One SEO professional asked John Mueller during a hangout about creating separate pages.
Their question was: they had a page for electric bikes and scooters.
Later on, they found out that electric scooter is a very big search term when it comes to search volume. Electric bikes and electric scooters, as a product, are two different things.
Because of this, they thought of creating separate pages for these topics. At first they just had one page. They used to rank well for electric bikes and scooters when they had the single page
Now, after having electric scooters and electric bikes on separate pages, after almost 6 to 8 months, the electric bikes page still ranks, but the electric scooters page does not.
They tried different things such as separating out the content of the two pages, generating more internal links, and giving the electric scooter page a link from the electric bike page.
But still, it doesn’t show up.
Should they wait for some more time so Google can understand the user intent behind the pages more? Or would it be wise to re-merge those pieces back together?
John answered that it’s more of a strategic decision. You can take a page and split it in two.
But that also means that each of those individual pages will have to battle it out on their own.
And sometimes this makes sense to have fewer pages so you can have fewer, much stronger pages.
Sometimes it makes sense to have pages that are specifically targeted on individual items.
And finding that balance is something that is up to you and is more strategic in nature.
John believes that the things the SEO pro is doing now sounds like the right things, but whether they will lead to success for that query is challenging to say.
And it’s also likely that this could change over time.
This happens at approximately the 1:21 mark in the video.
John Mueller Hangout Transcript
SEO Professional 1 1:21
Okay, thank you so much. My second question is, so there is like a case study, we had a page for electric bikes and scooters. Okay. And later on, we understood that an electric scooter is also, you know, a very big search when it comes to volume. And electric bike and an electric scooter as a product are two different things.
So we thought of creating two separate pages. At first, we had just one page. And now it’s been almost like six to eight months. We used to rank well for electric bikes and scooters, which is in the top five, when we were having just the electric bike page.
But now, after having electric scooters and electric bike pages, still the electric bike page ranks and electric scooter page doesn’t rank. We have tried a number of things like, you know, trying to separate the content of the two pages, generate more and more internal links, giving electric scooter links from the electric bikes page.
But still, it doesn’t show up in search. Should we, you know, wait for some more time so that Google can understand the intent? Or will it be wise to merge those pages again?
John 2:36
That’s more of a strategic question almost. Because essentially, you can take one page, you can split it up into multiple parts. But that also means that each of those individual parts will kind of have to battle it out on their own.
And sometimes it makes sense to have fewer pages, so that you can kind of have fewer, really strong pages. Sometimes it makes sense to have pages that are specifically targeted on individual items.
And finding that balance is something that is essentially up to you and is more of a strategic question. And I think the things that you’re doing there sound like the right things, but whether or not this will lead to some kind of success for that specific query is hard to say. And it might change over time.
SEO Professional 1 3:23
Okay, so we have already given three to four months. So should we? Will it be wise to wait for you know, a few more months so that Google can pick up on it? Is it more like a sufficient time for this thing?
John 3:33
I can’t say. If nothing changes on the web, then I wouldn’t just wait. But if you’re continuously working on improving these pages, and kind of their, their context and the content, then maybe giving it more time makes sense. But that’s ultimately up to you.
