© 2011 IBM Corporation WebSphere Commerce V7 Feature Pack 3 Search engine optimization This presentation provides an overview of the search engine optimization enhancements in WebSphere ® Commerce Version 7 Feature Pack 3. SEO.ppt Page 1 of 41
2011 IBM Corporation
WebSphere Commerce V7 Feature Pack 3 Search engine optimization
This presentation provides an overview of the search engine optimization enhancements in WebSphere Commerce Version 7 Feature Pack 3.
SEO.ppt Page 1 of 41
2011 IBM Corporation 2 Search engine optimization
Table of contents
Solution overview Features in detail Configuration and customization Troubleshooting
This presentation will start with a review of the current search engine optimization solution in WebSphere Commerce. Next, the presentation will take you through a high level overview of what is available in Feature Pack 3 and then each of the features in more detail. The presentation concludes with configuration and customization steps and some troubleshooting scenarios.
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Search engine optimization review
URL mapping Remove stop characters
Site map capability Provide entry point for search engine crawler to follow links within your pages
Page content optimization Facilitates keyword modification to increase page ranking Modify words through Product Management GUI or Change Pages GUI in WebSphere
Commerce Accelerator
3 Search engine optimization 2011 IBM Corporation
Search engines, such as Google, are considered to be one of the most important channels for a site to reach new customers. To build a loyal customer base, the first step is to reach new customers. Search engines provide an effective way to do this. Dynamic, database-driven URLs, such as those generated by WebSphere Commerce, contain stop characters that can easily overwhelm search engine crawlers. For this reason, search engines limit the number of dynamic URLs that they index. To overcome this limitation, WebSphere Commerce provides search engine optimization capability to help improve the results of search engine indexing. The existing WebSphere Commerce search engine optimization feature consists of three parts. URL mapping provides the ability to remove stop characters by mapping WebSphere Commerce's dynamic URLs to static ones so that search engines can index the dynamic pages. Site map capability provides an entry point for the search engine crawler to easily follow the links within your web pages. Page content optimization facilitates keyword modification so that the page is ranked high in search engine results. It provides the ability to easily modify words in the locations that are important for crawlers by using the Product Management GUI or Change Pages GUI in WebSphere Commerce Accelerator.
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Whats new in version 7 Feature Pack 3?
Solution goals Provide optimal SEO friendly URLs Give business users full control over optimizing store pages for search engines
Solution highlights SEO friendly URLs
Canonical URLs 301 redirects
Page title and meta tags Advanced e-site support Enhanced 404 error handling Sitemap generator enhancements Utility that generates initial URL keywords for entire catalog
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In WebSphere Commerce Version 7 Feature Pack 3, the search engine optimization solution has two primary goals. The first goal is to provide optimal SEO friendly URLs to allow search engine robots to index your website and understand your content. All the links must be accessible by crawlers as they inspect the website pages and there must be an XML sitemap sent to search engines containing all the links of your site. The second goal is to give you full control over optimizing SEO data on store pages by introducing business user tools to easily edit this information. This includes such data as the URL keyword, page title, and meta data. The new SEO solution provides several features to help meet these goals. The first area consists of optimizing URLs, title and meta tags. When you optimize URLS you create simple static keyword-based URLs for store pages that can be easily understood by shoppers and search robots. When you optimize page titles and meta data you improve search engine ranking. The next area is advanced e-site support that allows extended sites to inherit or override keywords, page titles and meta tags. Other areas in the new SEO solution include improved error handling, enhancements to the site map generator to include SEO friendly URLs and the availability of a tool to load URL keywords.
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2011 IBM Corporation5 Search engine optimization5
SEO friendly URLsSEO friendly URLs
Section
This section covers the creation of SEO friendly URLs.
