of internal link distribution and ultimately it is up to the individual operator to decide for themselves how to leverage it properly based on their content strategy.

FWIW, I keep the mindset and develop my content strategies around the idea of ranking the category (or 'stronger') pages for main keyword phrases and many associated longtails while the 'weaker' pages merely serve to suck up stray secondary terms while primarily contributing to the benefit of that main category page - as it will often be where the money is really made and responsible for turning a user into a customer.

If your category pages were covering very general topics, such as "SEO" instead of "White Hat SEO" then I would probably flip my point of view and depend on the 'weaker' pages to do most of the heavy lifting and develop my content strategy with that in mind.

How many people did I just confuse?

thanks for the wonderful education. this is my first time learning this and I will implement it and check the results.

Thanks

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Sabahat 10 years ago

I believe that when search engine tries to rank your site, it first collectively analyse the strength of your domain as a whole. The strength of the domain is based on following factors more or less:

i) Category of your Domain/Sub-Domain (Blog, Site, Forum)
ii) Niche Category of your Domain (Google Insight used to have a categorical niches listed which is not available now. But I think Google does consider it when it comes to Domain analysis).
iii) Number of Indexed Pages.
iv) Uniqueness of the Indexed Pages.
v) Relevancy of Indexed Pages
vi) Onsite categorization of Indexed Pages.
vii) Finally outbound linking building profile of your Domains.

Please note that, however the money page has to logically have more of the off-page done BUT neglecting other pages completely may show an unnatural link building profile of your website in the sight of Google.

Say you have 10 pages of website and only 1 out of those 10 pages are getting links, social signals and others NOT. It will not create a natural link building profile of your domain, as far as I believe. Try to get some links of a complete website. I also have tried to make links for:

Home Page, Categories URLs, Articles to increase site's size but aren't meant to be ranked.

I had good results from them. Moreover, if you get the links for each and every page of your domain, it will eventually pass the natural link juice to your money page hence helping it to rank well.

Regards!
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