Are there SEO problems with a db generated page?

masonbarge · #1 (**permalink**) Jun 4th, 2007, 14:18

For best efficiency, I want to set up a section like this.

An html index would link to pages using a GET type variable, e.g.

Code: Select all

<a href="./about.php?foo='cu'"> All About Copper</a>

The page would be a modularized php template; the data would be supplied with a mysql query. Here's a skeleton template of what I have in mind for "about.php":

PHP: Select all


<?
if(((isset $_GET['foo']))&&((preg_match...))) {
     $var=$_GET['foo'];
} else {
   error();
}
require(...); // mysql connection, new class(es) or module(s)
mysql_query("SELECT * FROM database WHERE id='$var'");
//extract data from the query as an array $row[]

toplevel(); // some html formatting for the top of the page

echo "<h1> All about $row[3]</h1>";

echo $row[4];
// $row[4] is a chunk of content text with formatting.
?>

The php/mysql is not a problem - I can do the page in a fast, clean, extensible format. I just wanted to show a page skeleton to demonstrate.

My concern is whether spiders will see the variables and, much more worrisome, will see the text for full effect. The <h1> tags for example would receive critical keywords from the database ($row[3]), in this example "Copper". The text, also downloaded from the db ($row[4]), will also have the important key words -- not forced, just because it's the honest content that I want people to find.

The example code is a skeleton, and there are provisions for keywords in the <head>, <title>, graphic alts, etc. -- although these would ideally come from a db.

masonbarge · #2 (**permalink**) Jun 4th, 2007, 14:36

Oh yes, what I'd really like to do, of course, is generate the initial link as well. If I put "foo" as a database field, all I'd have to do is loop through a query to generate an automatic link to every article in the database. E.g.

PHP: Select all


$query="SELECT ...";
while($row=mysql_fetch_array($result)) {
    $foo=$row[2];
    $fullname=$row[5];
 echo "<br /> <a href='./about.php?foo=$foo'>$fullname</a>";
}

But now I'm really worried -- would a spider pick up the full series of links? I want to think "yes", since they will be html, but it will be generated html and I know they operate differently from browsers.

Ryan Fait · #3 (**permalink**) Jun 4th, 2007, 21:30

Query strings aren't that good for SEO. But from your explanation, it doesn't look like the content on your site that will be using them is very important. Google has never liked articles.php?id=1, so if you use query strings, make sure they are meaningful!

masonbarge · #4 (**permalink**) Jun 5th, 2007, 11:40

I don't understand what you mean by "not important". All the content on the applicable pages would be generated from the query. And for getting people into the site, these pages are (in my mind) quite important, since they pages where the real work is done are basically just forms.

I have a unique machine that will search a sizable database of food for a nutrient like calcium or fiber or (cough) theaflavin-3, 3'-digallate. :snack:
I'd like to attract someone who, say, want to get more Vitamin D in their diet, but with 60-70 different nutrients, there's only so much I can put on each search page.

The site needs a page with a thorough explanation of each nutrient anyway (what is it, what does it do, how much do people need, where do you get it, is it toxic at higher dosage, yada yada yada) but I certainly would like these pages to feed into the search engine, while I'm at it. I've just started work on a template, populated by "copper", if anyone's interested in seeing it.
http://www.dhreport.com/interactive_...t_template.php

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "meaningful". Do you mean a query link is better if it contains a fulltext term, e.g. "about.php?id=copper" would be more meaningful than "about.php?id=cu"?

Thanks for the help, even if I don't understand what you said

. I hope you got your theaflavin-3, 3'-digallate today (hint - if you're British, the chances are high).
http://www.dhreport.com/interactive_...h_nutrient.php

karnetics · #5 (**permalink**) Jun 5th, 2007, 18:00

Yes, But this problem can be resolve by using mod_rewrite rules and htaccess files. What a mod rewrite rule will let you do is make your dynamic links static here is an example

Normal Dynamic url link
<http://www.yourexampleurl.com?id=requestid>

Mod_rewrite Url link
<http://www.yourexampleurl.com/requestid/>

Using mod rewrite rules will make your site more user friendly also note that your web host must support htaccess files. Most Linux host support htaccess files if you have the right plan.

you can find out more about mode rewrite rule here
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_rewrite.html
http://optimize.uwantads.com

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Are there SEO problems with a db generated page?