Dynamic Pages

    Perhaps you have already come across a site with page names that end in .php, .asp, .jsp, or .cfm? Have you visited websites that have animated content, or text effects that go beyond what basic HTML can do? These are good examples of dynamic pages.

    Dynamic pages are often created by means of multimedia software and programs, such as Macromedia Flash, Dreamweaver, Adobe, JavaScript, and others. In some cases, they are developed from newer versions of HTML, which are constantly being updated by programmers.

    The objective of many dynamic pages is to create a more interactive and more impressive presentation of websites, as compared to static pages, which is the norm for most webmasters. These dynamic sites contain rollover menus, animated buttons, and even audio and video as part of the upgraded web surfing experience.

    There used to be a debate involving the issue wherein static pages are more search engine friendly as compared to dynamic pages. There have been times when file name extensions are not .html or .htm. It was also not advisable to place text or content on pages with Flash, as spiders can not crawl or index that site.

    However, sources say that since search engines are becoming more and more advanced, the question on static versus dynamic has not been as controversial. Google, like other major search engines, can now index content from pages created with Active Server, JavaScript, PHP, or ColdFusion, as well as Flash, only if the webmaster knows how to follow certain techniques.
Since indexing can be a tough task for the Googlebot, since there are millions to billions of sites to be considered, why not make it easier for your dynamic pages to be included using a site map?

    Site maps can be generated by many third party programs offered by Google. Be sure to include links to static versions of your dynamic pages in your site map, this way, the spiders can still index your content.

    Other ways by which dynamic pages can be more spider-friendly is by altering the URL or file names. It has been said by webmasters and SEO experts that “?” symbols within the URL make it difficult for spiders to crawl on that site. You can rewrite your file name or URL in specific ways so that the dynamic page appears to be static.

    But if you really want to have bigger chances of getting better ranks in search engine results pages, then why not stick to static pages? You still have tons of options for making your website professional-looking and more aesthetic to your visitors. A way for you to do that is through cascade style sheets or CSS.

    There is a multitude of CSS templates that are available for download in many internet sources. This is a welcome alternative, especially for webmasters who need to focus more on their content rather than on deciding what template to use for all the pages of the site.

    Yahoo and Google XML Sitemaps are a great way to get dynamic content indexed. If you have a complex system that feeds a long URL string, you can use mod_rewrite (Apache servers) or ISAPI rewrite (Microsoft servers) to feed search engine friendly URLs.

 

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