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Creating SEO friendly URLs
Step 1: Shorten store page context root for improved readability Full URL
www.mystore.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1& storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&categoryId=10006
Shortened URL www.mystore.com/shop/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&
categoryId=10006 Step 2: Create easy to read static URLs with keywords to support search engine indexing
Dynamic URL www.mystore.com/shop/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001& categoryId=10006
Static URL before Feature Pack 3 www.mystore.com/shop/Category1_10001_10001_10006_-1
Static URL with Feature Pack 3 www.myhost.com/shop/en/madisons/desks
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URL optimization is the ability to define short, static URLs with a folder-type structure and meaningful keywords to help get higher page rank. You can set the keyword to be used in the URL to identify the category or product being viewed. Simplifying the URL is done in two parts. The first part is to shorten the context root. The standard context root of the store URL is long and contains information that is not relevant to shoppers. Shortening it to a single word like "store" or "shop" drastically shortens the URL. The second part to simplifying the URL is to replace the dynamic parameters with a static representation. Using keywords for categories and products creates a URL that is easy to read and understand, for shoppers and search robots alike. You can define default URL keywords for all your categories, products and static pages.
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Shortening the context root
Process (IBM HTTP Server) 1. Navigate to /instances/demo/httpconf 2. Open httpd.conf and uncomment
LoadModule rewrite_module modules/mod_rewrite.so 3. Locate the Directory object below
4. Change AllowOverride None to AllowOverride All 5. Append these lines after AllowOverride All
RewriteEngine on RewriteRule ^shop/(.*) /webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/$1
6. Save the file 7. Restart the IBM HTTP Server
Modify wc-server.xml 1. Add to SEOConfiguration section.
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Shortening a store's URL makes it easier for shoppers to remember a link and improves visibility in search engine results. The default URLs used to access a WebSphere Commerce store have a context root of /webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/. This is not very descriptive and takes up valuable real estate in the address bar. A shorter context root, such as /shop, can be used instead. Context root shortening is provided by URL rewriting rules at the web server level. A URL rewrite rule is logic run by the web server to transform all incoming requests to the full URL while showing the shortened URL in the web browser. For example, if a shopper navigates to www.mystore.com/shop the URL is converted by the web server to www.mystore.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ before the request is passed to WebSphere Commerce. In this way no changes are needed at the WebSphere Commerce level. The original URLs still function as usual. If a shopper has bookmarked a store at the original URL it will still work. The WebSphere Commerce Information Center provides instructions on how to shorten the context root for each supported web server. The steps for IBM HTTP Server are shown on the slide. Step five defines the rewrite rule for the context root. Once you have completed the web server configuration, you need to modify the WebSphere Commerce server configuration file to add the new context root to the SEOConfiguration section. This last step allows all the pages in the store to have the same shortened context root.
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Static URL overview
Indentify pages that require static URLs Product, category, search landing pages and static pages
Define the structure for the static URL Pattern definitions New database tables
Construct static URLs using defined patterns tag
Recover original URL to process requests
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To create static URLs in your store, start by identifying which pages need to be SEO-friendly. In the Madisons and Elite starter stores, the product, category, search landing pages and static pages are all SEO-enabled. Next, define the structure for each static URL by defining a pattern file and loading URL keywords into the database. These steps are completed as part of store publish for the starter stores. To construct a static URL in a storefront page, use the tag along with the pattern name for the URL to be created. In order for WebSphere Commerce to process the request, the original dynamic URL must be recovered from the static URL. These steps are each discussed in more detail on the coming slides.
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URL pattern definition
A
B
/LanguageToken/StoreToken:CatalogToken/CategoryToken
C
D
Category E
Location of pattern files: /Stores.war/WEB-INF/xml/seo/stores/
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Pattern files are used in the construction and deconstruction of SEO friendly URLs. A pattern file is a template for a URL type in a store, such as CategoryDisplay. Each pattern contains the parameters needed to construct a specific URL. This slide shows a snippet of the URL pattern definition for CategoryDisplay.
Section A shows the name of the pattern. This is the name that is used when constructing the URL in a JSP.
In Section B, the Struts to pattern mapping defines the pattern of the SEO URL as a series of tokens. The viewName attribute defines the Struts action mapping for the original URL. When the SEO URL is deconstructed and matched against the pattern, the request is forwarded to the corresponding viewName attribute.
Section C defines the SEO URL to parameter mapping. This mapping is used during the deconstruction of an SEO URL. Once the URL is matched against the pattern, the values associated with the tokens in the URL are mapped to the corresponding parameter names defined here.
