context
I have a B2B spare parts website with the following content:
- 25 parent categories (hierarchically organized)
- 150 sheet categories (models)
- 250 products (one-of-a-kind with a quantity = 1)
targeted Visitors search for a specific spare part,
As a rule, they do not hesitate between several brands and products like the consumer segment.
The website is aimed at specialists (niche market).
Despite several optimizations The website continues to be badly referenced in the search results compared to those of the competitors.
I have to admit that I'm not a fan of social networks, so there are few links to the site that come from forums.
Publishing many products on the home page may make it easier to referencing the site, but would also create duplicate content with the dedicated product pages.
There is general consensus in this thread that there is no harm in using a txt sitemap instead of an xml sitemap. However, I am not sure about this because the sites to be indexed are buried deep in the hierarchy and search engines ignore intermediates.
How pages are currently indexed
Google was able to index the pages by leaf categories and products served by two text sitemaps (URL lists):
Sitemap with leaf categories:
https://example.com/A_model
https://example.com/Another_model
(...)
Sitemap with products:
https://example.com/A_product
https://example.com/Another_product
Access to the products is usually via a search boxwhere the visitor enters the model he wants to purchase for spare part (s). The model name is used as friendly URL and .Access The file forwards directly to the leaf category page.
# Currently no friendly URLs for intermediate categories.
# Friendly URL for leaf categories (models)
RewriteRule ^ A_model $ /index.php?cmd=category&cat_id=123 [L]
RewriteRule ^ Another_model $ /index.php?cmd=category&cat_id=124 [L]
On the category pages there are links to the individual spare parts.
There are also user-friendly URLs used and the forwarding is done with .Access File.
# Friendly URL for unique products
RewriteRule ^ A_product $ /index.php?cmd=products&prod_id=456
RewriteRule ^ Another_product $ /index.php?cmd=products&prod_id=789
If only one spare part is available for a given model, user convenience is automatically redirected from the leaf category page to the unique product page so that the category address acts as a tiny URL (or as a gateway, if you prefer). to the product page.
If the visitor wants Browse categoriesbut he can do it ajaxified tree their extended nodes load the subcategories during operation. (The site uses dynatree.js with delayed loading.)
So, Robots know the corresponding landing pages for sale (leaf categories and product pages), but because they do not have an XML sitemap, The site may appear unstructured (no hierarchical structure you know).
Why I used .txt sitemaps So far no .xml files:
- Easier Maintenance: I just need to add a new link when a new product or category is released
- Target groups are experts in their field.
who know from the beginning which model / part they are looking for.
- Intermediate categories (branches) are – apart from – almost irrelevant
See the different product families available – and therefore do not need to be referenced.
Ask:
- Should I create friendly URLs for? Intermediate categories and add
she on the sitemap to make the website more structured
that these pages would create duplicate content with the sheet
Categories and product pages?
- In this particular case I should Switch from TXT Sitemaps to Sitemaps? (although the maintenance would be much more difficult).
- I plan to replace an ajaxified tree with ajaxified navigation based on tags (filters). Would this make referencing even worse?
- Since the homepage is more or less similar to a search engine (ie with little content), you advise to add something "bla bla bla" – even if this is useless for the visitor – to attract more visitors?
