Decent rankings for Database listings

Trying to figure out how to do this

[Lady_P]

Hi

We are currently creating a tyre resource directory to list up to 17,000 tyres ranging in size, make, price etc.

As this is going to be a database driven site and I will not be able to optimise 17,000 individual pages I was wondering if anyone know the technique used to achieve rankings for database items.

For example, if you type in 'flat shoes' in Google - eBay have 2nd place listing. Not for an individual, dynamic page, but for a database item.

I cannot seem to find out the best way to achieve this but in a ideal world our new site will rank for specifics such as 'Pirelli 250' and 'tyre 195/45' etc.

Any suggestions gratefully accepted.

Thanks

Laura

[bennymack]

Hello,

I am also currently developing a database driven site. It is completely SEO however.

Please see my post for details:
[webmasterworld.com...]

Of course there are other methods but the perl/mason way is 100% flexible. There are other posts here at WW and elsewhere that back that statement up.

[encyclo]

Spiders don't see the underlying technology, they just see pages - so you need to generate those pages in a way that favorizes indexation.

First thing is to use URLs which appear static. For example your should avoid:

example.com/search.cgi?manufact=WidgetCo&type=truck&model=GreenWidget

You can use mod_rewrite for Apache (or ISAPI_rewrite for IIS) to make the URL look like this:

example.com/WidgetCo/truck/GreenWidget.html

Then to the generated page itself - you should ensure the page has a descriptive title:

<title>WidgetCo Truck Tires: GreenWidget</title>

and maybe a meta description tag:

<meta name="description" content="The GreenWidget model of truck tire is ideal for those on a tight budget">

You should use meaningful headers like

<h1></h1>

and ensure you have a clear description of the product within the text. Also you must make sure your product pages are linked in permanence, not just generated by a posted search form.

It's all the same basic stuff you would do for a static page: good clean markup (use the validator to check), text-rich content, links, etc. The fact that there is a database behind it doesn't make much of a difference.

[Lady_P]

Thanks, will have a go.

:)