URL Architecture
URL architecture relates to the structure of a webpage’s URL and how it can impact a page’s performance in search. There are several elements to consider when creating a URL structure to ensure it is optimised for both search engines and users. These are covered within our Hangout Notes, along with recommendations and insights from Google.
Localising URLs Doesn’t Cause a Problem for Google
If you decide to translate and localise the words in your URLs for different language versions of a site, then this won’t break anything from an SEO perspective.
When Using Subfolders for International Site Structure, Have Country Before Language
If you are using subfolders for different country and language variations, these need to be verified separately in Google Search Console. Having the country subfolder before the language subfolder will make things much easier.
Shorter URLs Aren’t Given Preferential Treatment in Search
Google doesn’t have anything in their algorithms to prefer URLs that are shorter in length, despite of what some ranking studies suggest.
Click Depth Determines Page Importance More Than URL Structure
Google cares more about click depth rather than what the URL structure looks like itself with regards to page importance. For example, it doesn’t matter too much if a page is several layers deep in the URL structure if it is linked from the homepage.
Move Outdated Content From Re-Usable URLs Onto Archive URLs
If you have content that you update for a yearly event, for example, include the newest content on one, re-usable URL where accumulative signals gained will allow it to rank higher, and move outdated content onto archive URLs.
Google Can Understand International Sites Without Hreflang Guidance
Hreflang is best practice for international sites. However, Google can understand different language versions of a site without hreflang present through internal linking or the URLs themselves.
Google Differentiates Page Types And Weighs Them Differently
Google differentiates between different page groups (e.g. irrelevant pages, cruft URLs and parameters) and weighs them differently. These pages will be looked at occasionally but won’t be considered as a primary part of the site.
Hreflang Takes Precedence Over URL When Conflict Exists Between Language & Location Information
If the country or language codes conflict between the URL directory structure or query parameters and the hreflang then John thinks that the latter would take precedence e.g. if EN was featured in the URL and DE in hreflang markup, hreflang would be used by Google.
Words in URL are Relatively Small Ranking Factor Compared to Page Content
Google does use words in URLs if there is anything useful there, but this is a relatively small factor compared to content on the page. However, Google does pick up country and language codes that they think are relevant to identify different versions of a page.
Hash Symbols Are Ignored by Google
When Crawling and indexing pages Google ignores everything that comes after a hash symbol. Using these is fine as long as they don’t lead to unique content not available within the normal URL as this would likely be missed by Google.