Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Internet Definition = LINK "ROT"

This term is used to describe the problem caused by the constant changing in page placements within a website.

Many times a Web page or search engine result offers a link and when you click on it, you ge
t an error message (e.g., "error 404 not available") or a page saying the site has moved to a new URL, with no reference of the new URL. this leaves the visitor frustrated and without the information they were seeking.

Webpage URLs change frequently because the documents are moved to new hosting servers, the file structure on the computer is reorganized, or sites are discontinued. with all the many changes, and the search engine cache files, it is difficult for the spider robots to keep up with all the changes every time they happen.

In order to prevent your site visitors from experiencing Link Rot, be careful when moving pages to a new folder in your website, or discontinuing pages. The best solution in both of these cases is keep the original webpage URL and place a redirect command in its code.

That way you keep your visitor happy.



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