isapi rewrite question.... have ASP

[SoleDrag]

I know next to nothing about isapi rewrite, I just know I needed it done to turn this:

[example.com...]

To this:

[example.com...]

I had my programmer, who didn't know anything about isapi rewrite, do this for me.

I want to tell him good job, but how can I tell if it was done correctly?

When I search for a product in a search engine, it shows the old [example.com...] and when I click on it, it doesn't even switch to the new .htm address, it still has the original. Does this mean it doesn't work?

[mrMister]

The rewrite probably works, but I think you were expecting a 301 redirect.

However, before you put a 301 redirect on these pages think carefully about what you are doing

Are you sure you understand the implications of what you are doing. You could destroy your site's search engine rankings for a couple of months.

Why exactly are you doing this? What do you hope to achieve?

[edited by: mrMister at 11:26 pm (utc) on Mar. 15, 2005]

[defanjos]

The way to check if it is working as intended, is to go to "http://www.example.com/blue_widget-498.htm" and see if it displays the page that you want. The page should be served from "http://www.example.com/Catalog.asp?id=498", but you should not see it on the browser window - you should see "http://www.example.com/blue_widget-498.htm".

Now, you need to add some 301 redirects to the httpd.ini file so all the pages in this format "http://www.example.com/Catalog.asp?id=123" are permanently redirected to "http://www.example.com/blue_widget-123.htm"

[SoleDrag]

MrMister - I'm hoping to achieve better rankings for my internal pages. Google and others just don't like my .asp catalog pages. They index some, but not even close to all of them.

From my research, I've seen that the way to make them look static is through a rewrite.

As far as bad rankings for a few months, my internal pages can't get any worse ;-)

[SoleDrag]

defanjos

It does display the page I want and the URL I want. So I assume it's done correctly.

But I know nothing about the 301 redirect, I'll have to ask my programmer if this was done. Why does it need done, what does it mean?

Your help is appreciated!

[defanjos]

The reason you need a 301 redirect from "http://www.example.com/Catalog.asp?id=498" to "http://www.example.com/blue_widget-498.htm", is so you don't have a bunch of duplicate pages.
You want the search engines to have only one copy indexed - the htm one.

The problem here is, that you already had all those asp pages for a while, so they are already indexed. If you were starting a new site, all you had to do was the rewrite from asp to htm, and you would be all set.

If your programmer does not know what to do, he can try the isapi_rewrite forum - they are very helpful there.

[mrMister]

MrMister - I'm hoping to achieve better rankings for my internal pages. Google and others just don't like my .asp catalog pages. They index some, but not even close to all of them.

From my research, I've seen that the way to make them look static is through a rewrite.

I suspect the problem is more one of your site's navigation rather than your site "looking static".

When you put that 301 redirect on, you can expect your site to plummet in the SERPS for a few months.

If you're not performing well already then I guess that isn't an issue.

However it's quite clear that you don't know what you're doing. There's more to making a site look static than using a rewrite. You still have to do the 301 redirects and then (more importantly) you have to change all the links throughout your site

If you sticky me your site's URL, I'll take a look at it and tell you what I think. I suspect that your navigation is to blame rather than your pages not looking static.