Which URL and rel=canonical structure to use for location based product inventory pages?
-
I am working on an automotive retailer site that displays local car inventory in nearby dealerships based on location. Within the site, a zip code is required to search, and the car inventory is displayed in a typical product list that can be filtered and sorted by the searcher to fit the searchers needs.
We would like to structure these product inventory list pages that are based on location to give the best chance at ranking, if not now, further down the road when we have built up more authority to compete with the big dogs in SERP like AutoTrader.com, TrueCar.com, etc. These higher authority sites are able to rank their location based car inventory pages on the first page consistently across all makes and models.
For example, searching the term "new nissan rogue" in the Los Angeles, CA area returns a few location based inventory pages on page 1. The sites in the industry that are able to rank their inventory pages will display a relatively clean looking URL with no redirect that still displays the local inventory like this in the SERP:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/New+Cars/Nissan/Rogue
but almost always use a rel=canonical tag within the page to a page with a location parameter attached to the end of the URL like this one:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/New+Cars/Nissan/Rogue/Los+Angeles+CA-90001"/>
I'm having a hard time figuring out why sites like this example have their URLs and pages structured this way.What would be the best practice for structuring the URL and rel=canonical tags to be able to rank for and display location based inventory pages for cars near the searcher?
-
Everett,
Thank you for your time and responses. They have been most helpful in deciding our strategy direction moving forward.
-
Barrett,
I think the Car Gurus way you laid out above is a great solution. This allows you to scale content as well, since now you can provide content only on the single canonical zip code page for that "area". What are some things that Los Angeles drivers need to know about buying a new or used vehicle? Is there anything specific you can call out, like "The last thing you want in LA is to be stuck in traffic on the 405 with a car that won't start..."? If you can pull in data about the zip code it may be possible to automate some customizations at scale as well, such as the average price of new and used vehicles in that zip code, which vehicles are the most popular in that zip code, etc...
Either way it sounds like you're thinking about the problem in the right way so I'm sure you'll be successful. Good luck!
-
Thank you for your response Everett! The above mentioned strategy is used widely within the large brand equity type companies in the industry so it's great to know that that is not the URL structure and rel=canonical strategy that we want to go for right now. We have been exploring other similar strategies to accomplish the same goal.
One strategy that is very similar within the industry for these types of inventory pages is that of cargurus.com. For terms like "nissan rogue los angeles", they are only ranking 1 inventory page for used and 1 for new for all of Los Angeles:
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used-Nissan-Rogue-Los-Angeles-d1047_L2163
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/new/nl-New-Nissan-Rogue-Los-Angeles-d1047_L2163
These pages default to the 90009 zip code no matter where in Los Angeles you are searching from. Changing the zip code within the site to 90001 for example, resets the inventory list by loading a new page, but always rel=canonicals to the 90009 zip code version of the page. I have tested this in several cities and the same is true for all major cities. For these inventory pages they have chosen one centralized zip code to display nearby inventory to rank for and all other zip codes within that same city rel=canonical back to the chosen centralized zip code.Do you think that this would be the best way to structure our URLs for all cities to rank these types of inventory pages for search terms like "nissan rogue los angeles"?
Side question along these same lines: if we followed a similar strategy to this one, and had one zip code for Los Angeles and one zip code for San Diego, would those two inventory pages be considered duplicate content by Google? Or would they be ok since it is a product page that is simply displaying inventory much like ecommerce sites?
-
That is a very interesting setup by Auto Trader. The Rel = "Canonical" URL changes on the true canonical page depending on your location. So this URL:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/New+Cars/Nissan/Rogue
May canonicalize to either of the URLs below, depending on your location:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/Nissan/Rogue/Denver+CO-80211
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/New+Cars/Nissan/Rogue/Los+Angeles+CA-90001
Technically speaking, I think it should work the other way around. Their rankings for these geo-specific keywords seem to be pretty good so I can see why it may be tempting to emulate. However, keep in mind that Auto Trader has a TON of brand equity and PageRank so they can get away with things that might harm another site either now, or in the near future.
After speaking with two other colleagues just to verify, my recommendation here would be NOT to do this. At best, these canonical tags on Auto Trader are probably just being ignored by Google.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How to Get google to get to index New URL and not the OLD url
Hi Team, We are undertaking a Domain migration activity to migrate our content frrom one domain to another. 1. the Redirection of pages is handeled at Reverse proxy level. 2. We do have 301 redirects put in place. However we still see that google is indexing pages with our Old domain apart from the pages from new domain. Is there a way for us to stop google from indexing our pages from Old domain. The recommendations to have Noindex on Page mete title and disallow does not work since our redirection is setup at RP and google crawlers always discover the new pages after redirection.
Local Website Optimization | | bhaskaran0 -
Google still indexing home page even after with 301 - Ecommerce Website
Hi all,
Local Website Optimization | | David1986
We have a 301 redirect problem. Google seems to continue indexing a 301 redirect to our old home page. Even after months. We have a multiple language domain, with subfolders: www.example.com (ex page, now with a redirect to the right locale in the right country) www.example.com/it/home (canonical) www.example.com/en/home (canonical) www.example.com/es/home (canonical) www.example.com/fr/home (canonical) www.example.com/de/home (canonical) We still see the old page (www.example.com) in Google results, with old metadata in English and, just in some countries (i.e.: France), we see the correct result, the "new" homepage, www.example.com/fr/home in first position.
