So the big question is, what makes an archive page important in terms of Search Engine Optimization?
Duplicate Content Issue
The biggest problem with archive pages is perhaps the issue of duplicate
content, which is probably why most are noindexed by default in many
platforms. With most CMS' such as WordPress, the default archive page
looks almost identical to the main blog posts listing page. However, you
can change this by minimizing the amount of duplicated text by changing
each post listing to only show the post title/link. This will condense
the listings making it easier for the users to scan quickly and
eliminate duplicated text.
Also make sure not to duplicate a classification. For example some sites
with have a “Tutorial” category, and then will mistakenly also tag a
post “Tutorials”. This will create two identical archive pages that
should be consolidated into each other. Blogger users, check out the
following post to learn how to do this.
Internal Linking
Internal links are what give these archive pages so much power. But if
you are not using the links to their full extent, then these pages
aren't likely to see their full benefit. You can typically link to these
archive pages from any piece of content that is listed in each archive.
Some times blog posts will have a list of tags that the post is listed
under. Other times categories are listed. Categories are great to
include into breadcrumbs and post footers.
Add Additional Content
You can design archive pages to include additional content above the
listings, such as a large professional bio or an overview of a
service/product (look at Mashable). This text gives the page more unique
content and gives you an opportunity to include more related terms. I
have seen some sites use this area to introduce a product or service
that they offer that is related to the topic. This is an awesome idea
because it closely aligns targeted traffic with a business goal.
Use rel=”next” and rel=”prev” Paginated Archive Pages
Sometimes you will have a topic that you have a lot of content on. If
this is the case you might need to use paginated archive pages to list
the content in a series of pages. When doing this, it is best to use the rel=”next” and rel=”prev”
link tags to declare what pages in a series should be consolidated.
When applied correctly Google and other search engines will treat all
the pages in a series of pages as the same entity. This is great for two
reasons: all of the link equity will be funnel to the page you want to
rank, and it will mitigate from the risk of duplicated content.
So tell us guys. How are you making your archive pages unique?