Hey all, Simple question, but one that I'm sure many of us have come across: If I have 10 pages, and each of them have a unique key phrase, and then the same secondary key phrase, am I shooting myself in the foot? More specifically, if I have: Page A with key phrases A1 and A2; Pages B-Z, each with key phrases B1, C1, D1, etc, and each ALSO using A2. Am I cannibalizing my own PR on Page A by spreading its secondary phrase around on my other pages? Or is it helpful to have a strong association among ALL parts of my site and a particular phrase? Or does it really not matter? Thanks in advance for the help! -sharkpants
I don't really think it is a simple question. PR is first and foremost about linking and you don't tell us how they are linked. So, I will assume that you have one navigation menu that links to all 10 pages and that one menu is on all pages. If so, then all PR would be spread evenly. I think that Google has stated that all internal pages on a site are considered "related" and therefore all potential PR would flow. (I could be wrong on that point.) I do find your approach a bit unusual in that you say each page is basically a different topic but also includes the main topic. I'm not sure how G would interpret that, but gut instinct says it is not logical. I think G expects to see a main topic and some number of sub-topics. Insurance (main topic) Auto Boat Home Life Health Liability So if your main page discusses insurance and links to 9 other pages each of which is dedicated to a sub-topic, G will understand this structure very well. This should then give you the best starting point because the structure is simple and proven. /*tom*/
Yeah if your whole site is about (a2) then you are doing fine. Presumably if your site has an overall niche/topic you will want nearly every page to relate to that niche/topic in some way. Consistent use of one or two of your major target keywords is one way to do that.
Page rank is about inbound links and not the text in your own site.Visit Mack Cutt's blog for more info.
Some big sites use that pattern, most especially if the whole site is all about one main topic, at least they have different key phrase. It's the contents actually that will carry and lead for possible rankings for your site, so if every contents incorporate deeply with the title, you are in good way on rankings.
Thanks, folks! It is a large site, and it is all fundamentally one topic, so it sounds like I'm not shooting myself in the foot too badly. longcall911 -- using your insurance model, it's as if my main page had "Insurance | Buy Insurance" and then the sub-pages all had "Fire Insurance | Insurance," "Auto Insurance | Insurance," etc. Granted, the site's not about insurance and the exact phrasing is a little more crafted than "<topic>|buy <topic>," but the major concern was that I wasn't siphoning off ranking on my main phrase by repeating that phrase further down in the site, where it's still of at least a secondary relevance.