sites is that they don’t technically exist until the user creates them. Because a web crawler can’t make
the selections that “build” these pages, most dynamic web pages aren’t indexed in search engines.There are ways around this, however. Dynamic URLs can be converted to static URLs with the right
coding. It’s also possible to use paid inclusion servicesto index dynamic pages down to a predefined
number of levels (or number of selections, if you’re considering the site from the user’s point of view).Dynamic ASP, like many of the other languages used to create web sites, carries with it a unique set
of characteristics. But that doesn’t mean SEO is impossible for those pages. It does mean that the
approach used for the SEO of static pages needs to be modified. It’s an easy enough task, and a quick
search of the Internet will almost always provide the programming code you need to achieve SEO.PHP
Search engine crawlers being what they are — preprogrammed applications — there’s a limit
to what they can index. PHP is another of those programming languages that falls outside the
boundaries of normal web-site coding. Search engine crawlers see PHP as another obstacle if
it’s not properly executed.Properly executed means that PHP needs to be used with search engines in mind. For example,
PHP naturally stops or slows search engine crawlers. But with some attention and a solid under-
standing of PHP and SEO, it’s possible to code pages that work, even in PHP.One thing that works well with PHP is designing the code to look like HTML. It requires an expe-
rienced code jockey, but it can be done. And once the code has been disguised, the PHP site can be
crawled and indexed so that it’s returned in search results.Other Design Concerns
You’re likely to encounter numerous problems with SEO when designing your web site. Some are
easy to overcome. Others can be quite difficult. And still others aren’t problems you have to over-
come; rather, you just need to beware of them or risk being ignored by search engine crawlers.Among tactics that might seem okay to some, but really aren’t, are the so-called black-hat SEO
techniques. These are practices implemented with a single thought in mind — increasing search
engine rankings, no matter how inappropriate those rankings might be. Some companies deliber-
ately use such techniques when creating web sites, even if the results that show up have absolutely
nothing to do with the search terms users entered.Domain cloaking
On the surface, domain cloakingsounds like a great idea. The concept is to show users a pretty web
site that meets their needs, while at the same time showing search engines a highly optimized page54
Part II SEO Strategies
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