Matching URL to Title and Content?

1. 84

   TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years ago

   Sometimes I write a hub, then later tweak it...a lot.  I change the title and sometimes even make major changes to the focus and content.  In the end. the original URL often does not match the content.  My question is...does this matter in any way?  Will Google downgrade my sub domain for this reason?  If you know, please advise me!

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   1. 81

      Wesman Todd Shawposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It matters a LOT.  Look, Big Daddy Google is going to view your page as misleading if the content doesn't match the title.
      
      I've done exactly what you described a dozen or so times, and even worse, I've made stupid typos in the creation of the URL....sometimes a thing will get buried in search results for this; other times based on other factors, it'll do okay.
      
      Suffice it to say, it is a bad idea in general, and not good at all in principle to have titles not matching content.
      
      As for penalizing your entire subdomain, I'd have to think it is possible, but it would likely depend upon things like how often you do this ...
      
      As usual, someone has to say it....nobody TRULY knows what Google is doing, as of course, their search algorithm is secret.

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   2. 81

      Dale Hydeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      As long as your title continues to support  your hub content, you should do just fine.  The URL is not nearly as important as it used to be years ago.  Google is looking at content and keywords these days as well as structure.
      
      I have several well performing hubs that the URL did not match the title at all.

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      1. 84

         TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Dale, you've confused me.  I am not just talking about title, but also content.  Is your answer still the same?

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         1. 81

            Dale Hydeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            The answer stays the same.... The URL is not important these days.  The main thing is that the changed title still continues to support the unchanged material, or supports the changed material.

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   3. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Paraglider and Dale are right.  In a perfect world, both your URL and your title would use your keyword search terms.  But it's no biggie if they 're not.  What's on the page is far more important than what's in the URL.

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2. 89

   Paragliderposted 10 years ago

   I'd agree with that. The Title (inside the file header), the H1 header on the page and the content have to match, but the filename (the only bit of the URL that you get to create on hubpages) doesn't matter. In fact, many content management systems name files automatically, not with a reader-friendly name but with a machine generated unique identifier that might look something like this:
   ajdbthy5bnw74nbs85nswu4n8n6nft3n.html
   In other words, a 32 character unique string. They do this to ensure that no two files in their system can accidentally have the same name. The content management system maintains the database that links the friendly name to the unique ID.

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   1. 84

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I hate to sound stupid, but what is an H1 Header and what is a file header?  I am not tech savvy and these words are Greek to me?  Please give me a visual example with an explanation so I know what you are talking about.  In my situation, on several occasions to keep from having to delete an entire hub and start it again with a new URL, title, photos, etc...I simply rewrote the title and refocused the content to match it.  I am thinking I should not have done that IF it is going to hurt my subdomain or my my views in some way.

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      1. 89

         Paragliderposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Well, as an example, ages ago I created a hub called "Make Your Own Wine". The URL that was automatically derived was "paraglider.hubpages.com/hub/Make_Your_Own_Wine", and it still is, even though the title is now "How to make Wine from Supermarket Grape Juice with no Special Equipment or Ingredients"
         A web page has two main sections: the Head and the Body. The Head is not displayed on the screen, but it contains information about the page and how it should be displayed. Among other things, it contains the TITLE. I've just checked, and can confirm that HubPages makes sure that this hidden TITLE reflects your latest edit. So my hidden title is the long winded one about supermarket grape juice.
         The BODY contains all the displayed information (text, pictures etc). The displayed title is also called the main Header, or H1. Subheadings of sections are H2, H3 etc in diminishing order of importance. HubPages does not allow two H1 headings (correctly). It ensures that your H1 and your TITLE automatically match.
         All you have to do is ensure that your content matches your edited title. Your original filename (in the URL) doesn't matter.
         Having said that, it wouldn't be sensible to have no connection at all. For example, it wouldn't be clever for me to delete all the content and write a new hub about Russian Hamster Breeding on top of a Make Your Own Wine URL!
         Hope that helps?

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         1. 84

            TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yes...big time...and a great big hug to both you and Dale for saving me hours of work!  Thank you!

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3. 82

   Better in Violetposted 10 years ago

   Just found this comment thread and I've gotta say thanks. I was wondering the same thing about matching title/URL and now have a little more peace of mind

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