Service Page vs Information Page

[pestmarketer]

This question is about a pest control website but I could see it being applicable to others. The question is Service Page vs Information Page.

I've seen some pest control websites that have a "Pest Library" with information about pests. It isn't really a sales page, it's more informational. But on those same websites they have that same bug listed under their Service Page. For example:

Library Page: Bed Bugs | Catseye Pest Control
Service Page: Bed Bug Treatment & Removal | Catseye Pest Control

My team is debating the merits of splitting this information out vs keeping it on one page.

My belief is to consolidate all of the relevant and pertinent information about Bed Bugs onto a single page. Why split it out into two when you can have one powerful page.

Interested in your thoughts and what you've maybe done or seen in your industries. Thanks!

 

[Rich Owings]

I like the idea of consolidating it, but you may end up with a lengthy page. Be careful to avoid a wall of text and make it mobile friendly with accordion expansions, etc.

 

[djbaxter]

Actually, my preference would be to keep the Services page succinct, listing just the services you provide with perhaps a brief (1-2 sentence) description. I think people researching your business want to know what you can do up front in the simplest and smallest page possible (especially those on mobile).

Longer informational articles I would move to a separate series of pages, e.g., a blog format, each targeting a single problem or issue.

Then link to the article from the Service page to the articles if you like.

 

[carolyn2]

Likewise, I would avoid splitting the same content i.e. exact relevance across multiple pages - you risk cannibalization of your keyword. So you know what I mean when I say that, is where you have 2 pages on the same site, optimized for the same keyword which jockey in results for position. Usually you can see it in ahrefs where you see the pages in question alternate for position - and usually it shows them fighting for a spot on page 2 serps or low on page 1 serps. It's become more common to see this because in previous "seo times" we all made more pages to create relevance and often it was more than one page per site optimized for the same keyword which we shouldn't be doing now. To be clear, if you have the #1 and #2 spot for the same keyword or are anywhere in the top 3 - that's not cannibalization.

What we've used these types of pages for are supporting content - you have the page you want to rank for X and these pages are optimized with "supporting X topics." Example - tree service company has a page about how trimming branches away from your roof is something you can do to extend the life of your roof. And on that page you have a contextual link to the tree trimming service page -

The idea is to push related content (hence the link) to support the main conversion point but not compete with it on a keyword level.

BTW - the example you shared - they aren't even doing that. So it's like they got half of the message without the link part. If your team decides to do this, do it smarter than these folks are doing.

 

[Eric Rohrback]

This question is about a pest control website but I could see it being applicable to others. The question is Service Page vs Information Page.

I've seen some pest control websites that have a "Pest Library" with information about pests. It isn't really a sales page, it's more informational. But on those same websites they have that same bug listed under their Service Page. For example:

Library Page: Bed Bugs | Catseye Pest Control
Service Page: Bed Bug Treatment & Removal | Catseye Pest Control

My team is debating the merits of splitting this information out vs keeping it on one page.

My belief is to consolidate all of the relevant and pertinent information about Bed Bugs onto a single page. Why split it out into two when you can have one powerful page.

Interested in your thoughts and what you've maybe done or seen in your industries. Thanks!

The reason they have this information split out into two separate pages is because it's getting information at different parts of the buying cycle. There's very different intent behind someone searching for general information ABOUT bed bugs, and someone searching for someone to remove bed bugs.

It actually wouldn't make sense to put those two pieces of content together on a single page for that reason.

Before getting into whether to merge content together, you need to look at the target topic of the page and check to see what the SERP intent is for that term. If the results on the SERP are mostly informational, then you would likely need an informational piece of content like the "Library page" to rank. If the results seem more like service pages, then the intent is likely closer to a conversion point for you.

Info blocks in a service page might make sense, but realistically if i'm looking for a pest control company to help me fix a pest problem, then I really just want to know whether the company knows how to get rid of them.

 

[pestmarketer]

Sorry for the late reply here. I appreciate all your well thought out feedback. Thank you!