Importance of keywords in URL

Hi All,

I've been searching through the google forum but can't find anything on this. I'm sure it's been covered already but I'm struggling to find the appropriate topics when I search (there's just so much in here and sometimes the topic titles aren't that specific) - so please excuse me if you've already answered this.

Anyway, I'm comparing my site (http://www.viva-almeria.com against the competition and noticed that many of the top pages have the keywords in the URL. I wondered if this is relevant?

I've recently purchased the professional edition of WebCEO (any thoughts on the value of this tool would be welcome) and when comparing my site to others I actually seem to do better in terms of prominence and relevancy - so I'm not sure what it could be. My PR is 4 - which obviously could be better, but I don't feature at all on the searches where others do. I'm also not yet in the DMOZ, but noticed that some others in the top 10 are not either (and similar PRs).

Web CEO makes no mention of the URL when optimising specifically for Google. Hence, I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what I should do.

If there are any other threads on this, please post the URL to compensate for my poor searching ability

Also, if anyone would like to take a quick shifty at my site and pull it apart (with constructive comments) on what could be better, I'll try to take it on the chin. Actually, that would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Mike[/url]

Yes there is 100% relation with keyword name on the url and more additional http://www.ozzu.com/other-google-information-and-resources/new-identification-the-algo-t24661.html but it does not mean that you have lost at the beggining on this competition becouse of your domain name.
Try to search for " web hosting " which have the biggest deal, how many sites have "web hosting" in their url at the first 10 result ? 1th dont have and more then half of the first 10 have not too.

Pr5 is avarage for simple keywords, pr6 is good for valuable ones and pr7 needed to be ranked on the top keywords and those are the things that you cant rank anyway without them .

Just think how can you raise your pr , 4 is very low to get rank.

This is an opportunity to ask this question I have been wondering.
I have a pr of 4. I am hoping to be a 5 this time as I have aquired a lot more backlinks. All of my anchor text is Florida fishing and hunting.
I used this because it describes my site as it revolves around fishing AND hunting. The real searched term I am after is Florida fishing. My main page title has florida fishing and florida hunting in the title.

Will having all of my anchor text as Florida fishing and hunting still get me that florida fishing term eventually?

Also being a 4 I am hoping that a 5 will start to get me somewhere.
what do you all think?

I wouldn't use the same anchor text in all your links. This can show the search engines that the links are synthetic, and not natural. I would start using just "florida fishing" for the rest or many more of your links.

MikeGibbs: Nice site. I would work on your anchor text. You are using viva almeria in most of your links and you are #1 for that term. If that's not what your trying to be ranked for get some links with the text that you want to rank for.



Do you have the googl toolbar. You have alot of links but some are not very good PR pages...the toolbar will help you identify which sites have good PR.

As for the keywords in the url....yahoo gives more weight to this element...google will catalog the url but it doesn't give it much value. Make sure you keywords are in the title tag.

fishandhunt: Mix up your keywords in your anchor text...like "fishing in florida", "florida fishing" etc...

Vetofunk: "NEW REPORT OUT BY GOOGLE - Misspelling in forums leads to decreased positioning and possible blacklisting of your site." is that true...can you post the link to the article....reminds me of those teachers that would knock you down a grade for spelling when you wrote a great term paper....before the days of spell checker

Hi phaugh,

Thanks for the feedback. I'm a little confused about 'viva-almeria' in the anchor text - most of the links are internal and thus have the domain name in them (and I don't have Viva-Almeria displayed as the text on the page for the link).

Sorry if I've misunderstood or am being thick - could you explain a little further?

Thanks,

Mike

I think he means from external links from outside your site.

Yes...I was referring to external links....but internal links are just as relevant....and you have total control over them. Internal links will have an impact on terms that are less competitive, since you have a large site....you can get good rankings by crafting good links in your own site that link to various top level topic pages.

Currently you are using these keywords on you main page: "Almeria, Costa de Almeria, Andalucia, Spain" and you are using this for you title: "Costa Almeria Spain. Directory for properties, holidays, information". If these are the term you are targeting then you should have links, both internal and external using those words....mix them around for best results.

For example: At the bottom of the main page your using this text "Costa Almeria Spain Directory for properties, holidays, information"

I would turn that into a link back to the home page and place it at the bottom of every page...that will give you a boost for those words. Then when you are getting new links to your site use something similar in the anchor text....like "Directory of Costa Almeria Spain properties"

Hope that helps.

You have done a good job with you meta tags...the pages I viewed all use unique keyword, title, and description tags that are relevant to the page they are on...use the title text when you link to those pages internally and externally.

You can get a link from one of my real estate sites by going here: http://www.telluriderealestate.biz/add_url.htm

Hi phaugh,

Thanks for that, I'll amend my text at the bottom of the page to be an internal link also.

Can I just say how much I appreciate how much you've looked at my site and the quality of your advice. A couple of weeks ago I started joining and posting to a variety of webmaster forums and not only is this the only forum that has created replies, but also the speed of response and detailed advice has been really great. I know I'm waffling, but as someone who gave up work to try and start a web business, finding others out there who take time to help is REALLY appreciated - thanks

Regarding linking to you site, that's very kind of you. I have a recomended links section on my site too, but for other Spanish provinces. I'll create a new 'International' section (with the appropriate sub-sections for different categories) and send you a PM when ready so you can submit.

I'm now pleased to say that the new keyword focused URL structure of the site is now in place (including the 301 redirect on old pages). Thanks to all in this topic to helping me achieve this.

Cheers,

Mike

Thats what ozzu's all about!

3 cheers for bigwebmaster making it findable....

hi MikeGibbs, what phaugh meant by external links.... links you have in other sites.

link exchanges, directories, other sites...etc..

even in forums.... ozzu
having keywords that you are targetting. ie.
travel forums site

putting yr keywords in yr signature in ozzu helps too...

I use a SEO preparation tool to check my keyword effeciency. You can check it out at:

http://www.web-inspect.com/search-engin ... ration.php