Optimizing Your Site Structure for Top Search Engine Rankings
Optimizing Your Site Structure for Top Search Engine Rankings
...and how URLs are the key to it all!
You've seen it a million times; you even know it by name—URL. You probably know that URL stands for Uniform Resource
Locator and you likely refer to it by its 3-letter acronym: "U-R-L." Or maybe you're one of the
cool kids who calls it an "Earl." Either way, you may not know how much URLs can and
do affect your search engine optimization strategies.
Well, move over cool kids, 'cause the geeks are here to teach you something new...
Let's begin with the basics so that later, when we drill down into the important need-to-know details pertaining to SEO strategy, you'll be perched on a solid knowledge-base and primed to follow through when it comes time to implement what you've learned. Much of this could be review for you and if it is, a little refresher always helps to keep you on the right track!
The Nice-to-Know Stuff...
A typical URL, like the one seen below, can be broken down into the following individual components. (Be warned much of the info within this section will likely be review for you. However a quick refresher isn't such a bad thing.)
http://www.domain.com/subdirectory/filename.html
http - stands for Hyper Text Transport Protocol, which defines the method used to view the resource. Basically, it's what tells us a Web page is reachable via a Web browser and that search engines can index it. It also defines which Communication Port to use—in this case the default for http is Port 80. Different protocols typically use different ports, for example FTP typically uses Port 21.
www - the section of a domain name commonly referred to as the subdomain. Most Web sites use either www or none at all. However, many large sites ma...
