Web Site Design Mistakes

Creating a web site takes thought, planning and execution.Unfortunately, many designs are dead in the water before they are evenpublished as far as search engine optimization is concerned. Whateveryou do, avoid these critical mistakes.

Database Parameters in URL

Manyweb site designers don't take into account the effect of databaseparameters in site URLs. A database parameter tells the server whatshould be loaded onto a particular page when a viewer tries to see it.In essence, the page is "dynamic" because it is being pulled togetherwith each click. Robot programs that are used by search engines toindex sites hate dynamic pages. Often, they will not even index thepages and the page of your site is not listed in the search engine.

Let'slook at an example using the Nomad Adventure Journals site. The homepage URL is aptly, Nomadjournals.com - a static page. Inthis URL, there are no parameters telling the server to load anythingother than a static web page. All search engines will index this pagewithout any problem.

Web Site Design Mistakes - Database Parameters In URLs

Now, what if we changed the page tosomething dynamic. Let's say we designed it to record the sessionidentification [identify the viewer] and dynamically load the pictureson the page. We would have one parameter for the session identificationand four parameters for the various pictures on the page. The URL forthe home page might look something like:

Nomadjournals.com

Whata mess. A search engine robot is going to balk at indexing such pages.It simply can't tell what is on the page. If you have parameters andsession identifications in the URLs of your site pages, you are goingto have a very difficult time getting into the search engine rankings.Obviously, that precludes you from getting any top rankings and freetraffic.

Fixing The Problem

Fixing the problem often islengthy and costly depending on the number of pages on your site. Ifyou have over 100 products, a complete re-design may be the bestanswer. If you have a relatively small number of pages, there may beless brutish options.

Converting pages to static html is adefinite solution for smaller sites. Essentially, one would take thepage for each product and convert it into a static html page. Thedomain would then be converted to short sub-domain. If a user thenclicked on the "buy" button for the product on the page, they would besent to a dynamic database page. The viability of this solution isdependent upon the layout of the site. Some sites can be fixed, somesimply cannot.

In Closing

The database parameter problemis surprisingly common with sites selling products. A majority of sitedesigners do not understand search engine optimization and don'trealize the problem they are creating. If you intend to build adatabase driven site, make sure you bring in a search engineoptimization specialist before it is created. Nobody wants to spend themoney to design a site twice.

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