Search engines tend to index dynamic URLs at a much slower pace than static URLs, and so do users. When looking at your page in a search engine, a user is more likely to click a link that has a recognizable URL string, such as one with the title of an article in the URL than one with a question mark followed by some numbers.

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While static URLs are quite easy to optimize, going overboard with the sub-categories can confuse search engines. If you’re interested in how to optimize your static URLs for search engines and user-friendliness, Ross Dunn at SearchEngineGuide.com suggests these pointers:

• Don’t have more than three subdirectories in any URL.

• Try using keywords in your URLs if you can. The best place for a keyword is in a subdirectory (such as the category or topic).

• If you want your page to be indexed by search engines, avoid session tags and variables; like users, the search engine spiders view these as “stop” signs.

The folks at SEOChat.com have made a URL Rewriting Tool that will restructure your dynamic URLs into static URLs. AListApart has a more technical guide for restructuring dynamic URLs that either you or your webmaster will most likely find useful.

Of course, restructuring your links isn’t something that happens at the snap of a finger. However, every Web site needs a redesign once in a while. It’s important to think about your URL strategy if you’re depending on organic traffic from search engines. Using dynamic URLs with few or no keywords in them and multiple variables is not going to get you as highly indexed as a comparable site with an optimized URL. If you are in a highly competitive market, this could be tragic.

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