If you are organizing community pages on your website, the goal is to keep the structure clean, make navigation easier, and avoid broken internal links. In this walkthrough, the main issue was that city pages were sitting under the Communities section when they should have been set up as their own sections. This article shows how to fix that, how to set up a proper 301 redirect, and how to make sure breadcrumb links point to the right page.
What This Fix Solves
This process helps you clean up your site structure so city pages stand on their own instead of being buried under a generic Communities page. It also fixes breadcrumb behavior, avoids awkward URLs, and helps remove weak or empty pages that may be hurting the site.3
Step 1: Keep Only the Main Communities Page Under Communities
The Communities section should only contain the main Communities page. Individual cities should not live under that section as child pages. If you have pages like Windsor under Communities, those should be moved so Windsor becomes its own main section.
For example, if Oak Hill belongs to Windsor, then Windsor should be the main section and Oak Hill should sit under Windsor.
Step 2: Open the Existing City Page and Review the URL Setup
Before making changes, open the city page you want to fix and confirm how it is currently built. In the example from the video, Windsor had been created in a way that could lead to an unwanted URL structure.
If the file name is set incorrectly, the URL can end up repeating the section name. That creates a path like Windsor slash Windsor, which is not what you want.
Step 3: Check Existing 301 Redirects First
Before changing anything, review your current 301 redirects so you do not accidentally create a conflict or break an existing page.
In the example, the redirect list was checked first to confirm there was no Windsor redirect already in place. Once that was confirmed, it was safe to add the new redirect from the old Windsor URL to the corrected one.
Step 4: Create the City as Its Own Section
Go into your section management area and create the city as its own section. In this case, Windsor needed to become its own section instead of staying under Communities.
When setting this up, avoid using a file name that causes the city name to repeat in the URL. If the section name already provides the city path, you do not want the file name to duplicate it.
Once done correctly, Windsor becomes the main page for that section, and pages related to Windsor can sit under it naturally.
Step 5: Add the 301 Redirect From the Old URL
After the new section is in place, add a 301 redirect from the old city URL to the new correct URL. This preserves traffic and helps prevent broken links.
The reason for doing this is simple. If the old version of the page was indexed, linked internally, or shared elsewhere, the redirect ensures visitors and search engines land on the correct page without confusion.
Step 6: Make Sure Child Pages Sit Under the Correct City Section
Once the city section exists, review the pages that belong inside it. If Oak Hill is part of Windsor, Oak Hill should live under the Windsor section.
This creates a cleaner hierarchy and makes the relationship between the city page and its related neighborhood or community pages much easier to manage.
Step 7: Fix the Breadcrumb Link Using Page Order
If you click from a child page and the breadcrumb sends users to the wrong place, the page order is likely the issue.
In the example, clicking Windsor from the Oak Hill page was taking users back to Oak Hill instead of the main Windsor page. That happened because the Windsor page had been created after the child page, so the order was off.
To fix it, go to Page Order and place the main city page at the top of that section. Whatever appears first becomes the breadcrumb parent. Once Windsor was moved to the top, the breadcrumb started linking correctly back to the Windsor page.
Step 8: Refresh and Test the Breadcrumb
After adjusting the page order, refresh the page and test the breadcrumb. The city link should now point to the main city page instead of the wrong child page.
This is a quick but important check because it confirms the page hierarchy is working the way it should.
Step 9: Review SEO Titles While You Are There
As you clean up structure, take a look at page titles too. In the video, the Windsor title was considered a little short and could be expanded slightly for a stronger presentation.
Some titles on other city pages were also too long and needed to be shortened. This is a good time to tighten those up while you are already reviewing the section setup.
Step 10: Use Content Labels for Organization if Needed
If you plan to build many pages around one city, you may want to create a content label such as Windsor Communities. This is mainly for organization and navigation inside the system.
That type of label is helpful for managing content, even if it is not directly an SEO feature.
Step 11: Remove or Pause Empty Pages
One of the biggest issues pointed out in the walkthrough was the presence of pages with no useful content on them. Empty pages can weaken the site and create clutter.
If a page has nothing on it, either remove it or put it on hold until it is ready. Leaving thin or blank pages live is not helping the site.
Step 12: Repeat This Process for Every City Page
Go through all of your community pages and ask one question. Is this page actually a city?
If the answer is yes, it should usually be its own section. Then place the relevant neighborhood or related pages under that city section.
In the video, examples like Oakmont, Penngrove, and San Rafael were called out as pages that likely should each be structured as their own sections. In some cases, topics that are more informational than location based may work better as blog posts instead.
Why This Structure Works Better
When each city has its own section, the site is easier to manage and easier for users to understand. Breadcrumbs work correctly, URLs stay cleaner, and related pages naturally group together under the right parent page.
It also cuts down on redirect headaches. If you are simply organizing pages into the correct section and the final URL stays the same, you may not even need a redirect in some cases.
Final Checklist
- Keep only the main Communities page under Communities
- Create each city as its own section
- Place related neighborhood pages under the correct city
- Check 301 redirects before making changes
- Add redirects when old URLs need to point to new ones
- Use Page Order to control breadcrumb behavior
- Test breadcrumb links after reordering
- Shorten overly long titles and improve weak ones
- Remove or pause empty pages
- Turn blog style topics into blog posts instead of section pages when appropriate
If you follow this setup across all of your city and community pages, the site structure becomes much cleaner and easier to maintain.