Google explains how to increase rank by merging pages

tanutanu@magim.

Google perceives the merging of similar pages, within the same website, saying that "if you take two, three or four types of weaker pages and merge them into a single page, even within the same site or externally, then we can say that this is a stronger page".

This is because if multiple separate web pages refer japan number list to a single piece of content, it is likely that when combined they will create a single, more relevant page than the individual small pieces you had before.

Also because reading between the lines in John Mueller' s response it seems to confirm the hypothesis that since all the other pages on the site point to a new single page rather than multiple pages, this will become a stronger signal at the rank level.

Last updated: November 6, 18
Reading time 3 minutes
Photo by Antonio Papini
Written by Antonio Papini
google ranking



In a recent webmaster hangout, Google’s John Mueller answered questions about whether and to what extent it makes sense to merge two or more web pages to increase your ranking. He then explained the reasons why you should or shouldn’t do it.

Table of Contents
Does combining web pages help the site or individual web page rank?
The importance of a primary topic
The value of combining similar content
The big insight into how Google sees rank.
Does combining web pages help the site or individual web page rank?
Google's John Mueller's response was clear: merging multiple web pages, merging the weaker ones into a single stronger and more relevant page is a procedure that Google likes.

But the advice, as Google's Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst always does, also comes with a caveat: if we decide to merge multiple pages, they must be complementary so that a single topic can be addressed more comprehensively on a single page rather than “diluted” across several weaker pages.

John Mueller, like other Googlers , has addressed the concept of SEO and domain authority several times , always clearly and firmly denying that Google uses any kind of domain authority.

That's why in the hangout he completely ignored this aspect, focusing instead on the relevance of the web pages as a whole and especially whether a hypothetical unified page would make sense as a relevant document.

Merging multiple generic weak pages to create one with a stronger page rank  makes very little sense, and therefore we certainly cannot speak of a “merger of authority” between distinct pages.

On the contrary, John Mueller explains very well and in detail how



The importance of a primary topic
Another hangout participant said he merged two pages with different topics and found that the new page ranked less well than the two separate pages.

In other words, combining signals and backlinks from two pages with different content did not lead to a higher rank, precisely because the topic of the two pages was not the same.