Many websites use URL rewrite technologies to make the URL’s friendly to the search engines.

Also known as a mod_rewrite, it has been described as “the Swiss Army Knife of URL manipulation”!

However, not all rewritten URL’s are the same. Some people rewrite URL’s to simply remove the (?) and (&) from the resulting URL. However, this does not provide the best form of rewritten URL.

URL rewrites are programming techniques that allow the returned URL to be more search engine friendly by removing the (?) and (&) from the returned URL found in the location or address bar. This enables the search engines to index the page without having variables or session id’s interlaced into the URL.

In order to meet the demands of the search engines and be indexed by all search engines, new techniques must be employed. These new seo techniques can make a shopping cart more search engine friendly if they are developed correctly. Some systems will never be search engine friendly and result in poor placement in search engine results.

There are many factors that come into play when attempting to determine if a shopping cart system is not search engine friendly. These factors are important to understand and can help you determine if the system is right for you.