Using SEO URL mods can harm you!!!

SEO URL mods make the links look more user friendly, and some SearchEngines(SEs) encourage the use of such links if possible. Cool huh? Should you run off to the download section, grab 1 SEO mod and install on your site right now?

Not so. With a seo url mod installed, all your pages now can be accessed through different links. How about the old ones that got indexed by SEs already? They can still be accessed. Now the fun begins: SEs such as google see that as duplicated content, and they punish you for that.

There are some seo mods that handle this correctly using proper 301 redirection. BUT, you will get stuck with that mod. You can't really install another seo mod since it can use a different link style, you can't remove that mod either since now your links will be back to the old styles, and this time you have to properly use 301 redirect to redirect all the seo links back to the old one.

So, even I'm writing a SEO URL mod myself, I strongly recommend you think TWICE before installing any SEO mod, especially if your site has been around for a while.

I'm certainly no SEO expert, but I believe as long as you issue HTTP 301's for the old links and redirect to the new most SE's shouldn't penalize you.

This topic is well covered, here's one example: http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Search-Engine-Optimization-Help/Website-Relaunch-and-Maintaining-Search-Rankings/5/

As a side note, it would be great if user-friendly URL's were part of the core Zen engine rather than having so many add-ons. Oh well, maybe in 1.4...

Tick, that's what I mentioned in my post. Using 301 redirect properly should fix the problem, or most of it. I have read some reports that, even with proper 301 redirection, some sites took a long time to get back to their previous ranks for certain keywords.

Du-oh! You did didn't you. My bad. I obviously need to get some sleep.

My experience with 301's has mirrored yours. The rankings eventually return to normal, but you have a week or two with very volatile rankings... like being in the top 10 one day and not in the top 100 the next. It freaked me out the first time it happened!

I disagree we do over 100 carts a week that have the seo mod for over year we get them back on track with proper 301 within a few weeks, depends on the structure of the redirect and well you are acquainted with the link stats.

However it is bad switching back and forth and vice versa but it is not totally impossible and is not that hard just takes knowledge. :blink:

Who said it's impossible? But the main point is: most ppl dont have a clue about the risk it takes ^^.

"is not that hard just takes knowledge." --> Isn't this is what we call "hard"?

thats where the "not impossible comes in"

There is tons of accurate redirects on the net people can learn from and probably learn them within a few hours and have it knocked out, then thats where the knowledge of looking for the right code and redirect for their store and how to determine what and how to change.

The mods are not all that badly coded just a hair of missing code makes it perfect.

The point is, knuckle-101, do normal users aware of this potential problem they may face, so that they can find the solutions? Many ZC coders I talked to dont even know that such problem exists.

Not a very good comparison, but this is just like the "breast cancer awareness" thing you know, people have to be well informed.