by Zakary Venturo

Created on: September 13, 2010

Even a shallow look into Search Engine Optimization will point out keywords are important. Put in them in the titles, subheadings, and sprinkle them into the content itself to generate page rank. But it is all a bunch of bologna without the URL.

No, this is not about domain names. Look at http://www.tomshardware.com, unless you already know this site is focused on computers, the domain name might make one believe it is all about power saws, screwdrivers, and hammers.  Having a relevant domain name for a topic or a business can help, but it is the content which really makes a site shine. This is what search engines crawl to index and why URLs are so important. URLs are what a search engine serves up when users make a search.

URLs are one very good reason why content management systems are so widely used today. Once the article is written, it is usually a simple matter to have the title duplicated in the URL. WordPress, for instance, calls this permalinking, meaning the content will forever be available at a specific URL.

Yes, it is a great tip to duplicate the title in the URL, but it is even more important to have the content available at the same URL forever. This does two things. A website is free to change itself over the course of time with new ideas and technology and the page rank can be nurtured to grow over time.

Besides the advantage of having the URL remain static in a search engine as the years roll by, a topic often is not nearly as unchanging. An example would be, "The Basics of PC Security." New operating systems, an ever changing world of security suites, and other related issues would make this a subject worth updating over time.

Keeping the content relative on an URL can only help strengthen the page. Instead of a short lived potentially popular article, a page can be the catalyst for capturing an every growing audience over time. The more users, the greater the likelihood for other content to be viewed.

Older content that is no longer relevant means readers are less likely to stick around. A URL with a "404 page not found"  is even worse. In time,  the page rank will drop to the point of disappearing.

While it might be impossible to keep a trendy topic fresh, it is not impossible to avoid "404 page not found" errors and nurture good topics into remaining relevant.  As search engines index those URLs,  their value will only grow over time.

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