Section D defines the SEO URL parameter to URL mapping. This mapping is used by the wcf:url tag during construction of the SEO URL. Based on the token name and token value, the URL keywords are looked up in the database and substituted for the token names in the URL pattern.
Finally, section E defines the pattern usage.
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Supporting database tables
SEOURL: Mapping of token names and values
SEOURLKEYWORD: Store and language specific keywords
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The SEOURL and SEOURLKEYWORD tables are used to convert between static and dynamic URLs. The SEOURL table maps token names to the various token values available in the store. For example, there is a row in the table for each product in the store that maps the token name ProductToken to the product ID. The SEOURLKEYWORD table contains the unique URL keywords for each store and language. A keyword can be mapped back to a token and token value pair through the SEOURL_ID.
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SEO URL construction
Update store pages to build SEO-friendly URLs Specify pattern name in tag
Updated tag library implementation creates URL Pattern name is used to look up pattern definition
/LanguageToken/StoreToken:CatalogToken/CategoryToken Pattern definition specifies tokens used to build URL Token name and value used to look up keyword
/en/madisons/desks
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In Feature Pack 3, the wcf:url tag has been enhanced to accept the new URL pattern definition name. To use the wcf:url tag you need to know the pattern name of the SEO-friendly URL you want to construct and all of the parameters that are required for the URL such as categoryId, productId, and langId. This information is used by the wcf:url tag to construct the SEO friendly URL. The updated UrlTag class first uses the pattern name to look up the corresponding pattern definition. The pattern definition specifies the token names used to build the SEO-friendly URL. The parameter to URL mapping is used to assign each token a value from the parameters passed in to the wcf:url tag. From there, each token name and value is used to look up the corresponding keyword in the database. The final result is an SEO-friendly URL.
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Canonical URLs
Problem: Multiple URLs and paths to the same product/category Spread page ranking results on search engines
Solution: Tell search engines which URL to use
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When constructing SEO-friendly URLs, you might have multiple URLs that lead to the same product or category. This is not a problem for shoppers browsing the store but when a search engine indexes your site it can cause your page rank to be split across the multiple URLs. To resolve this problem, you can specify canonical URLs. A canonical URL is a way to declare to search engines your preferred version of a URL for pages that have identical or vastly similar content and are accessible through multiple URLs. This is the URL that displays in search results. It also ensures that page rank is consolidated to your preferred version of the URL. You can use the wcf:url tag to build canonical URLs for your category and product pages and set the rel attribute of the tag to define the canonical URL for each page.
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SEO URL deconstruction
SEO-friendly URLs must be translated back to standard URL format for WebSphere Commerce to process the request
www.myhost.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/madisons/desks
URL is parsed into keywords en, madisons, desks
Use keywords to determine Token names and values
From SEOURLKEYWORD and SEOURL tables URL pattern
From pattern definition file Use pattern definition to determine Struts action mapping Construct dynamic URL
www.mystore.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?langId=-1& storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&categoryId=10006
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URL deconstruction is the process of parsing a static, SEO-friendly URL to construct its dynamic equivalent. When a shopper clicks on a link for a page in the store, they see an SEO friendly URL. This SEO friendly URL must be translated back to the standard URL format for WebSphere Commerce to be able to process the embedded category, store name, language and product information. The URL pattern definition file and database tables shown earlier are used to perform the translation. When WebSphere Commerce receives the URL, it disposes of the context root and parses the rest of the URL into keywords. The keywords are used for two purposes in translating a URL. First, to obtain the token names and values to build the original URL. Second, to determine the URL's pattern based on the tokens, which specifies the kind of URL being constructed. Once the URL type is determined using the pattern definition file, the URL to parameter mapping section of the pattern definition maps the token values back to the original URL parameters. The information is combined to restore the original dynamic URL.
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2011 IBM Corporation 14 Search engine optimization
URL optimization tools Catalogs tool
Change URL keywords for products and categories
New tab
Default keyword
In the Madisons and Elite starter stores, the default URL keywords for all products and categories are populated during store publish. You can override the default values in the Management Center Catalogs tool. The property panes for products, categories, kits, bundles, and SKUs each include a new Search Engine Optimization tab where you can view and modify the default keyword. When you change a keyword, refresh the page to see the new preview URL.
