Using Living URLs for Seasonal Content

http://www.wolf-howl.com/wp-content/uploads/seasonal-urls.jpg

I’ve mentioned incorporating living URL’s into your SEO strategy before. Now that I have been experimenting with them for a while, I have some tips about using them a little bit more intelligently.

If you read fashion magazines, you know that every year they publish a spring fashion update; bridal magazines publish new spring wedding dresses; and bands that have been around a long time will always return to give concerts in major cities like New York or Los Angeles. Traditionally, publishers would use a solution like this:

Title: Women’s Spring Fashion For 2011

URL: example.com/womens-spring-fashion-2011/

Title: Spring Bridal Dresses 2011

URL: example.com/spring-bridal-dresses-2011/

Title: U2 Concert Tickets Madison Square Garden 2011

URL: example.com/u2-concert-tickets-madison-square-garden-2011/

To use the living URL strategy, you need to understand how Google handles dates and to know when to use them and when to avoid them. My recommendation is to keep the year in the page/html title (updating it every year) but to keep the year out of the URL. So it would look like this:

Title: Women’s Spring Fashion For 2011

URL: example.com/womens-spring-fashion/

Title: Spring Bridal Dresses 2011

URL: example.com/spring-bridal-dresses/

Title: U2 Concert Tickets Madison Square Garden 2011

URL: example.com/u2-concert-tickets-madison-square-garden/

In the examples used above, I would put up new content on the existing URL’s and not save the old content. However, there are some cases where you would want to save the content, as in my WordPress SEO plugins post, but that’s a decision you’re going to have to make for yourself based on your niche and whether the archived content has value. A third option is to put the new content on the old URL and move the old content on a new URL. It sounds complicated, but it’s really pretty easy. I go into more detail in keeping an editorial calendar in the new car model section.

Next you need to consider the implications of social media on your living URL strategy. If your blog auto tweets new posts, you’ll need to clear/reset the fields that control those actions. Next, you need to update the publish date, especially if you do any date-based sorting or displays or if you include the date in your XML site map. If your content has a link bait social bookmarking quality, you need to experiment with how the site you are targeting handles submitting the same URL. I suggest experimenting with someone else’s domain–not your own. I suggest that you try adding parameters or try camouflaging your intent with dummy parameters like “utm_source=rss”.

So what are the takeaways from this post:

• Use predictive SEO and an editorial calendar to identify candidates for a living URL strategy.
• Use the date in the title but avoid it in the URL.
• Have a plan for archiving, relocating, or eliminating the old content.
• Update the publish date and reset any autotweet fields.
• Know how any social media sites handle resubmissions. Try using parameters as a workaround.

http://www.wolf-howl.com/wp-content/plugins/photo-dropper/images/cc.png photo credit: soundman1024

http://www.wolf-howl.com/wp-content/banners/text_link_ads_F_468x60.gif

Related posts:

1. Running A Seasonal Website While running multiple websites isn’t a strategy I recommend for...
2. WordPress SEO: How to Create Living URL’s If you watched any of the congressional hearings about the...
3. Can You Make a Living Blogging Today’s question comes from Joe Tao who asks: “Is it...
4. What is Evergreen Content Evergreen Content is a subject I talk about quite frequently...
5. Short Term Content Versus Evergreen Content I’ve got a confession to make. I used to be...

Advertisers:

1. Text Link Ads - New customers can get $100 in free text links.
2. BOTW.org - Get a premier listing in the internet's oldest directory.
3. Ezilon.com Regional Directory - Check to see if your website is listed!
4. Directory Journal - Get permanentdeep links in a search engine friendly directory
5. Glass Whiteboards - For a professional durable white board with no ghosting, streaking or marker stains, see my Glass Whiteboard Review
6. Need an SEO Audit for your website, look at my SEO Consulting Services
7. Link Building- Backlink Build offers 45 PR5+ Backlinks for $295
8. KnowEm - Protect your brand, product or company name with a continually growing list of social media sites.
9. Scribe SEO Review find out how to better optimize your wordpress posts.
10. TigerTech - Great Web Hosting service at a great price.<li>What Motivates You - what makes you want to get up and be successful

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review. <br/><br/>Using Living URL’s for Seasonal Content <br/>

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wolf-howl?i=Y6mYm5usAaE:E0RTfm4ziYM:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wolf-howl?i=Y6mYm5usAaE:E0RTfm4ziYM:wF9xT3WuBAs</img> http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wolf-howl?d=dnMXMwOfBR0</img> http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wolf-howl?i=Y6mYm5usAaE:E0RTfm4ziYM:aKCwKftKxY0</img> http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wolf-howl?d=7Q72WNTAKBA</img> http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wolf-howl?i=Y6mYm5usAaE:E0RTfm4ziYM:D7DqB2pKExk</img> http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wolf-howl?i=Y6mYm5usAaE:E0RTfm4ziYM:JEwB19i1-c4</img> http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wolf-howl?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img>http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Wolf-howl/~4/Y6mYm5usAaE

View the full article