• 0

Search engines don't index my dynamic website


Question

What is the best way to get search engines, particularly google, to index dynamic content?

I've made a website which uses MySQL and PHP but google can't see the database content. I've read that google is OK with GET requests which is what my site uses. I've also read that a good way to see if a site is easily accessable to search engine robots is to use the lynx browser which i've tried. I can navigate my site fine with lynx but if i put "penally site:www.westwalesholidaycottages.co.uk", without the quotes, into google it won't find anything. Penally is a word which only appears in the database.

I know about mod_rewrite but unfortunately my host doesn't have it enabled :angry: . Has anyone used this? is there an alternative? I was thinking of moving hosts to one which does have it enabled if it was worth it.

Edit: I had an idea about mod_rewrite. the reason my host doesn't have it enabled is because it takes a lot of processing time. Is it possible to add something to the .htaccess file so that apache only translates the address for googlebot and other search bots?

Edit again: ignore my first edit, i realise that wouldn't work :s

Edited by phoe*nix

12 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

Yes, mod_rewrite is the solution to this, and yes, you can add something to your .htaccess. However, I am not aware of a way to only rewrite URLs for Googlebot, but, why would it be a problem to rewrite them for users?

Post what you want the link to look like and where you want it to go to, and I will give you the appropriate .htaccess code. ;)

  • 0

I think you are mixed up about what does the Googlebot and other search engines index of your site.

Penally as you said it's only in the database, so in order for google to see it is to implement it in a webpage for example: www.westwalesholidaycottages.co.uk?p=penally and then make a link in your index, and in that page put the word penally, that way google will find it.

If you wan't to make a search for your site your best way is to program yourself one or make all of the content static and suscribe to google so google can search your site (only if is static).

  • 0

the point of redirecting only search bots is because mod_rewrite takes a lot of processing power because, i'm guessing here, everytime the server receives a request for say www.westwalesholidaycottages.co.uk/browse/b/1/pl/p it has to convert that to www.westwalesholidaycottages.co.uk/browse.php?b=1&pl=p. So my host has it disabled.

i realised redirecting only search bots wouldn't work.

in theory google should find penally because, on the first page there's a link to the browse page and from there, there is a link to searchresult.php?b=1&pl=p, where pl=p is a list of cottages where their names begin with p. penally would appear in that search result page.

the problem is, my host doesn't have mod_rewrite enabled. is there an alternative to using mod_rewrite?

  • 0
  teh h4x0r5 said:
That's the whole point of mod_rewrite; it makes it so that dynamic content can be indexed.

586772182[/snapback]

I think you'll find that this is *not* the whole point of mod_rewrite... Just one of its many uses.

  • 0

I'm a big fan of mod_rewrite but I use it mainly for usability.

Since it's been implemented I've seen a noticeable rise in inbound links, people seem much more happy with linking the tidy URLs:

http://www.andrewkendall.com/pages/photogallery/742/9.php

vs

http://www.andrewkendall.com/pages/photoga...picturenumber=9

That said, I've never found a problem with Google indexing dynamic pages, especially since I started using Google Sitemaps.

i.e. "My Chemical Romance Pictures" shows up fine.

  • 0
  Computer Guru said:
sitemaps are the answer. just write a php script that automatically updates hte xml after every change.

586775905[/snapback]

Can you elaborate?

Can you add dynamic URLs to sitemaps? for example: <loc>http://www.westwalesholidaycottages.co.uk/housedetails.php?propref=llan</loc>

  • 0

I'm in agreement with all the guys saying to *not* use ?foo=foo&foo2=foo2 etc.

Check out this tutorial on how to make clean URIs without mod_rewrite: http://www.evolt.org/article/Making_clean_...d_PHP/18/22880/.

Dougal.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • I have mixed feelings about this. This is not going to be a budget CPU; it will likely cost $350+. I don't think you should pay that much for 6-cores in 2025. I am sure it will perform great on some games for a reasonable discount compared to the 9800X3D, and even in games optimized for 8-cores, these 6 will be so fast that it will likely be respectable. I just feel like for (probably) less money, the 9700X would be a better well rounded CPU. I'm only guessing until we see benchmarks. If the 9600X3D beats the 9700X across the board in gaming performance, then I guess it is a good product. However, I more expect it to be a mixed bag of trading blows, and I can't help but think games that show an advantage to more cores are only going to become more common going forward.
    • No, you have no idea, if there is a cable.it is prone to that unless it is shielded.
    • Would be cool if the user can drag it around like a widget. Set a boundary so that it cannot go outside the monitor.
    • missing feew things like CPU temp, hopefully they add an option to customize what would i want displayed or not, but as a default and easy msi afterburner alternative its great and it even work on destiny 2
    • Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows reaches all-time low price by Steven Parker Today's highlighted deal comes via our Neowin Deals store, where you can save 94% on a copy of Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows. Visual Studio Professional 2022 is a fully featured development environment that developers around the world know and love. Our first 64-bit IDE makes it easier to work with even bigger projects and more complex workloads. Enhance your productivity, write high-quality code, and re-imagine collaboration with an advanced suite of tools and built-in integrations to tackle the most challenging development workflows and deliver innovative apps. Build across languages & platforms Craft cross-platform mobile and desktop apps with .NET MAUI Build responsive Web UIs in C# with Blazor Build, debug, & test .NET and C++ apps in Linux Use hot reload capabilities across .NET and C++ apps Edit running ASP.NET pages in the web designer view Type less, code more with IntelliCode Understand your code context: variable names, functions, & the type of code you’re writing Complete a line or block of code Get a list of next best options, helping you code more rapidly & accurately Gain deep insights into your code with CodeLens Reveal crucial information like recent changes, authors, tests, and commit history Make informed decisions with a comprehensive overview of your codebase Collaborate seamlessly with Live Share's real-time collaboration sessions Speed up your team's edit & debugging cycles with personalized sessions, access controls, and custom editor settings Ensures everyone's code stays consistent Good to Know ONE-TIME PURCHASE INSTALLED ON 1 DEVICE Redemption deadline: redeem your code within 30 days of purchase Access options: desktop & mobile Version: Professional 2022 Supported languages: Visual Studio is available in English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, & Turkish Updates included Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows normally costs $499, but this deal can be yours for just $27.97, that's a saving of $471. For full terms, specifications, and license info, click the link below. Use MSO8 when checking out for additional $8 off. Coupon Expires June 29. Get Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows for just $19.97, or learn more Although priced in U.S. dollars, this deal is available for digital purchase worldwide. We post these because we earn commission on each sale so as not to rely solely on advertising, which many of our readers block. It all helps toward paying staff reporters, servers and hosting costs. Other ways to support Neowin Whitelist Neowin by not blocking our ads Create a free member account to see fewer ads Make a donation to support our day to day running costs Subscribe to Neowin - for $14 a year, or $28 a year for an ad-free experience Disclosure: Neowin benefits from revenue of each sale made through our branded deals site powered by StackCommerce.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Helen Shafer earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • First Post
      emptyother earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      Crunchy6 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      KynanSEIT earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      gowtham07 earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      666
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      271
    3. 3
      Michael Scrip
      220
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      166
    5. 5
      +FloatingFatMan
      162
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!