Mod Rewrite & SEO Question

How to rewrite URLs for SEO

[Lemon]

I'm in the process of working with the REWRITE function in my .htaccess and have a question.

When rewriting URLs, is it best to keep it simple or to cram keywords into my new URLs. Here's an example:

Our old URLs were like this:
- www.abcwidgets.com/widget-colors.php?id=123&blue

Which way should I format my new URLs?
- www.abcwidgets.com/colors/123/blue
OR
- www.abcwidgets.com/widgetcolors/123/blue

I've got my primary keyword in my domain name. Should I be repeating it elsewhere in the URL next to my other keywords, or is it best to keep the URL as simple as possible?

Basically, before I go to work on this, is there anyone who has any experience with this who could provide a little insight.

[webdoctor]

keep it simple

You hit the nail on the head.

If your end users find you listed in the SERPS under
http://www.example.com/widgets/pricelist/large-blue.html
they might be forgiven for thinking that they're about to find the section of your widget price list which lists large blue widgets. Easy for the end user & (IMHO) good for the search engine.

If they find you listed under
http://www.example.com/widgets-pricelist-widgets/pricelist-widgets-cheap-prices/widget-large-blue-cheap-large-widget-blue.html?widgets-large-blue&click=meNOW
then they probably won't click on your link at all. The search engines might think there's a whiff of spam there too...

[Lemon]

Okay. So when rewriting the URL what is most friendly in terms of Google. Should I use:

- www.abcwidgets.com/colors/123/blue
OR
- www.abcwidgets.com/colors/123/blue.html

Do you think the presence of a trailing ".html" will help my URLs or not make a difference?

[g1smd]

I like using the "folder" method where every page of the site looks like an index page.

/folder.name/folder/

You can change the technology from index.php to default.asp to index.cfm or to any other technology at any time without ever having to change any of your links, simply because you never refer to the index file by its real name at all.

[webdoctor]

/folder.name/folder/

Is this friendly for your end-users, I wonder? Do people type it in accurately, or do they skip the trailing slash?

[g1smd]

They can skip the trailing / on the URL if they want to, but you should always include it on every internal link on the site.