Why You Should Avoid Numbers in Your URL Graywolf's SEO Blog |
| Why You Should Avoid Numbers in Your URL Posted: 15 Sep 2011 10:47 AM PDT
While linkbait posts aren’t as popular as they once were, top 10 lists have been popular ever since Moses came down from the mount with his top 10 list of “thou shalt nots.” Magazines like Rolling Stone will always have top 500 playlists and AFI will always have top 100 movies lists. However, as a responsible publisher, marketer, and SEO with an eye for evergreen content, there are more responsible and better long-term URL options you can make for “top 10″ and list style posts than using a number in the URL. Let’s take the following examples:
While there might be some volume for KWDs with the “top 10″ add on, in every case the number is an editorial headline component designed to draw users in along social channels. It has almost no value in from a keyword/search perspective. However, in most cases, blogging software will usually automatically add the numbers into the URL unless you manually strip it out. So you’ll end up with:
While you may write these posts with an eye to be evergreen content, they are an example of evergreen content that needs to be updated. For example, 5 years from now there may be 12 celebrity restaurants in Las Vegas that need to be on the list. If you follow a living URL approach, you will have a URL with the number 7 and a post title/meta/serp listing with 12.  Mismatched Numbers in SERPs While this isn’t a catastrophic, all hands on deck problem, it’s less than optimal. Sure, you could 301 the post, but you run the risk of tinkering with something that’s working and that Google may re-rank. If you take an extra 30 seconds to adjust the URL before publication, you can save yourself hours of headaches down the road. So what are the takeaways from this post:
screen shot via snippet generator photo credit: Photospin  Related posts:
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This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review. |
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