Is the "base href" tag safe for SEO?

Are relative URLs plus the "base href" tag, or absolute URLs safer for SEO?

[frostlorraine]

I am currently trying to determine whether I must use absolute URLs (a href="http://www.mysite.com/directory1/page1.htm") throughout a web site I'm currently optimizing, or whether I can use, instead, relative URLs (a href="directory1/page1.htm") in conjunction with the base href tag (base href="http://www.mysite.com/"), to designate a base URL to which all relative URLs refer, and be still be okay with the major search engines from a rankings standpoint.

Using relative URLs in conjunction with the base href tag has the advantage of decreasing the file size of all site pages, and helps avert having to change all URLs whenever a new, deeper-level directory (e.g. /directory1/subdirectory1/...)is created.

However, I am afriad that that not al SE spiders will be able to follow the base href tag, or that somehow my use of this tage might negatively affect my ranking in the major search engines. This is probably more paranoia than anything else, as this tag is basic HTML, and shouldn't pose a problem. However, can anyone with some experience using it say anything definitive? Is the use of the base href tag a safe tactic?

Thanks a lot,
Lorraine

[andreasfriedrich]

I never experienced any problems with major search engines.

You will need the base url element only if you want your relative URLs to be resolved in a different context than the documentīs URL in which they are refernced. In short: use it only if the base url you would specify is different than the documentīs URL minus the file name.

Andreas

[rcjordan]

When in doubt re spidering, run a page through Brett's sim-spider. The links it sees are listed at the bottom.

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