Rewriting URLs to avoid duplicate content and improve rankings

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Lupi, Jul 21, 2008.

0
  1. #1
    Hi,

    I have been thinking about how to design the site structure for a new project I am launching soon, and I was hoping to get some additional input.

    Currently, a URL could look like this:

    w*w.site.com/fruits/prices.php?product=apple&quantity=5

    (quantity can be 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

    The reason for rewriting these URLs is not solely to make them more 'search engine friendly', because from what I have read, URLs like the one above seem to be OK these days.

    1) The pages contain prices and short descriptions, but not a lot of text. Depending on the quantity, the only thing that changes are prices. => Duplicate content?!

    What I thought I could do to avoid duplicate content issues is rewriting the URLs. For instance:
    w*w.site.com/fruits/apple-prices.html (quantity=1)
    w*w.site.com/fruits/2/apple-prices.html (quantity=2)
    w*w.site.com/fruits/3/apple-prices.html (quantity=3)
    w*w.site.com/fruits/4/apple-prices.html (quantity=4)
    ...

    I could then nofollow/noindex the directories 2, 3, 4 and so on. Does that make sense?

    What if somebody links to, say w*w.site.com/fruits/3/apple-prices.html - if I noindex that directory, I would not get any credit for the link, or would I?

    Any suggestions?

    Cheers, Chris
     
    Lupi, Jul 21, 2008 IP
  2. wordofmind

    wordofmind Peon

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    #2
    Very difficult language and complicated concepts. I can't understand it man. Best of luck, though.
     
    wordofmind, Jul 21, 2008 IP
  3. milvos

    milvos Peon

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    #3
    Rewriting URLs is good for product pages as this will help in the search engines, make sure this works with your page titles also. Use the product name or similar to generate the URL and page title.

    As to whether this will help avoid duplicate content issues, it may but I doubt it, really depends on how much other content you will have in each page and where else this is and in how many locations. Where possible the best way to avoid duplicate content is not to use it.
     
    milvos, Jul 21, 2008 IP