Some search engine robots just will not follow links that include a "querystring" as part of URL. You have seen a querystring if you have ever looked at URL of a page of search results in Google. For example, if you look for "blue widgets" on Google, not only do you get page after page of blue widgets, you also see that these pages have very complicated-looking addresses

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=blue+widgets

In this address, everything after question mark ("?") is a querystring. This is used to pass additional information to web server. While some search engines can follow a complicated address like this, many simply will not follow such a link. That means that if you use a URL like

http://www.mycompany.com/catalog.html?item=widget&color=blue&model=1

that robot may not be able to follow it. This is bad.

On other hand, an increasing number of search engine robots will follow such links. Usually, links like this are created "on fly" by filling-out forms and clicking a "submit" button, but that doesn't have to be case. You can grab that address, querystring and all, and put it into a "normal" link, like this

blue widgets style 1

Put several of these on a page and search engine robot can now visit your dynamic pages from links that require no button-clicking. Remember that not all robots will follow these links, so your mileage may vary.

As long as link to page exists in a form that does not require human intervention to get to it (pulldown menus, search results, form submits, etc) then a bot will follow it.

Widgets Out The Door Using any of these methods will help search engine robots to find dynamic pages on your site. This means that important content on those pages is more likely to be included in search engine databases, and that people will be better able to find you. That, of course, means that Widget Queen will reign supreme, knowing that widget customers world over will now be able to find you and buy your widgets.

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Dale Goetsch is Technical Consultant for Search Innovation Marketing (http://www.searchinnovation.com), a Search Engine Promotion company serving small businesses and non-profits. He has over twelve years experience in software development. Along with programming in Perl, JavaScript, ASP and VB, he is a technical writer and editor, with an emphasis on making technical subjects accessible to non-technical readers.

Copyright © 2003 Search Innovation Marketing. All Rights Reserved.

Permission to reprint this article is granted as long as all text above this line is included in its entirety. We would also appreciate your notifying us when you reprint it: please send a note to reprint@searchinnovation.com.

Add Keywords Reflecting Your Local Cities And State You can also target local areas by including them in your title/meta tags and text of your web pages. List only cities and state you reside in and/or provide services to. You never know who will be looking for a local contact producer of "blue widgets" in your city or state. Some people prefer to work with a local company. Adding in those type of specifics, even on your contact page with your local information, can pull in traffic your local competitors are missing.

Check Your Site Statistics Last but certainly not least, check your search engine stats program or raw server logs to see what terms your visitors are using to find your website. There may be combinations of words your visitors are using you have not thought of or that may not be in content of your pages.

Incorporate Keyword Phrases Into Content Of Your Web Pages Once you have your list of varied keyword phrases, work them into your web page. Incorporating these terms into your web pages should "make sense", in other words, they should read well and not sound "spammy". Most of all, they should realistically be part of content of page, not placed there only because you need them in content. Have another person read your copy to see if it sounds reasonable to them.

Keyword Variations Make A Difference Don't miss out on keywords your competitors might miss. Those extra keywords could translate into profits and increased viewing of your website by visitors who might otherwise not find you.

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Daria Goetsch is founder and Search Engine Marketing Consultant for Search Innovation Marketing (http://www.searchinnovation.com), a Search Engine Promotion company serving small businesses. Besides running her own company, Daria is an associate of WebMama.com, an Internet web marketing strategies company. She has specialized in search engine optimization since 1998, including three years as Search Engine Specialist for O'Reilly & Associates, a technical book publishing company.

Copyright © 2003 Search Innovation Marketing. All Rights Reserved.

Permission to reprint this article is granted as long as all text above this line is included in its entirety. We would also appreciate your notifying us when you reprint it: please send a note to reprint @ searchinnovation.com.