Simple SEO URL (OLD version) [support thread]

[mydanilo]

And one more thing.
Are you planning to include a feature to remove short words from the url? Like omit words shorter then xx characters? I think this would be great.

[jeking]

Thank you for the clarifications.

zencart/hardware-c-1
I do think it is better for the reader (human) to have the clear text first and then the must have product or category id last as above. To have it wedged in makes it confusing to the eye. I hope more people agree on this so you implement the change if it is easy as you mentioned.

I will do a test install and see how it works...

I would agree with this as well. I don't see any benefit to including 'index' in the url and would also like the product/category id grouped at the end of the url.

Keep it up, I'm looking forward to this.

[yellow1912]

And one more thing.
Are you planning to include a feature to remove short words from the url? Like omit words shorter then xx characters? I think this would be great.

So you mean a very short word in the category name for example, or a very short category name? And what would be the benefit of that?

[mydanilo]

In Ultimate SEO the feature is listed as: Filter Short Words

I think it helps to control the appearance of the url. Let's say the product name is fairly long with numbers and short words in it like:
'Trendsetters' Handbag Placecard Holder & Frame (Set of 4)

Special characters get already filtered by another setting. Now maybe I don't want stuff like "of" "to" "4" (numbers) in the url to not make it even longer?

Is this essential? Don't know but search engines don't look at these short words in searches. So maybe this can eliminate unnecessary stuff out of the url?

I see your point.... for simplicity maybe it is not absolutely needed. If it is easy enough to implement, it is on my wish list. It would help to have the same url's as I have now with Ultimate SEO. This could help other people to switch over to Simple SEO.

I have been thinking.... how difficult would it be to have the full control over what the url will look like (except the unique product ID at the end)? I have seen carts like Volusion that allow a customer defined url for each product. Is this out of question for Zen? Sorry if this goes beyond the goal of "Simple" SEO.

[yellow1912]

It is very possible, such a system is called link alias I think. But given a large number of items i wonder if it's worth it?

I will look into that.

Yup, we can remove short words.

here is my first attempt to move the p and c to the end:
http://demo.rubikintegration.com/zencart/


PS: for anyone using ultimate seo and happy with it, stick with it. switching can always cause a headache.

[yellow1912]

Also, regarding the filter short words, I may allow store owners to put their own regex rule to filter out anything they way. It can mess things up real bad if the users dont know what they are doing tho, i will give it some thought.

BTW, someone please tell me why we should remove the "index" from category links, aside from the fact that it makes the link a bit shorter. Since this will require a significant change in code, i dont want to change it if it's not that much important.

[mydanilo]

I think it does not hurt too much to have /index/ and then also /product_info/ in the url. It is just not pretty nor as short as it could be.

If I look at my top ranking competitors with commercial carts, I see only short precise url's, no unnecessary stuff. I think the shorter the better for human and SE.

I understand if you don't want to make more code changes ( I assume you talk about code in your mod, not the core). I am just trying to give you feedback that would make this mod par with what is out there for other leading carts.

[jeking]

I think it does not hurt too much to have /index/ and then also /product_info/ in the url. It is just not pretty nor as short as it could be.

If I look at my top ranking competitors with commercial carts, I see only short precise url's, no unnecessary stuff. I think the shorter the better for human and SE.

I hate to be a 'me too' post but that's my thought exactly. The shorter the better.

[mydanilo]

Glad I am not the only one nit picking! I am not a coder but my focus is to improve my sites with SEO in mind.

Q to yellow1912:
So far I just used Ultimate SEO on one site and this just recently. Can you tell me in a nut shell what the main differences are at this stage between Ultimate SEO and Simple SEO?

What are the biggest draw backs (problems) of using Ultimate SEO and what prompted you to start Simple SEO instead of updating and working on Ultimate SEO?

Many functionalities I proposed match what I already get with Ultimate SEO. It looks like the look of the url's and the options in admin are going to be very similar. I am sure there are big differences under the hood that I don't see.

[yellow1912]

Glad I am not the only one nit picking! I am not a coder but my focus is to improve my sites with SEO in mind.

Q to yellow1912:
So far I just used Ultimate SEO on one site and this just recently. Can you tell me in a nut shell what the main differences are at this stage between Ultimate SEO and Simple SEO?

What are the biggest draw backs (problems) of using Ultimate SEO and what prompted you to start Simple SEO instead of updating and working on Ultimate SEO?

Many functionalities I proposed match what I already get with Ultimate SEO. It looks like the look of the url's and the options in admin are going to be very similar. I am sure there are big differences under the hood that I don't see.

First of all, I must clearly state that I do NOT intend to code this module as a replacement for any existing SEO module, it's an alternative. If you are using any other module and you like it, dont switch.

I dont know why you say the link style of this module and ultimate seo are no different, because they are.

I dont want to say simple seo url is superior than ultimate seo, because that is simply NOT true.
But I can list the reasons why I coded my own module:
1. Ultimate SEO has long been abandoned by its author, i dont want to use a module that has no support.
2. The first time and the only time i installed that module, it broke on me. it caused so many problems with my payment module (which was google checkout), it's probably me doing something stupid.
Also, it automatically re-install itself, removing it is like removing the adsware from your IE, it's a pain.
3. It doesnt seem to redirect when the names of product/category in the link are wrong. Doesnt seem to work with ezpages....
But it may have many advantages over this module, one of which is that it is a matured module (developed, tested and used for a while)

Again, it's your own judgment call, use the one you like and feel comfortable with.

Now go back to the "index" thing, I dont really see how shorten a few characters from the string make any difference. The overhead for that (checking links and such) is significant, and then there is a chance it would break for links of the other add-on modules.

This module, is commented quite well however, it was intended for users with good knowledge of coding to tweak the links the way they want (which has been done).