Dynamic or Static Links -- Which Way Is Better?

Dynamic or Static Links? Duh! What am I talking about? For the newbie, the words static or dynamic link can be a foreign object, with no meaning, and possibly no concern. However, it is always good to learn and grow, and to realize that yes, some links are better than others, and may effect your site, for better or for worse, if not done correctly.

With some affiliate merchants offering dynamic links, I began to wonder if there would be any issues with the search engines, or if it would be a viable solution for my expansion ideas, and thus, give me more time to do what I need to do. As always, my curiosity lead to some needed research. I hope you will find what I found in my research to be of value.

Thus, my article "Dynamic or Static Web Pages, Which Way Should
You Go?"


Dynamic or Static Web Pages, Which Way Should You Go?
By Vickie J. Scanlon


Many merchants offer their affiliates dynamic rich links to place on their site. Being one of those affiliates, my questions were many. First, what are the differences between dynamic and static web pages? Second, would dynamic pages/urls be a viable option for my website? Third, if I used dynamic pages, could the search engines easily crawl and index my pages? Fourth, if dynamic pages cannot be crawled, is there a solution to the problem? In this article I will address these questions, as well as, discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and the possible solutions to certain issues.

What are Static Web Pages?

A static page is a page that gives you exactly the same response over and over again. It is your basic HTML page. The static page consists of urls that are free of any special characters, remains in its final form and has no server-side interaction.

An example of a static url is (xxxx is the domain name): xxxx.com/index.html


Advantages of Static Web Pages

Since static web pages are html driven, they offer the webmaster the following quick advantages.

1) For those who have little or no experience with design, the static url allows for an easy and quick solution to getting a website up and running; 2) There are no surprises--what one person sees, is what all will see; 3) The pages are easier for the search engine spiders to crawl and index; and 4) No database downtime or uptime.


Disadvantages to Static Web pages

The major downside to a static web site is when the site begins to grow. 10 to 20 pages are pretty manageable to update, but when it gets to 200+ static pages the daily maintenance and cost can grow exponentially -- in time and money.


What are Dynamic Pages?

Dynamic pages consist of pages where the logic is maintained separately from the content. The content is stored in the database until the variable parameters of the dynamic url tells the database repository what items to pull into the page as it loads. Based on the url's parameters, the server will return different content.

Dynamic pages are usually coded in such scripting languages as CGI,ASP,PHP,Perl, Cold Fusion, JSP and others. You can usually tell if a url is dynamically generated because it will include question marks, equal signs, percentage signs, and ampersands.

An example of a dynamic url is (xxx is the domain name): xxxxxxx.com/index.php?lang=NLD&name=home

The important element in the url above, is the portion after the ?. It is the portion after the ? that contains the query string - the part that changes.


Advantages of Dynamic Pages

A dynamic page can be customized by a response on a server to help personalize your site to meet your customer's need. All page content will come from a database connected to the Web site.

Since the dynamic template is maintained separately from the content, it means that content changes can be made when needed. In addition, the web site can be updated without major maintenance, editing and reviewing, which translate into lower maintenance costs and time.

Many webmasters of large e-commerce sites tend to favor dynamic pages because it is customer friendly, and allows them to update their pages on a regular basis by specific time and date sensitive routines. Which is understandable, if their products and offers change on a daily basis.

On the affiliate side, I'm seeing more merchant webmasters offering the option of dynamic links for their affiliates. The affiliate can put the code on their website, and let the merchant create the update. This saves the affiliate time, by eliminating the manual manipulation of the urls and uploading of their web pages on a daily basis; And second, they have the reassurance of knowing that if the merchant makes something available, the link will automatically change and be available to their customers in a timely manner. However, there are some affiliates that do not take a liking to this type of link. Why?

For the established affiliate, with more automation tools -- the merchant's dynamic links takes the control out of their hands. How? The dynamic link may provide specific links to products or services that the affiliate may or may not wish to see appear on their site.

