Website Page Structuring and URL re writing - need helpful resources

[TopGearMedia]

Hello,

I am not technically very sound and I need some good articles that teach me how to think about and go about website pages structuring and url rewriting that is seo friendly.

I will be most obliged if some of you great seomoz-ers can pitch in with help.

Regards,

Talha

ZigZag Solutions

[Alex-Harford]

What web server are you using?

[StevenMapes]

I assume you are talking about Mod_rewrite with apache.

Apache's rewrite would be a good start http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/misc/rewriteguide.html.  You say you are not technically strong, but you should be able to copy details from that and just change things around.  The matching pattern works on regular expressions so if you have every used this you will find the syntax makes sense. If you haven't then it can look daunting when you first start but its really not that bad and through trial and error you can quickly pick it up.

This is the full reference for mod_rewrite http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_rewrite.html.

Alternatively once you have decided on your friendly URL to actual file mapping, post those in here and I am sure people will be able to help you create the rewrite rules

[RyanKent]

Hi Talha.

Since you are an IT company I am guessing you are asking about the general structure of URLs as opposed to the technical details of how to implement the change.

The primary change I recommed with your present URLs is to remove the technology suffix. Change http://www.zigzagsolutions.co.uk/jobs.html to http://www.zigzagsolutions.co.uk/jobs. Also for the home page drop the index.html.

These changes make your URL shorter and friendlier in appearance. You also benefit from more stable URLs. If you later decide to change your web pages to php or another technology, your existing URLs can continue to work without needing to redirect your whole site.

For web page structure, can you offer a bit more detail as to what you are seeking? Are you looking for technical details such as how to structure your html? An example would be placing your navigation code at the bottom of your HTML so search engines see your content first. Or are you asking about how to present your content?

[TopGearMedia]

Thanks a lot for your response Steven... im most obliged.

I am on my way to understanding url re-writing.

Can you also help me with the remaining part of my question - I want to understand about HOW TO STRUCTURE A WEBSITE FOR MAXIMUM NOTICE BY SEARCH ENGINE SPIDERS.... OR we can rephrase it to be WHAT IS CRAWL FRIENDLY WEBSITE STRUCTURE???

I am sure your answer will be very helpful for mr.

Thanks bro

Peace!

[TopGearMedia]

Hello Ryan...

thank you very much for your suggestion. Had that in mind already.

About website page structuring... I was actually asking about content structuring...

BUT I am surely, surely appreciate if you could also give me a bit of insight (or links) into html structuring.... the suggestion about placing navigation code is extremely interesting... can I know more please sir???

[RyanKent]

A web crawler will start at the top of a page and work it's way to the bottom, discovering links and content on the way down. The first links it encounters will be used for anchor text association and weighed more then other links to the same page. Links in content are given greater weight then links in navigation so it is preferable to have those links discovered first.

HTML code can be adjusted to position the navigation after the content. You can look at xenforo which is a forum software developer who designs their software in this manner. If you view the page's source code you will notice the navigation is at the bottom of the HTML code.

With respect to your question on content structuring, there are many pages covering this topic. In general I have two pieces of advice.

1. Have your content reviewed by an English teacher. I am not looking for grammatical corrections (although that helps too) but more along the idea of properly presenting a topic. A good header, intro sentence and paragraph, etc.

2. Examine the wikipedia approach. Most wiki pages perform the basics of SEO content presentation very effectively.

A WBF article which may be of interest: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/improving-content-shareability-whiteboard-friday