URL rewriting to be search engine friendly

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nate

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#26926 7-Oct-2008 15:23

Discussions with a client today, is it still necessary to rewrite your site's URLs to be search engine friendly?

For example taking this:

product.aspx?id=5&category=6

and changing it to

product/id/5/category/6.aspx (or something similar)

I look at Geekzone which has no URL rewriting and it still gets indexed.

paulspain

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#169603 7-Oct-2008 15:27

Yes, it makes a difference and it is worth doing to get better search rankings (but it's not essential). With IIS 7 and various content management systems it's also much easier than it used to be in the old days.

Paul Spain
Founder: Gorilla Technology, NZ Tech Podcast

freitasm

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#169605 7-Oct-2008 15:36

If you have a heavy Google incoming links - don't bother...

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

freitasm

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#169606 7-Oct-2008 15:39

nate: I look at Geekzone which has no URL rewriting and it still gets indexed.

Very well indexed if you ask. And read my previous reply. I toyed with the idea, but found out it makes no difference these days... What I use is good TITLE tag, easy menu system (no javascript, no flash, just text), updated Sitemap update, 301 redirects from geekzone.co.nz to www.geekzone.co.nz and pretty much it...

Also more interesting information here and here.

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

RedJungle

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#169608 7-Oct-2008 15:42

I wouldn't bother unless you're looking for url's that are easy to read/remember. As per Mauricio's link, Google has no problem coping with parameters.

paulspain

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#169609 7-Oct-2008 15:46

The benefit comes from smart rewriting of URLs, such as how on WorldDJ.com we change this:

http://www.worlddj.com/dj_producer/view.wdj?id=32325

To this:
http://www.worlddj.com/dj/sam_hill/

It appears to help if the Google search refers to text listed in the URL. Of course Seach Engine Optimisation involves many factors, however this is one them.

Paul Spain
Founder: Gorilla Technology, NZ Tech Podcast

fatjoez

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#169635 7-Oct-2008 18:41

so in conclusion
theres not much point going from
site.com/index.php?product=12345to
site.com/product/12345

because 12345 is pretty meaningless
if however as one person suggested you can do...
site.com/product/intelQ9450
that could be help... but to be honest since implementing seo style urls my google ratings have gone DOWN