For SEOs the forward slash is a very big deal indeed
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In the regular world, users don’t care too much about exact filenames on remote computer systems, but they should. But they don’t and they don’t plan on learning. That means it’s up to the SEO to make sure the server knows exactly what file the user is requesting. If you have a lax policy of enforcement, you may end up getting knicked in your rankings.
A forward slash in the address makes a huge difference
I think people aren’t really aware of the significance of the forward slash. To Unix-based servers, it’s of material importance. Why? Because a file without a forward slash could be a file, but a request with a forward slash is always a request for the contents of a directory. People often drop the forward slash when they’re referring to a sub-directory, so it’s up to you to go ahead and add it back in so you serve only one page for their requests.
Combining the URIs with a 301 Permanent Redirect will clean up the issue
If you don’t do a 301, here’s what happens.
www.sootle.com/news
www.sootle.com/news/
sootle.com/news
sootle.com/news/
All four of these are both thought to be distinct content. This can run into all sorts of troubles, so the correct procedure is, using mod_rewrite:
- 301 Redirect the non-www traffic to the non-www. traffic.
- Add a forward slash to any requests that come in without them
I’ll cover the specifics on how to do this in future posts. In the meantime, make sure that mod_rewrite is installed on your server. It can be the best friend of the SEO.
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