The real problem is that Google is still indexing and showing www.example.com as the "real" and "trusted" URL, even if we set: a 301 redirect the right language for every locale in Google Search Console a canonical tag to the locale url an hreflang tag inside the code a specific sitemap with hreflang tag specified for the new homepages Now our redirect process is the following (Italy example).
www.example.com -->301
www.example.com/en/home --> default version --->301
www.example.com/it/home --> 200 Every online tool, from Moz to Bot simulators see that there is a 301. So Correct. Google Search Console says that: on www.example.com there is a 301 (correct) in the internal link section of Google Search Console the www.example.com is still in first position with 34k links. Many of these links are cominig from property subdomains. Should we change those links inside those third level domain? From www.example.com to www.example.com/LOCALE/home? the www.example.com/LOCALE/home are the real home page, they give 200 code Do you know if there's a way to delete the old home page from Google results since this is 301? Do you think that, even after a 301 redirect, if Google sees too many internal links decides to ignore the 301? Thanks for your help! Davide0 -
Is there an SEO benefit to using tags in WordPress for my blog posts?
We have locations across the US and are trying to develop content so that we rank well for specific keywords on a local level. For instance, "long tail keyword search in state" or "long tail keyword search near 76244", etc. The goal is to develop those content pages via blogs to rank for those keywords. We are using Yoast and will be optimizing each post using that tool. My questions are: 1. Are there any benefits to adding a long list of tags to each post?
Local Website Optimization | | Smart_Start
2. If yes, do I need to limit the number of tags?
3. Do we need to block the indexing of yoast to those tags and categories for duplicate content issues? Any insight on the best way to optimize these blog posts with the use of tags or other avenues would be greatly appreciated.0 -
On what pages of my site should I put schema.org structured markup for an Aggregate Review of a Concrete Construction Contractors work?
I have a concrete contractor that I do a site for. He has many reviews from Home Advisor. So I created a Structured Data Markup using HTML5\. I put the the AggregateReview near the bottom of the About Us page at [http://www.skv-construction.com/about-us.html](http://www.skv-construction.com/about-us.html). Question 1: Should I also put the AggregateReview on the home page, or on specific project pages. Question 2: How will Google use the data now if the About page is NOT searched or displayed in SERPs. Does Google display this markup when and where they want to? Question 3: Siince this is a Local Business, should I embed the AggregateReview within the LocalSearch tag. I passed the Google test as it is for the Aggregate Review! But I have the review wrapped in the HomeAndConstructionBusiness tag. Here is the code: "http://schema.org/HomeAndConstructionBusiness"> # Quality Workmanship w 50 Yrs Experience "http://schema.org/AggregateRating"> 4.37 stars-based on 54 reviews at ["http://www.homeadvisor.com/rated.SKVConstruction.18028291.html"](<a) target="_blank">Home Advisor "http://schema.org/PostalAddress"> 10005 Fair Lane <spam itemprop="addresslocality" union=""></spam> IL 60180 (847) 364 0161 ["http://www.skv-construction.com/contact-us.html"](<a)>Contact Us Price Range: All Jobs Custom; Call for Quote or Visit Web Site Would appreciate any help. This markup is so vague, I can see why few people are using it. Maybe you should do a Video training or extended training on how to's. Vernon Wanner 815-332-8062
Local Website Optimization | | VernonWanner0 -
Ideas on creating location based service pages for SEO value while not worrying about local SEO?
Hello and thanks for reading! We have a bit of a rare issue, where we are a nationwide distributor but have a local side that handles all tristate area requests, the sales that happen via local basically don't impact the online side, so we're trying to not focus on local SEO but in a sense worry about abroad local SEO. We want to try the location based service pages, but not for every state, at most 5 states and inside those pages target 2 to 3 big cities. Is this a waste of time to even think about or is this something that can be done with a careful touch?
Local Website Optimization | | Deacyde0 -
Not all structured data not showing up
Hello, I am relatively new to all the different kinds of schema one can use to mark up a site, but not all of the structured data I entered in showing up in the structured data testing tool? Does that mean that Google can't see it either? Thanks so much in advance for your help!
Local Website Optimization | | lfrazer0 -
How can i optimize my pages for local areas if we are not in that area?
Hi Mozers! So I watched a video about Matt Cutts he talks about creating multiple web pages just for one keywords is an absolutely no go. So I was wondering we serve a clients in NZ Australia and USA, If we target phrase like Psychic Readings California, Psychic Readings San Diego etc (USA) Psychic Readings Melbourne, Psychic Readings Sydney (AU) Psychic Readings Auckland, Psychic Readings Wellington (NZ) What is the best practice or right way to go about structuring my pages to do this without going against googles guidelines. Many thanks
Local Website Optimization | | edward-may1 -
URL Keyword stuffing. service-city.com/product-service-city/ vs. service-city.com/product/
For example: tailoring-london.com/suits-tailoring-london/ or tailoring-london.com/suits/ The main keyword being targeted here is "suit tailoring london". The home page's main keyword is "tailoring london". Would love to hear your opinions. Many thanks 🙂
Local Website Optimization | | LondonAli0