I am a web designer and front-end developer. I almost always utilize a primary navigation bar that clearly demonstrates traditional website pages - "Home, About Us, Blog, Directions/Locations, Employment Opportunities, Contact Us", etc.
An SEO specialist I am working alongside on a current project has suggested major navigation changes that are outside of my traditional approach. I am skeptical but always willing to give something a shot and wanted a second opinion. Revisions as follows:
Primary Navigation no longer targets the above pages, it targets 6 unique pages of keyword-focused information. The links would all start with the word "Ohio" as this business is in Ohio. So, for example Ohio Inbound Marketing, Ohio Paid Search, Ohio Content Marketing etc etc.
This primary navigation would be located at the top of the page, most visible to the user.
The secondary navigation would basically be what I usually use as a primary navigation (the "traditional" website links). But modified to be more keywordy, and in my opinion, less descriptive of where they actually go. So: Home = Ohio Marketing Specialists; About Us = Business Name; Directions/Locations = Marketing Specialists in Ohio; Employment Opportunities = Marketing Specialist Jobs;
This secondary navigation would be located further down the page and receive less visual emphasis.
Personally, when I see this site - I am confused about navigation as the links aren't set up in a traditional approach and many don't accurately describe where they are going.
Is my traditional approach just outdated? Or is this system trying too hard to be google-friendly?
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tags. Which is to say, the SEOs suggestions are not bad, just that you need to find a middle ground between optimizing for bots and optimizing for users. It's tricky.