Dynamic Index Pages Just Using "/?"

[Frylock]

This is sort of an odd question... but in essance, is it "okay" (valid, acceptable, ect) to have your links like:

 

ht*p://www.domain.com/?var1=x&var2=y

 

Or is it better to always list it fully as:

 

ht*p://www.domain.com/index.php?var1=x&var2=y

 

Thanks!

[TCH-Don]

The first one does not look like a valid web page

a page should start with a letter

link index.php

not ?var1=x&var2=y

[LisaJill]

Just be aware that, at least from what I've read, links that have query strings (with a ? in them) will not be treated with love by the search engines.

[borfast]

Frylock, yes, you can use that kind of URL for a webpage.

 

It's just like accessing a page via htt*p://domain.com/index.php versus htt*p://domain.com/

 

If you don't specify which file you want from the directory (in my example, the site root), the web server will simply serve you the file index.php, or index.html, default.asp, etc, depending on how it's configured.

 

I don't know if it's "valid" but it works...

[Frylock]

Ahh... Thanks for all the tips!

 

I was helping a friend with his site and noticed he had all his links without the "index.php" and wasn't sure. I think I'll just tell him to add the "index.php" part just to be safe. Then maybe someday I'll get him to turn them info "static" urls...

[TCH-Rob]

Just be aware that, at least from what I've read, links that have query strings (with a ? in them) will not be treated with love by the search engines.

 

 

This is changing. Search engines are also realizing the popularity of dynamic content sites with ? marks in the URL's. I have even had pages in the big one with those. Static looks better and is easier to remember and for now easier on the search engines, it wont matter for long.

Edited May 30, 2004 by TCH-Rob

[Deverill]

links that have query strings (with a ? in them) will not be treated with love by the search engines.

I know Google can handle up to 3 variables just fine. After that the current spiders get lost. The Googlebar that has the PR on it can't handle any variables though. Your PageRank will be ok but the Googlebar won't show it properly.

 

Also, anything that needs a SESSIONID to get to it will not be found by the Google spiders.

 

I would think the others are the same or very close behind.