Search engine optimisation for ASP driven sites

Im trying to find info on optimising my site with search engines

[mitchadams]

Hello, I have created a site mainly using ASP and understand that some/all search engines have problems categorising/indexing them. Where can I find information about this?

Thanks

[WebGuerrilla]

Hi Mitch,

Welcome to WebmasterWorld

The issue that can present a problem doesn't really have anything to do with the ASP file extension. The part that can cause problems is having query strings in your URLS.

There have been several threads in the the past that discuss various ways to deal with dynamic pages. You can find a few that specifically discuss ASP here.
[searchengineworld.com ]

[mitchadams]

Hi thanks for your response, I've tried that link but don't seem to be getting anywhere. Can you resubmit it or provide an alternative?

cheers

[Mike_Mackin]

mitchadams

within the last hour or so the search function seems to be down. Check back later.

[mitchadams]

Hi there, thanks for the link.
Most of our pages are fine with no ? in the asp query string however a couple are. Does this mean that as soon as the spider hits the url with a ? in it it will back away and not register at all. Or will it register the pages at the top that contain a random element in the query string?
Im confused...

anyone?

[agerhart]

Mitch,

It really depends. The robots will index URL's with a special character like a ?, and they have the technology to do so. At the same time it is better to have URL's without the special character and there are ways that you can take them out.

[pete]

Mitch, even though Google indexes URL's with ? in them, it is rare to find these pages well ranked.

Many of the other engines refuse to index them.

One simple way around the ? problem is to use URL replacers so that the poison symbols are excluded.

Give me a shout if you struggle with this and Ill send you a reference via sticky mail