SEO question?

[warrenerjm]

Hi

 

I have been reading some SEO articles! ;)

 

My question is:

 

I have some instruction pages written for some products & I have added links to the products used.

 

My links are <a href="/product.html"> which is relative & they say have no value...well to Google at least.

 

So should I use <a href="http://www.mysite.com/product.html"> & would that be better for SEO?

 

Does this apply to images too? ie images/ or the full url

 

Any suggestions on number of links too?

 

I submitted my site to dmoz.org about 2 years ago & checked if I was listed after 1 year, 18months etc & still no show. I have resubmitted but can anyone suggest what is going on there too?

 

Thanks for your suggestions. :D

 

Julie

[Jack_mcs]

To answer your link question in general, it doesn't matter which type is used as long as you are consistent. However, in oscommerce, you don't use either of the examples you provided since they can break the shop. You need to use the built-in php functions for linking.

 

As for dmog, a site will only be approved if there is an editor for the section you submitted to your site to and dmoz is always short of editors. Until one is found for that section or an editor from another section decides to help out on it, your link will not be approved. It is better to optimize your shop and get listed well than to wait for dmoz. It will help a little but you will still need to optimize your shop.

 

Jack

[warrenerjm]

To answer your link question in general, it doesn't matter which type is used as long as you are consistent. However, in oscommerce, you don't use either of the examples you provided since they can break the shop. You need to use the built-in php functions for linking.

 

As for dmog, a site will only be approved if there is an editor for the section you submitted to your site to and dmoz is always short of editors. Until one is found for that section or an editor from another section decides to help out on it, your link will not be approved. It is better to optimize your shop and get listed well than to wait for dmoz. It will help a little but you will still need to optimize your shop.

 

Jack

Hi Jack

 

Thanks for your answer. It was very helpful.

 

I am confused how I must link within OSC now though? :huh: sorry.

 

I have made a new page & want to link to a specific product. How must I do it then? I don't know what you mena by "built in php functions for linking" means. If it is a page like Contact Us I know this page is defined. Can't find code at moment. :blush:

 

Thanks

Julie

[♥GLWalker]

Hi Jack

 

Thanks for your answer. It was very helpful.

 

I am confused how I must link within OSC now though? :huh: sorry.

 

I have made a new page & want to link to a specific product. How must I do it then? I don't know what you mena by "built in php functions for linking" means. If it is a page like Contact Us I know this page is defined. Can't find code at moment. :blush:

 

Thanks

Julie

No yall have me thinking.

How can the SE tell if you write a link like: <a href="/product.html">

Becuase when you view the source it shows as the full path within osCommerce.

I dont do that much, but sometime will write a link like that when writing some homepage text, usually just directing to the contact page.

[Jack_mcs]

Hi Jack

 

Thanks for your answer. It was very helpful.

 

I am confused how I must link within OSC now though? :huh: sorry.

 

I have made a new page & want to link to a specific product. How must I do it then? I don't know what you mena by "built in php functions for linking" means. If it is a page like Contact Us I know this page is defined. Can't find code at moment. :blush:

 

Thanks

Julie

The format of the code will vary with where it is used in the shop but for a product link, it would be something like

<td><?php echo '<a href="' . tep_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT, 'products_id=104', 'NONSSL') . '">' . "Name of Product" . '</a>'; ?></td>

If you don't use the above code, or similar, then the session ID of the cart isn't tracked and your customers will find themselves logged out or missing cart items. If you need a link to somewhere and are not sure of the format, check the code of some page already in your shop that has a link like what you want to get the basic format.

 

Jack

[Jack_mcs]

No yall have me thinking.

How can the SE tell if you write a link like: <a href="/product.html">

Becuase when you view the source it shows as the full path within osCommerce.

I dont do that much, but sometime will write a link like that when writing some homepage text, usually just directing to the contact page.

It used to matter more which kind of link was used but I don't think so much anymore. Google suggest using absolute links, which oscommerce does for the most part but links to images are usually relative and I've never seen an oscommerce shop have trouble getting images listed. So I don't think it makes a big difference other than using the correct code to keep the session ID. If you write a link like that one, as long as it is a valid link, the serch engines will figure it out.

 

Jack

[warrenerjm]

The format of the code will vary with where it is used in the shop but for a product link, it would be something like

<td><?php echo '<a href="' . tep_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT, 'products_id=104', 'NONSSL') . '">' . "Name of Product" . '</a>'; ?></td>

If you don't use the above code, or similar, then the session ID of the cart isn't tracked and your customers will find themselves logged out or missing cart items. If you need a link to somewhere and are not sure of the format, check the code of some page already in your shop that has a link like what you want to get the basic format.