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URL optimization tools Store Management tool
Change URL keywords for static pages
Select default static pages
Change URL keyword
Static pages are managed in the Store Management tool. There is a new Search Engine Optimization tab in the store properties page. In the Madisons starter store, you will see three static pages loaded by default. You are able to change the URL keywords for these static pages.
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Handling 301 redirects
Problem Changing keyword in Management Center changes the URL Old URLs still referenced by shoppers and search engines
Solution Store replies with a 301 response with the new URL and redirects the browser Page ranks are moved by search engines Unused redirects removed with CleanSEOURL scheduled job New database tables
SEOREDIRECT SEOREDIRECTTRAFFIC
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When a business user changes the URL keyword for a product, category or static page in Management Center, the URL for that page in the store changes. When this happens, you do not want shoppers existing bookmarks to break and you do not want to lose your search engine page rank. To avoid these problems, a 301 redirect mapping is automatically generated between the old and new URL keywords for each language that is changed. Shoppers are automatically redirected to the new URL and search engine page ranks are moved to the new URL. The redirect mappings are stored in the database and cached for quick access upon initial use. Each mapping has a date associated with it tracking when the rule was last used. Once the date is past a configurable limit, a scheduler command, CleanSEOURL can be run to remove old mappings from the database and registry.
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Page title and meta tagsPage title and meta tags
Section
This section will cover details about optimizing page title and meta tags.
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Optimizing page title and meta tags
Goals Provide capability to define template content to be displayed in the title and meta
description tags on SEO-friendly pages Features
Defaults created during store publish Storewide template default settings for page title, meta-description and image alt text
for category, product and static pages Business users can define and override defaults (product and category only) 14 predefined substitution parameters
Restriction WebSphere Commerce search must be enabled
Customization tasks Define new substitution parameters
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Optimizing page title and meta tags is another important part of the SEO solution. Page titles and meta-descriptions play an important role in getting a higher page rank. The SEO solution in Feature Pack 3 creates unique title and meta-description information for each page during store publish. The title tag tells both shoppers and search engines what the topic of a particular page is and displays in the first line of a search result. A page description meta tag provides search engines with a summary of the page contents. Each store can have default settings for the title, meta description, and image alt text on category and product pages. The default values can be updated in the Management Center Catalog tool. Substitution parameters allow you to easily set the value of the page title, meta-description or image alt text to a predefined value, such as the product name. You can use a combination of plain text and substitution parameters. There are 14 predefined substitution parameters provided and more can be added through customization. One restriction to this feature is that the WebSphere Commerce search solution must be enabled in the store. The search-based catalog services are used to retrieve the title, meta description, and image tag data on category and product pages.
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Updating meta tags Catalogs tool
Update product and category meta tags
Update page title
Update meta description
Update image alt text
You can update the page title, meta description and image alt text for your category and catalog entry pages from the Search Engine Optimization tab of the properties page. The default templates are setup during store publish. Any modifications to the default templates are done by IT.
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Update page title using plain text
Specify new title
Save and Refresh to see changes
New title on storefront
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Here is an example of overriding the default page title using plain text. After you make the changes in the category properties page, click Save and Close. To see the changes, open the store in a new browser session or refresh the store page.
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2011 IBM Corporation 21 Search engine optimization
Update page title using substitution parameters
Specify new title
New title on storefront
Save and refresh to see changes
Here is an example of updating the page title using the category name and store name substitution parameters. In order to see the values of the substitution parameters in the property page, save the changes and then refresh the page.
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Parameters supported
Parameters StoreName CategoryName CategoryLongDescription CategoryShortDescription CategoryKeyword ProductLongDescription ProductShortDescription ProductName ProductKeyword CategoryHierarchy StoreDescription ProductPartNumber ProductManufacturerPartNumber ProductManufacturer
Sample Usage: Page Title: Shop
from Ex: Shop White Arm Chair from
Madisons Meta-Description: Image Description: Image for
Here are the 14 substitution parameters available after publishing the store. There are some examples of how to make use of these parameters on the right side of the slide. Note that some substitution parameters can only be used on certain pages. For example, the ProductName substitution parameter cannot be used as the title of a category object. If a substitution parameter is used on a page where the value has no meaning, the parameter name is returned as a string.