So far, dynamic links looks like a workable solution -- saving time and money and offering only small nuisances. But are there any disadvantages to dynamic pages?


Disadvantages of Dynamic Pages

Is there a downside to dynamic pages? Not to be wishy-washy, but -- Yes and No.

In days gone by, many of the web spiders could not read the url parameters to the right of the question mark in the dynamic url. Today, webmasters have seen some improvement.

Google and some of the other search engines can handle simple dynamic url, but if the query parameters get to long or complicated (having more than one ? for example) their crawler will ignore the link completely. If you need or want more information on what Google can and cannot do with dynamic links, and the possible procedures and alternatives of getting your dynamic links indexed you can check out Google Webmaster Center for the details.

Yahoo, on the other hand, suggests that you use dynamic links only in directories that are not intended to be crawled or indexed. Nicely put, the answer is a simple "I don't think so." Thus, whether you have a dynamic web page or website, you may find yourself having problems with getting your web pages crawled, let alone getting them indexed.

So, where do the search engines stand on the issue of dynamic links today? Some web spiders are taking the plunge and crawling websites with dynamic links, which is a positive. But on the negative side, there are still some web spiders that will not venture near a dynamically-created page for fear of getting stuck in the page and being lead through some poorly written code and thus, causing a possible major server crash.

With that being said, what can you do to get your dynamic web pages spidered? Do you have to bit the bullet and change back to static or is there other possibilities out there that will get your dynamic url indexed.


Getting Your Dynamic Links Indexed.

If you are using or wanting to use dynamic links there is a possible solution to getting them seen by the search engines, and thus, the end goal -- Indexed.

You can use a tool called RewriteRule Generator to rewrite your dynamic url. The RewriteRuleGenerator tool will take your dyanmic url, change the syntax, and make your url look static and thus, readable by the search engines' spiders.


Little Background Information on Mod-Rewrite

The Mod-Rewrite tool makes use of a file called .htaccess to perform the rewrites. The .htacess file tells the server how to convert between dynamic and static urls.

If you think you want to use the Mod-Rewrite tool to convert your urls from dynamic to static, you should first make sure your web host can support mod_rewrite. That can be done in either of two ways: 1) Send an email to your server and ask; or 2)you can test for yourself by writing a small snippet of code and following the simple istructions below:



Save it as info.php and upload it to your server. Type the following in the address box of your browser -- with "www.mysite" being your site name.

http://www.mysite/info.php

Once the info is returned, look for the Heading "Apache", then "Loaded modules" -- you should find mod_rewrite listed there -- if it is supported.

Before starting the mod-rewrite process, I would suggest checking out
the Apache documentation site for additional information or issues that have come to light with the mod-rewrite process.

One additional piece of advise, do only one url and then run a test. It's better to resolve the bugs on one, then double your work on all.


More Detailed Help For Mod-Rewrite

If you attempted to use mod-rewrite but ran into some problems and feel you need additional help with configuring your urls, check out the article "Make Dynamic Links Search Engine Friendly" by Peter Lavin on Dev Articles. It's a good detailed step-by-step walk-through of mod_rewrite.

Another great resource for any webmaster is a forum called WebmasterWorld.com. From my lurking, I found the people knowledgeable and willing to help you with issues or point you in the right direction to get your problem resolved. They're definitely on the top of my list if I decide to take the dynamic link plunge. And of course, I joined.

So, before you chuck your dynamic website down the toilet or enlist the help of an expensive, knowledgeable web programmer/developer (which isn't a bad idea--and my last option if all else fails), try the above options first.

To conclude, are dynamic websites better than static websites, or visa-versa? From what I can tell, it is dependent on the webmaster's needs and what they feel will work best for their own unique situation.

Vickie J Scanlon-- Visit her site at: My Affiliate Place for free tools , the "How To" of affiliate/internet marketing, ebooks, website protection, computers, software utilities, tech accessories and more