 

Jack

Thank you Jack.

 

I will change my <a href="product.html">product name</a> to

 

<?php echo '<a href="' . tep_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT, 'products_id=104', 'NONSSL') . '">' . "Name of Product" . '</a>'; ?>

 

I am assuming this is ok to use within the normal html I use in the english files?

 

What do I change "Name of Product" to if I wanted to show the image of the product instead of the name please? Somehow I think it's not <img src="images/product.jpg"> as I am doing! >_<

 

I thought I was slowly starting to understand...some ...of this & then you realise just how little you have! :lol:

 

I've just had a play with adding products to my basket & then using some of my "dodgy" :blush: links but my basket stays there. This is logged in or not. I don't understand how sessions work, so is this a random thing?

 

Thanks

Julie

[Jack_mcs]

Thank you Jack.

 

I will change my <a href="product.html">product name</a> to

 

<?php echo '<a href="' . tep_href_link(FILENAME_DEFAULT, 'products_id=104', 'NONSSL') . '">' . "Name of Product" . '</a>'; ?>

 

I am assuming this is ok to use within the normal html I use in the english files?

 

What do I change "Name of Product" to if I wanted to show the image of the product instead of the name please? Somehow I think it's not <img src="images/product.jpg"> as I am doing! >_<

 

I thought I was slowly starting to understand...some ...of this & then you realise just how little you have! :lol:

 

I've just had a play with adding products to my basket & then using some of my "dodgy" :blush: links but my basket stays there. This is logged in or not. I don't understand how sessions work, so is this a random thing?

 

Thanks

Julie

Actually, the code I gave you is incorrect. The FILENAME_DEFAULT should be FILENAME_PRODUCT_INFO. And it is just an example. You will have to change the products_id=104 to some value meaningful on your site. Also, you can't use the code I provided in a language file as it is. Here is the code for a product image link in a language file

<a href="' . tep_href_link(FILENAME_PRODUCT_INFO, 'products_id=41') . '">' . tep_image(DIR_WS_IMAGES . 'someimage.jpg', 'Alt text goes here', SMALL_IMAGE_WIDTH, SMALL_IMAGE_HEIGHT) . '</a>

The tep_image can can be changed to standard html <img> but this is a little safer in case the location of your images were to change. The SMALL_IMAGE...'s are the width and height. You can change those to actuall numbers, or leave them off, but using those definitions will make the image the same size as your other product images.

 

Jack

[warrenerjm]

Actually, the code I gave you is incorrect. The FILENAME_DEFAULT should be FILENAME_PRODUCT_INFO. And it is just an example. You will have to change the products_id=104 to some value meaningful on your site. Also, you can't use the code I provided in a language file as it is. Here is the code for a product image link in a language file

<a href="' . tep_href_link(FILENAME_PRODUCT_INFO, 'products_id=41') . '">' . tep_image(DIR_WS_IMAGES . 'someimage.jpg', 'Alt text goes here', SMALL_IMAGE_WIDTH, SMALL_IMAGE_HEIGHT) . '</a>

The tep_image can can be changed to standard html <img> but this is a little safer in case the location of your images were to change. The SMALL_IMAGE...'s are the width and height. You can change those to actuall numbers, or leave them off, but using those definitions will make the image the same size as your other product images.

 

Jack

;) You were just testing :lol:

 

Thank you once again for the code, as I will now make the changes in my english files. I will change the number to the one which appears at the end of the url on the product_info page ie p_1489 will be come products_id=1489

 

Where would the first code be used? If in root files, I only duplicate existing ones & change the name etc when making a new page & for contributions they are already done too.

 

Still I have learnt some more proper coding today so I'm happy. :D

 

Thanks

Julie

[Jack_mcs]

;) You were just testing :lol:

Yeah, that's what I was doing. Testing. Nice of you to notice my real intention. :)

Thank you once again for the code, as I will now make the changes in my english files. I will change the number to the one which appears at the end of the url on the product_info page ie p_1489 will be come products_id=1489

 

Where would the first code be used? If in root files, I only duplicate existing ones & change the name etc when making a new page & for contributions they are already done too.

 

Still I have learnt some more proper coding today so I'm happy. :D

 

Thanks

Julie

The code is about the same no matter where it is in the shop. The formatting is just a little different. If you look in the includes/boxes/information.php file, you will see how code is formatted there, for a comparison.

 

Jack

[warrenerjm]

Yeah, that's what I was doing. Testing. Nice of you to notice my real intention. :)

The code is about the same no matter where it is in the shop. The formatting is just a little different. If you look in the includes/boxes/information.php file, you will see how code is formatted there, for a comparison.

 

Jack

Will do. Thanks :thumbsup: