Nate has just posted an article on Jane and Robot about options for implementing URL referrer tracking as not to dilute search rankings or introduce duplicate content issues. There are lots of tricky issues around using parameters in URLs, and this article dives into one use case: using tracking parameters to monitor where referrals are coming from.

The biggest problem with tracking parameters tend to be PageRank dilution. In the example used in the article, Jane and Robot wants to know which of two promotional videos drives more traffic back to the site. So each video links to the same page but uses a different tracking parameter in the URL. If the videos become really popular and lots of people blog about them and share them, Jane and Robot could accumulate quite a few links. But although those links are all pointing to a single page, they’re pointing to two separate URLs.

Google has been working on figuring out the canonical version of the URL in these cases, but they likely haven’t perfected it yet, and I don’t think the other search engines have either. So, if possible, it’s best to find a way to track these URLs separately for metrics purposes but consolidate them for optimal search value.

The Jane and Robot article describes some ways for doing just that.

(And if you’re interested in this more technical side of SEO, don’t forget about our O’Reilly Found conference, which is all about building search-friendly web applications. We’re accepting speaking proposals now and registration will open up early next year.)

This entry was posted on Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 1:02 pm and is filed under Blog, SEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.