E-Solutions and Web Development for Today's Internet

Optimizing Dynamic Web Sites

Dynamic, database driven, server side editing, desktop publishing, content management systems.... they go by many names. They are becoming one of the most popular internet products for small and medium size businesses.. Why?

Because, if you pick a good one, you have much more control over the contents and editing of your own site without compromising quality. And you can do this without employing your own IT guy or learning complicated html software.

It used to be that if you had a server-side platform, you were very limited in editing functionality. That is not so anymore as internet technology evolves.

Here's what Position Tech says...

"Dynamic websites are very difficult for some search engines to read. It is not because they are dynamic or driven by databases, but more because they use long and strange URL's (Internet addresses)...........we recommend that you hire an experienced search engine optimization expert with expertise in these areas. Most often it takes a closer examination of your website to determine the best strategy."

A traditional static website is made up of a number of individual files usually ending with .html - e.g. index.html, products.html etc. Each page is a unique file and usually has unique content.

On the other hand, a dynamic website very often has only one or a few files - so-called "templates." The template dictates how to present the content but holds no content itself. All the content is stored in a database. To show a page on a dynamic website you need to tell the template what to load from the database.

That part is not too complicated. However, there is often more than one parameter attached to the URL, as the database needs to have more information about sort order, navigation, etc. This is when it gets complicated for the search engines.

Active Server Pages

While most engines do index Active Server Pages (usually ending in .ASP), only Direct Hit, Lycos, HotBot, Google, and Alta Vista are known to handle the special characters (? or &) usually tacked on the end of an ASP page. This means that while most engines do index a Url like www.yourdomain.com/yourpage.asp, only Lycos, Google, and HotBot are known to index a Url like www.yourdomain.com/yourpage.asp?id=302&custid=997.

There is simply no way for a search engine to be sure what parameters identify a new page and what parameters are just a sort order of the content - a navigation setting or something that does not justify indexing the new URL as a new unique web page.

There are many other problems related to having dynamic websites and websites built on content management systems indexed in search engines. It is unfortunately not possible to cover all of it in one article.

The good news is that there are other ways and methods available for you to get your dynamic website indexed in search engines

For further information on how to get your dynamic website indexed, we recommend that you hire an experienced search engine optimization expert with expertise in these areas. Most often it takes a closer examination of your website to determine the best strategy.