Findable URLs, Sitemaps, and Analyzing with Google . week eight
June 3, 2010 at 9:58 pm
filed under SEO, research and study questions, techniques
Tagged code, search engine tips, traffic analysis
1. Identify methods for creating search engine friendly URLs.
Dynamic web pages created using PHP, JSP, or other dynamic languages results in ‘dirty URLs.’ Dirty URLs include unintelligible combination of characters and letters that do not relate to the website content as the reader would recognize it. The problem with these URLs is that they are difficult for the user to remember and find again without bookmarking, and search engines cannot connect the URL to the content on the page. Not only search engine unfriendly, dirty URLs pose a security risk since the URL information can lead hackers into your database. Cleaning dirty URLs creates search engine friendly and safeguarded URLs.
Some browser cleaning methods include mod_rewrite for Apache and ISAPI Rewrite for IIS. Mod_rewrite is a flexible tool that uses regular expressions for patterns of its rule-based matching system. ISAPI Rewrite is another URL manipulation engine that uses regular expressions, but designed for Microsoft. Both of these options involve complex expressions and are difficult to learn. Another option for cleaning URLs is content negotiation. Content negotiation allows the developer to remove extensions from files in the URL and source. When the browser sends information about the resources it wants or can accept to the server, and this information is then used, along with the server choices, to dynamically determine the content and format that should be transmitted. Content negotiation allows for the disappearance of extensions from source code, markup, and typed URLs and does not alter the server information.
Taking the time to create findable URLs can greatly reduce frustration with visitors and increase your search engine ranking.
2. What services does Google offer that might help drive traffic to your site?
Google offers many tools for webmasters and others to manage and monitor their websites. Some of these tools that can help drive traffic to your website include:
AdWords keyword tool – This tool allows you to input keywords and find similar keywords that are rated based on competition and amount of searches. You can also input a URL and get recommended keywords based on the website content. These keywords will help increase findability based on what users are searching and what competitors have included on their website.
AdWords – This tool allows your to create online advertisements that appear in Google’s search pages, related to the users keyword searches, and target these users based on their search. You can buy keywords and guarantee increased search visibility, driving more traffic to your website. There is some technique to creating an AdWords advertisement that can help increase the success of your ad.
3. How might a web page site map assist search engine listing?
XML Sitemaps tell Google about pages on your website that might or might not be discovered automatically. Built as a list of pages on your website that link to each respective page, the Sitemap directs the search robots to all the pages on your website. According to Google’s Webmaster Tools, XML Sitemaps ensure that Google is aware of all the pages on your website, even the pages that might be overlooked with Google’s crawling process.
Once you have created the Sitemap using the Google XML Sitemap generator tool, you should submit it to Google and other search engines so they know it exits. This process may increase the rate at which the search engines crawl your site. Also, you should resubmit your website every time the site is updated so the search engines are notified.
Other than submitting your Sitemap manually through Google or other search engines, you can submit your Sitemap using the robots.txt file. Place the following line of code in robots.txt file, substituting the URL path to your own Sitemap:
Sitemap: http://example.com/sitemap_location.xml
note: code from Google Webmaster Tools Help
Google will read this link and find your sitemap. Links are what search engine robots read best, so a web page Sitemap is the prime location to provide all the pages of your site. Your website becomes more relevant to the search engine and thus increases site rankings.
Resources:
‘Search Engine Friendly URLs – URL Rewriting’ by Thomas A. Powell and Joe Lima on SEO Consultants Directory
‘Creating and Submitting Sitemaps’ on Google Webmaster Tools Help
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