We are frequently asked for tips on SEO and how do you create websites which reach the top pages of Google. The answer is a very good understanding of writing good, code, of knowing how the search robots work and being able to write good copy.
A good SEO company should have an excellent understanding of how the .htaccess file works as this controls how pages are viewed.
Many people only use the .htaccess file as part of file or directory protection, in combination with the .htpasswd file, and this is often done automatically behind the scenes. There are automatic .htpasswd and .htaccess file generators available to help the non technical person generate these files.
.htaccess files are also used on Linux servers to redirect old pages cached within Google to the corresponding new page. This is often referred to as 301 redirects and using the .htaccess file for 301 redirects.
But the .htaccess file is more powerful than that and it is a shame that more people do not better understand the true potential of the Apache mod_rewrite functionality.
For example you can use many regular expressions within a .htaccess file. These include:
The power of the mod_rewrite functionality then lies on using both the RewritreCond and the RewriteRule in combination. The RewriteCond defines a rule condition and it can include many conditions. A very common condition used is the [NC] or No Case condition which makes any pattern matching case insensitive.
The RewriteRule also has many powerful flags; as well as the most commonly seed [R] which is a forced Redirect, you can inform the search engines that the pages has gone [G] or is simply forbidden [F]. Other useful flags include the last rule [L] which prevents more rewriting rules being applied and the forced proxy [P] which forced the current URL as a proxy request.
Well optimised high ranking websites are likely to have complex .htaccess files , especially if the website domain name has a long history. This type of SEO work is essential to get right for the complicated dynamic or ecommerce websites.
.htaccess file management and optimisation forms part of the ongoing SEO work when eXtraSearch or Cornish WebServices carry out enterprise level search engine optimisation work.