Google’s John Mueller Explains How to Rank Inner Pages

John offered the following advice for how to rank a web page instead of a home page:

“The best thing that you can do in a case like this is to make sure that you really have that content covered well on those blog posts and maybe have it a little bit clearer on the home page that this page is not about that content.”

In general, the home page should not be ranking for a very specific keyword phrase. If it does then that could mean that the home page is lacking in focus.

John Mueller’s advice on making it clearer what the home page is about is good advice. The home page should in most cases be optimised for what the entire site is about.

So if your site is about widgets, then the home page should be optimised to communicate that you sell all kinds of widgets.

If the content is about a local industry, then the home page should clearly say it’s a Mexican Restaurant, that it’s a plumber in the San Francisco Bay Area, etc. Then let the inner pages carry the burden for menu in the case of a restaurant and garbage disposals in the case of a plumber.