Optimizing a website which uses information from a database

[PhatJP]

Hi,

Sorry if this question is very general. I am in the process of building a website for local business, and it it will be heavily dependent on a database.

The database will contain loads of information which can be optimized such as business directory listings, articles, forums, questions and answers etc. The businesses will also be able to link to and from the site.

Which is the best way to display this information so that it can be optimized the best? I was going to use drop down boxes on a single page, ie main category, sub catagory, then display the business listings based on this.

However, as the information on the page changes constantly based on the drop down the robot / user uses, I am assuming this is very hard to get optimized well.

Does anyone know a better way?

Thanks.

[RankSurge]

I don't know if this will solve your problems, but could you program the site using breadcrumb navigation? That will go a long way in your seo efforts.

[PhatJP]

Thanks for the reply. Can you give me any examples of this, or explain how it might help. I am a beginner with regards to SEO, and not come across this term in regards to web design.

Do you mean have a file for each category, and then a page for each sub category, and another page for the listings? Can this be automated, or is it manual?

Sorry for being so Naive!

[PhatJP]

Ok - I will ask something else which might help (and which I might understand).

From reading around, I understand that search engines will index pages with
?category=foo&subcategory=fee on the end. Can anyone confirm this, as if this is true it will make my life a lot easier!

Thanks