~~~Writing for the Search Engines~~~
From: Puneet Aggarwal
Every Rank Write is a prized possession for me. I have a separate
folder for them in my mail client. You make SEO so easy for us. [Thank
you! - Jill and Heather]
I am building a site that will retail Ayurvedic Supplements. Not going
with the regular format where we have a main entry page and then
individual product pages, I am thinking about using only the
Individual product pages, i.e., no entry page. In a crux, I am trying
to promote each product through a separate content-rich page and all
these product pages fall under the same domain.
The question: Do I necessarily need to have a main entry page
(www.domain.com) working when I submit to search engines. If I don't
have the default domain page, would the search engines consider it
spam if I submit all the individual product pages because they come
from the same domain (www.domain.com/product1,
www.domain.com/product2).
Regards,
Puneet Aggarwal
~~~Heather's Response~~~
Hi, Puneet,
Good question!
Well, as long as all your pages are linked together by common
navigation, the search engines won't consider it spam. However, the
*directories* will care, and if you want to get listed, you'll build a
home page. It's the page they prefer you to submit, and the one on
which they usually base their ranking decisions. If you don't submit
to directories, you're missing a tremendous opportunity to drive
traffic to your site. (I'm sure Jill will have some comments too, so
watch out for her two cents!)
Now, optimizing each product page is a fantastic idea! As we've
discussed before, any time you're creating keyphrase-rich copy for
your inner pages (and coding everything correctly, of course),
you're creating a natural gateway to your site. You can read
more details about this in Rank Write 022.
Without a home page, including call-to-action links within the copy is
even more important. That is, you have to have an easy way prospects
can find other products and pages. Otherwise, they may get "stuck" at
a product page and not know what else to do or where to find more
information. For instance, assume that "weight loss herbs" was a
strong keyphrase. Writing something like: "Like product X? Try
product Y! Try our natural weight loss herbs now" would be good, and
you're even cross-marketing your products! For more info, check out
Rank Write 032.
Quick side note: I would *really* caution against throwing too much
information (like 300+ words) on a single page. Longer text is
excellent for the engines, but if your pages are an endless scrolling
monstrosity, you're reducing usability. You can either break up the
text with headlines, or split the information to another page.
OK, you know I gotta ask - why don't you want a home page? Is it
because you have a unique design idea? Or, is it because you plain
don't want a home page? Inquiring minds want to know!
I am NOT a design expert, nor do I have any statistics to back me up
with this. However, from a marketing standpoint, I see a greater
benefit if you do have a home page. Prospects are used to seeing a
home page (and may be confused if they don't). It's one more page
(and an important one, too) that the search engines can spider and
rank. Plus, home pages typically give your reader the initial "who we
are and what we do" information, which is incredibly important. I'm
willing to change my mind, though, so if anyone has examples of a "no
home page" site, email it on over. I'm intrigued!
Thanks for your question! Keep 'em coming!
Heather
~~~Jill's unsolicited 2 cents~~~
I agree with Heather (what a surprise!). A home page at the root
domain (www.yourcompany.com) is a necessity for any Web site (and I
will not be as easily swayed as Heather!). The main page of a site is
given the most weight with the search engines because it is known to
be the most important page. Sure, you can get high rankings with your
inner pages, but you might be losing out on even *higher* rankings if
you don't have a home page. And as Heather mentioned, there's a good
chance that directory editors will *not* add your inner product pages.
Most directories will only add one page of a site. Because of this,
they look for the main page. Without it, if you're lucky, you might
be able to pick one particular product page to have listed. However,
this is not going to give a good overall representation of your site.
That's why you have a home page! Is it considered spam to not have a
home page? Absolutely not! But do you need a home page?
Absolutely!
Jill
~~~Send Us Your Questions~~~
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