{"id":17727,"date":"2022-03-01T15:30:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-01T15:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/03\/01\/should-i-create-a-landing-page-for-each-url-link-to-my-main-site\/"},"modified":"2022-03-01T15:30:05","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T15:30:05","slug":"should-i-create-a-landing-page-for-each-url-link-to-my-main-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/03\/01\/should-i-create-a-landing-page-for-each-url-link-to-my-main-site\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Create A Landing Page For Each URL & Link To My Main Site?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\n
<\/p>\n

\n

This week\u2019s Ask An SEO question comes from Mike in Columbus, who writes:\n<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cLet\u2019s say I do some keyword research and find a really strong search volume around some keywords that are highly related to my website. I then purchase those keywords as URLs \u2013 30 of them.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s best for my main website traffic, authority, search results and overall improvement in SEO? Should I create a landing page for each URL and link to my main site from each landing page, or simply forward each URL to my main page?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I think that having multiple websites targeting specific keywords is a really bad strategy for most companies.<\/p>\n

It is almost always better to start by consolidating your web properties into one ultra-strong site where you can push all of your marketing efforts, not just SEO.<\/p>\n

From a non-SEO perspective, when you create strong, branded web presences, you will get more clicks and traffic.<\/p>\n

From an SEO perspective, every site you control requires additional resources.<\/p>\n

If you have 30 sites, you have to optimize 30 sites.<\/p>\n

You must do technical SEO maintenance<\/a> on 30 sites.<\/p>\n

You have to secure and protect 30 sites.<\/p>\n

You have to build links to 30 sites.<\/p>\n

For most companies, having many sites causes resource issues, and most companies simply don\u2019t have the bandwidth to optimize 30 sites well.<\/p>\n

What ends up happening is that some sites get attention, while others flounder.<\/p>\n

In fact, I\u2019d be confident in saying that most companies that employ this type of strategy either get nothing out of it or have a poor ROI.<\/p>\n

The resources required to optimize so many sites cost more than the money that can be made, in many cases.<\/p>\n

Exact Match Domains Do Work<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s a shame to have to admit this, but I do know that having a keyword in the URL of your site will make it more likely to rank for that particular keyword.<\/p>\n

In the past, Google has told us that keywords in a URL are NOT a ranking factor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It may not be a ranking factor, but anecdotal evidence suggests that sites with a keyword in the URL are more likely to rank for that keyword.<\/p>\n

However, just having a site rank for a particular keyword does not automatically translate to increased traffic, sales and leads.<\/p>\n

Extraneous domain names, meaning domain names beyond your main, branded web property, are much more exposed to the whims of a Google algorithm update<\/a> than a well-built main brand domain.<\/p>\n

If you have the resources to build out a robust web presence on your extraneous domain name, you are likely to lose any rankings gained from having a keyword in your domain name.<\/p>\n

Google has said that keywords in domain names don\u2019t affect rankings.<\/p>\n

Even though we know they do.<\/p>\n

But at the end of the day, keywords in the top-level domain are a weak signal and in most cases won\u2019t result in a good ROI.<\/p>\n

Keywords In Page Names<\/h2>\n

One tactic I am a fan of is using keywords in page URL names.<\/p>\n

The signal for the keyword is not as strong as it is when it appears in the top-level domain. But with a little effort, you can make the signal even stronger than it is on those extraneous domains.<\/p>\n

Creating a robust and sensible internal linking structure combined with great content is usually enough to elevate a page with keywords in the domain name to the same level as a site with keywords in the top-level domain.<\/p>\n

In Conclusion<\/h2>\n

I highly recommend looking for a better strategy<\/a> than buying a bunch of domains with keywords in them.<\/p>\n

Sure, if you have unlimited resources, testing some of those domains might<\/strong> make sense, but even doing that runs the risk of cannibalization.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t think that Google doesn\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing when you buy 30 domain names hoping to rank the same company.<\/p>\n

And just a hint \u2013 Google doesn\u2019t like it when you try to rank multiple domains for the same company.<\/p>\n

If you were able to rank all of your sites, it would create a bad experience for the end-user.<\/p>\n

And experience Google doesn\u2019t want them to have.<\/p>\n

So when Google figures out what you are doing, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will take action to fix the poor user experience.<\/p>\n

More resources:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Ask an SEO\u00a0<\/strong>is a\u00a0weekly\u00a0SEO advice\u00a0column written by some of the industry\u2019s top\u00a0SEO experts, who have been hand-picked by Search Engine Journal. Got a question about\u00a0SEO?\u00a0Fill out our form<\/a>. You might see your answer in the next #AskanSEO post!<\/em><\/p>\n

Featured Image: Shutterstock\/VectorMine<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n