Key reasons why optimising your internal web search is essential for SEO and a proven method to get it right, grow traffic, improve conversion and improve UX.

1. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

2. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
Currently Digital lead at
Ex Digital Prod. Owner Ex Digital & SEO Lead

3. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
4m+ search URLs removed (and counting)
~ 30% increase in MoM organic traffic (and growing)
800k+ search URLs removed
~ 20% increase in organic traffic
3m+ search URLs removed
30%+ increase in organic traffic

4. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
 A leading EMEA distributor of Converged IP
 Offices in Birmingham, London and Dubai
 100 year old company in Jan 2017

5. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

6. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

7. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

8. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

9. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
1..
Exhausting crawl
quota
Poor crawl
efficiency
Unnecessary server
loads
Duplicate content
Dilution of link
equity
Poor crawl
efficiency
Poorly optimised
pages
Typically high
bounce rates
False positives on
search reporting
Can generate
countless new
URLs
Keyword
cannibalisation
Impacts conversion
/ UX
Slower to index
new content
Poor rankings
signals
Can be impossible
to maintain

10. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
Exhausting crawl
quota
Poor crawl
efficiency
Unnecessary server
loads
Duplicate content
Dilution of link
equity
Poor crawl
efficiency
Poorly optimised
pages
Typically high
bounce rates
False positives on
search reporting
Can generate
countless new
URLs
Keyword
cannibalisation
Impacts conversion
/ UX
Slower to index
new content
Poor rankings
signals
Can be impossible
to maintain

11. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
• 115 filter URLs
on this page alone..

12. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
• 115 filter URLs
on this page alone..
• 65,000 poss. filter URLs
In just ONE parent
category

13. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
• 115 filter URLs
on this page alone..
• 65,000 poss. filter URLs
In just ONE parent
category

14. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
• 115 filter URLs
on this page alone..
• 65,000 poss. filter URLs
In just ONE parent
category

15. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

16. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
2..

17. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
In Google’s index

18. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
In Google’s index

19. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
101,000searchURLs
In Google’s index

20. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

21. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

22. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

23. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

24. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

25. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

26. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

27. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

28. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
In Google’s index

29. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
In Google’s index

30. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
39,000searchURLs
In Google’s index

31. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
39,000 search URLs
41,000 product / category URLs

32. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
Duplicate content!!

33. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

34. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

35. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
Fixes duplicate
content
Reduces crawl
resources
Redistribute
link equity
Passes equity
from external
links
Allow internal
link equity to
flow
Noindex,
follow
YES NO NO YES YES
Canonical tags YES NO YES YES YES
Robots.txt YES YES NO NO NO
Nofollow,
noindex
YES YES NO NO NO
301 redirect
search urls
YES YES (if done right) YES YES YES

36. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
Fixes duplicate
content
Reduces crawl
resources
Redistribute
link equity
Passes equity
from external
links
Allow internal
link equity to
flow
Noindex,
follow
YES NO NO YES YES
Canonical tags YES NO YES YES YES
Robots.txt YES YES NO NO NO
Nofollow,
noindex
YES YES NO NO NO
301 redirect
search urls
YES YES (if done right) YES YES YES

37. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

38. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

39. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

40. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

41. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

42. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

43. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

44. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

45. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds

46. @mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
Fixes duplicate
content
Reduces crawl
resources
Redistribute
link equity
Passes equity
from external
links
Allow internal
link equity to
flow
Noindex,
follow
YES NO NO YES YES
Canonical tags YES NO YES YES YES
Robots.txt YES YES NO NO NO
Nofollow,
noindex
YES YES NO NO NO
301 redirect
search urls
YES YES (if done right) YES YES YES

47. •
@mrlukecarthy#SearchLeeds
• Keep tabs on levels of organic traffic
• Check in on number of URLs in index
• Keep a close eye on core KPI factors
• Watch redirect and server logs closely
• If an alternate landing page doesn’t exist – MAKE ONE!
• REFRAIN from adding in a robots.txt condition
• Don’t be afraid to massacre millions of search URLs at once
• Monitor future search backlinks & action