Web directory in html or php better?

Discussion in 'Directories' started by pixens, Mar 8, 2007.

  1. #1
    Recalling when I was first introduced to SEO, somebody said about search engine don't like php. So, what if a html directory will be have more SEO affinity compared to its php counterpart?
     
    pixens, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  2. britishguy

    britishguy Prominent Member

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    #2
    This has been discussed many times before and it was in my opinion in-conclusive meaning that sites with large volumes of traffic I dont think it makes much difference whether dynamic or static, but over the years we have had some low volume traffic sites that have held indexed pages better in .html

    But certainly there will be differing results to your query :)
     
    britishguy, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  3. sabian1982

    sabian1982 Notable Member

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    #3
    Static HTML is a rather silly method for a directory due to the quantity of submissions that is likely to be recieved... using a CMS at the best of times can be very time consuming! Directory scripts in PHP have also become a lot more SEO friendly with the ability to generate SEO friendly URLs etc so php really is the best and obviously choice!
     
    sabian1982, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  4. smub

    smub Notable Member

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    #4
    even though it seems that php gets indexed faster .. but from experience the faster they get indexed they end up getting deindexed too ..

    the pages deviate so much that its very hard to find the mean in there. its all over the place. one day u might 1000 indexed pages ... the next its 700 than 500 than 300 than bak to 400.

    i prefer html because its more stable.
     
    smub, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  5. bacanze

    bacanze Peon

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    #5
    Personally I would say php for its functionality.
     
    bacanze, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  6. britishguy

    britishguy Prominent Member

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    #6
    Just for clarification it is very easy to mix dynamic and static on the same site we have our main directory in both static and dynamic side by side we prefer the option to select either or :)

    It gives us that flexibility the we like
     
    britishguy, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  7. sabian1982

    sabian1982 Notable Member

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    #7
    I get the strange impression your repeating yourself, repeating yourself, repeating yourself... :p
     
    sabian1982, Mar 8, 2007 IP
    britishguy likes this.
  8. datasolution

    datasolution Banned

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    #8
    who says php is not better.....

    Using Php script you can generate htm or html pages dynamically... and it's ease to use and 100% SEO friendly and easy to handle....
     
    datasolution, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  9. seveneth

    seveneth Peon

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    #9
    I choose PHP because :
    - make links management easier, no need to "download, edit, upload" file for updates.
    - can change theme easily.
    - can be integrated with other scripts.
    - can do dynamic stuff like filtering/sorting/searching where static HTML can't.

    I don't think there's any relation to SEO whether you're using php/asp/cfm/any other script or plain HTML.

    But if you really want static HTML, there are some directory scripts that have capability to generate static version. If not mistaken 'PowerSeek' script have this kind of feature.
     
    seveneth, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  10. ! Ask !

    ! Ask ! Peon

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    #10
    Static probably better, but the marginal gain doesn’t compensate the headaches of updating a HTML site IMHO.
     
    ! Ask !, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  11. pixens

    pixens Active Member

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    #11
    I would agree php is THE way, the database. When you have to handle links that can go up to hundreds per day and the housekeeping your links after some time. For .html, i.e http://www.swapware.org/ have to regenerate the html at each link adding event, I would imagine that will be very slow, and I can't imagine how to reedit.

    One thing still unsloved in my head, just say your link is in ../internet/directory in page 1, as time go by it will go to page 2, 3 and so on. How search engine treat this kind of 'dynamic'. Btw, my SEO paper=0%
     
    pixens, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  12. ccoonen

    ccoonen Well-Known Member

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    #12
    you can spoof .html with modrewrite in php. Just make sure to have the name in the folder or file name structure somewhere. Personally I like to have my structure look like: /shopping/cart/ rather than /shopping/cart.html :)
     
    ccoonen, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  13. coolsitez

    coolsitez Well-Known Member

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    #13
    Whenever this kind of question arises, we somehow tend to forget the fact that Google crawls almost any page whether it's html or php. Of course in terms of SE friendly, any dynamic page is not recommended, especially the file name is long.

