: Optimal URL structure for directory-like site I'm building a site where organic SEO is very important for me. It's a niche, there's very little competition, and any edge I can get will help

@Phylliss660

Posted in: #Seo #Url

I'm building a site where organic SEO is very important for me. It's a niche, there's very little competition, and any edge I can get will help me out tremendously. That being said, which URL structure would you suggest is best, for both technical reasons, and SEO?


example.com/dining (HUB for all dining)
example.com/dining/restaurants (HUB specifically for restaurants)
example.com/dining/cafes (HUB specifically for cafes)
example.com/dining/restaurants/red-onion-club (actual page for that venue)


Or


example.com/dining (HUB for all dining)
example.com/dining/restaurants (HUB specifically for restaurants)
example.com/dining/cafes (HUB specifically for cafes)
example.com/venues/red-onion-club (actual page for that venue)


Note I will also have hotels, bars, etc., with the same structure (give or take sub categories).



Which of these is best?

Someone made an argument for the the second set, as the flat URLs are shorter, don't tie any location to a specific category (if a bar was also a restaurant, and vice versa), and if I change any naming conventions, the URLs never change, because they're all at /venues/the-location. However, the first set of URLs contains keywords in the URL that let users and search engines know exactly what they are. If it's a restaurant, it's in the URL, if it's a bar, it's in the URL.

As I said, I have both of these working on the technical side, I just need to know which I should go forward with.

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