How to optimize database pages?

[Steven1976a]

We have a site www. body--jewelry .com and the pages for the products are generated from a template and populated with the products in our database.

At the moment the search engines are giving rankings for the first page within a catagory (1st click from homepage). All the pages after that basically look like similar/duplicate pages to the search engines i would imagine so im trying to find out how people optimise these pages which look similar in a catalogue? How can we add some flexibility?

[Tech Manager]

There are several considerations to take into account:

1.) Eliminate duplicate content by making sure each product has its own unique content.
2.) Use rich keywords for each product.
3.) Make sure you use a regularly updated sitemap.xml for every product you wish to get into the Search Engines.
4.) Similar looking pages do not necessarily equate to duplicate content. See #1
5.) Make sure each page/product has a layout that takes SEO into consideration.
6.) Use dynamic meta tags.

This is just a brief list to get you started.

[Terry Van Horne]

1. keep parameters to less than 3
2. No Session ID's in URLs (common to most php and out of the box carts)
3. Avoid using ID or ProdID or something similar as a param
4. Avoid using product descriptions as link text
5. Pages with less than 300 words of copy are harder to place
6. Pages with less than a 60/40 split on text in copy to text in links will be problematic even if there are over 300 words of copy

Can you still get pages with these characteristics to place. I would say yes to all but 2 & 3. Even 3 will occasionally get placement but at some point they almost always end up in the supplemental index on Google. Maybe not immediately but... eventually.

[incrediblehelp]

Originally Posted by Steven1976a

so im trying to find out how people optimise these pages which look similar in a catalogue?

Doesnt matter if the page is dynamic or static, same core rules apply to rank document:

1. Relevant authoritative back links. Link baiting and social media. Making sure these pages have links to them from other websites with the right anchor text.
2. Accessibility in themed structure. Making your website easy to crawl and index to find the pages. Information architecture is key.
3. Basic on-site SEO factors. Original content.

[Tech Manager]

Originally Posted by incrediblehelp

Doesnt matter if the page is dynamic or static, same core rules apply to rank document:

1. Relevant authoritative back links. Link baiting and social media. Making sure these pages have links to them from other websites with the right anchor text.
2. Accessibility in themed structure. Making your website easy to crawl and index to find the pages. Information architecture is key.
3. Basic on-site SEO factors. Original content.

This is the beauty of WPW. Ask a question and the answers get better 'n better.

[Dubbya]

Steven1976a,

Be sure to check out the user forums where you got your cart. They'll have coding tips and advice on which fields to call in your scripts and which scripts are used to build which part of each page.

Take advantage of part numbers, sku's, colours, size, models, anything that can be used to build your optimized description and keywords meta tags, page titles and page headings.

In addition, creating original content using a predefined script is easily "doable".

Just write a dynamically generated paragraph or two that can utilize your item specific information for any product in your database. You can even do this according to category and change it up as required so that the text reads differently according to which category and which product the user is looking at.

For example in VB Script, you might try this:

<p>This <%=itemdescription%> and <%=gem%> <%=model%> weighs <%=weight%> <%=ouncesorcarats%> and is sure to make a startling addition to your evening wardrobe. Made by <%=manufacturer%>, it's readily available in a wide assortment of finishes including <%=availablefinishes%>. </p>
<p>If you're considering this <%=model%>, you might also be interested in our fine selection of related <%=category%> including <%=relateditems%>.</p>

When output to HTML, you'd see something like this:

<p>This sterling silver and ruby pendant weighs 4 ounces and is sure to make a startling addition to your evening wardrobe. Made by GemSmith of Paris, it's readily available in a wide assortment of finishes including brushed silver, antique silver and polished silver. </p>
<p>If you're considering this pendant, you might also be interested in our fine selection of related jewellery including rings, chains, bracelets and broaches.</p>

It takes a degree of familiarity in editing your cart code and some finagling to get it worded so you can use it anywhere but it does work quite well. You can even use a similar script to generate text links to your related items content and maximize your SEO efforts using targeted keywords and phrases.

.02

[Janna122003]

Originally Posted by Steven1976a

We have a site www. body--jewelry .com and the pages for the products are generated from a template and populated with the products in our database.

At the moment the search engines are giving rankings for the first page within a catagory (1st click from homepage). All the pages after that basically look like similar/duplicate pages to the search engines i would imagine so im trying to find out how people optimise these pages which look similar in a catalogue? How can we add some flexibility?

Create unique description for every page. If you're the one who create your site content then I'm sure it's unique.

[Steven1976a]

Thanks for the great tips

I think the important simple thing i missed out on was giving the products a unique name so that we can call the page titles, tags by using the unique name and SKU along with the product catagory.

As for the below
"In addition, creating original content using a predefined script is easily "doable".

Just write a dynamically generated paragraph or two that can utilize your item specific information for any product in your database. You can even do this according to category and change it up as required so that the text reads differently according to which category and which product the user is looking at."

We do this on our product pages with the top para having generated text from the product catagory although i dont think there is enough flexibility for us so we are going to create text boxes for each product catagory.

We also have had new file structure created although not uploaded yet so that we dont have the ID numbers and have more friendly urls with keyword rich urls.

Thanks all