Is it better to create a new level in page hierarchy or add pages at same level?

Question

If the existing site structure is

www.example.com/abc/def

With the page hierarchy as home>>abc>>def

If I want to add a new set of pages, as home>>abc>>def>>ghi, which format of the URL would be better:

1. www.example.com/abc/def/ghi

or

2. www.example.com/abc/ghi

My thought for going with 2 is that since Google already has some page rank for the pages def, it may benefit the pages ghi to begin with, instead of going for a whole new url structure.

Answer 1

You have a misconception about PageRank. PageRank is passed from one page to another by links between those pages. A page doesn't inherit page rank from the parent directory because of the URL.

Furthermore, Google doesn't really care about your URL structure that much. Either of your proposed URLs could do fine for SEO. You just have to make sure your URLs are:

• Unique per page (don't show the same content at two different URLs)
• Stable (if you change a URL, set up redirects)

Instead of worrying about SEO, structure your URLs for users. You should ask questions like:

• Is this URL descriptive of the content?
• Is this URL memorable?
• Is this URL easy to type?
• Is my directory structure browsable?

If you get your URLs right for users, Google will be happy with them.