    But as long as G crawls, there should be no worries. I have experienced in both and G gave PR in deepest pages on both, html based or php. It really is a matter of how G thinks your site to let PR points pass to deeper pages. Sitemap helps for this, as you know. Or building links to inner pages. Some of very SE unfriendly CMS's still can gain PR.
     
    coolsitez, Mar 8, 2007 IP
  14. pixens

    pixens Active Member

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    #14
    Well, I can just say I am satify with phpLD.
     
    pixens, Mar 12, 2007 IP
  15. dargre

    dargre Peon

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    #15
    Suggest JavaScript... :D
     
    dargre, Mar 12, 2007 IP
  16. littlebobek

    littlebobek Peon

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    #16
    I would also vote for PHP
     
    littlebobek, Mar 12, 2007 IP
  17. banless

    banless Peon

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    #17
    The truth is that either one will work fine, but like anything else it will need to be done correctly. I chose an html format because it was more of a challenge and I had a lot of fun doing it, plus I did not feel like taking the time to learn a new program so I just went with what I knew.

    There are advantages and disadvantages to both. But here is an idea of what you are going to be up against when building an html directory.

    1). You will need to start off by choosing a design. The design which you create for the category page can act as a template for the other pages.

    2). You will need to name each category page by hand.

    3). You will need to write seperate title tags and descriptions and keywords for each category page by hand (unless you do not want to be seo freindly).

    4). You will need to add all listings manually. (a simple copy and paste will work fine if your payment option is set up for it).

    5). When making a sitewide change the best thing to do is use your find and replace feature which will make the changes alot faster, however, once the changes are made you then need to upload the entire website by hand (select all will work just fine).

    For the most part it is in fact a very long process, mainly with creating the files, and depending on how many categories you have this could take a couple of weeks, or sooner if you have more spare time. But once you have everything set up the way you want it then added listings is a breeze.

    I do not know much about php because I never use it for anything, but I would say that if you do not have alot of time on your hands and want to put something together real quick then I think that is the best option for you. My only complaint with php is that although the search engines do pick up php extentions it seems that it takes longer for them to do so, I have never had a problem getting my html pages indexed quickly. The other thing regarding php is that these directories seem to have alot more supplemental results, why that is I am not really sure, my guess is because most directories do not redirect the non www to www or vice versa.

    In regards to page rank and whether or not it flows better in html or php I would say that it is a tie. Page rank can only flow evenly when all pages have been indexed, so when you see directories that have say pr 5 on homepage and then pr 4 on the contact page but then you see pr 0 in one of the categories, this only means that those pages were not indexed at the time when google took it's snap shot of pr and therefore those pages will have to wait until the next update before they get any pr.

    I only recommend buiding a directory in html if you have the time and patience that is needed in order to make it work, if not, then just go with php it will be the faster route to take.
     
    banless, Mar 12, 2007 IP
  18. an0n

    an0n Prominent Member

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    #18
    errr.. i don't know why anyone hasn't posted this, but you can use php in html by just using an addhandler to parse your html as php.

    so in doing so, you can maintain your static html pages and use php within, but still come out as html.

    /me shrugs...
     
    an0n, Mar 12, 2007 IP
  19. banless

    banless Peon

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    #19
    Agreed. It would not be that much of a big deal to just add a few bells and whistles to the html in order to get the features that you are looking for.
     
    banless, Mar 12, 2007 IP
  20. Freewebspace

    Freewebspace Notable Member

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    #20
    This is in reference to the above quote

    you can very well create a HTML directory by using .htaccess

    also I first created www.annexagain.com with that like that only

    When I tweaked it for Search Engine friendly urls it looked like

    www.annexagain.com/1.html (Arts category)

    Then I made it to look like

    Then there I changed the Urls in a page to look like this

    www.annexaagain.com/arts.html

    by visting www.annexagain.com/1.html and saving it as www.annexagain.com/arts.html!

    and in the main index pages I changed the urls like

    this [CATEGORY_NAME].html on each category

    The link will look like /arts.html

    so when you click on the link it will go to arts.html page!

    And for the subpages it will look like arts2.html

    Anon I hope you now understand it better!





    suppose if there is url like this

    http://www.jeffbrowninc.com/blogs/

    you can just open the page in your browser and save it as .html

    and then just upload to this folder http://www.jeffbrowninc.com/blogs/ as index.html

    thats it and turn of .htaccess

    when you again click on the Arts link in the main page you will be having a static html page

    thats it!

    and this can be also easily maintained by a database

    as when someone submit any link you can just add it and visit the page in your browser and save it! and then upload it!
     
    Freewebspace, Mar 12, 2007 IP