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Implementation details
Retrieve using CatalogNavigationView Get service
New tables SEOPAGEDEF
Holds page definition for particular pageName at site/store level SEOPAGEDEFOVR
Holds page definitions for particular catentry or catgroup SEOPAGEDEFDESC
Language specific title/meta tag information for a particular page definition
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The page title, meta-description and image alt text is returned to the storefront by the CatalogNavigationView Get service. A code sample is shown on the slide. Three new database tables have been added to store the title and meta description information. The first table listed contains the site and store level templates for category, product and static pages. The second table specifies whether a catalog entry or category template should be applied to its children. The third table contains the language specific template content including substitution parameters.
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Advanced eAdvanced e--site supportsite support
Section
This section describes the extended site support for the SEO solution.
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Advanced e-site support
Category A
Product A
Extended Site 2
Category A
Product A
Data Sharing
Data Sharing
Master template
Extended Site 3
Category A
Product A
Data Sharing
Override
Catalog Asset store
Extended Site 1
Category A
Product A
Override
Inherited template
Override
Inherited template
Inherited template
In Feature Pack 3, you can override the URL keywords, page title and meta-tags for products and categories in individual e-sites. In this diagram, you see a catalog asset store with category A and product A which use the master template for their URLs, title and meta description tags. In extended site 1, you can override the default values for category A. In extended sites 2 and 3, you can still use the master template provided from the catalog asset store. The same applies to products.
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Enabling SEO for sales catalogs and extended sites
Scenario After creating new sales catalog in asset store, sales catalog does not have SEO URLs Want to use new sales catalog with existing extended site store
Process Update SEOURL and SEOURLKEYWORD tables for each e-site INSERT into seourl (seourl_id, tokenname, tokenvalue) values (, 'StoreToken:CatalogToken', ':');
INSERT into seourlkeyword (seourlkeyword_id, seourl_id, language_id, storeent_id, urlkeyword) values (, , , 0, '');
Example insert into seourl (seourl_id, tokenname, tokenvalue) values (201, 'StoreToken:CatalogToken', '11051:10401');
insert into seourlkeyword (seourlkeyword_id, seourl_id, language_id, storeent_id, urlkeyword) values (201, 201, -1, 0, 'teststore');
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When you create a new sales catalog in the catalog asset store and view the store with that sales catalog ID, you will not see SEO-friendly URLs by default. If you want to switch your current store to use the new sales catalog instead of the current assigned catalog, some configuration steps are needed. You need to update the SEOURL and SEOURLKEYWORD tables for each extended site store to define a new store-catalog token and keyword mapping. Each store-catalog token must have a unique keyword mapping. An example is shown on the slide.
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Other SEO enhancementsOther SEO enhancements
Section
This section summarizes the remaining SEO enhancements in Feature Pack 3.
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Enhanced 404 error handling
Specify page to forward shoppers to Example: Home page, search page
Keep shoppers in flow
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Occasionally, shoppers come to a page that does not exist in your site, either by following or typing the wrong URL. Specifying a useful 404 error page helps to guide the shopper back to the main website in order to find what they were looking for. Including a search field in the error page allows shoppers to search for what they had in mind. Another possibility is to provide a sitemap or a shortened version of it so that the shopper can navigate into the site. In Feature Pack 3, your IT representative can change the GenericError.jsp page in the Madisons store folder to send the 404 error to any page. By default, shoppers are redirected to the home page.
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Sitemap generator enhancements
Scheduler job can generate SEO sitemap with the new SEO URL format SitemapGenerate
Generate search landing page URLs in the sitemap Easily customizable to insert any other URLs of interest
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A sitemap is a full list of all of the pages in your store that is submitted to search engines so that they will know what to crawl and index. The sitemap generator has been enhanced in Feature Pack 3 to index the new SEO-friendly URLs and search landing pages. It is also customizable so you can add code to generate additional URLs for your store.
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Keyword generation utility
Simple command line utility located in /bin
Tasks performed Generate keyword based on object name For duplicate names, append part number For duplicate names in different languages, append part number and language ID
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In Feature Pack 3, a command line utility is available for loading default URL keywords into the database for all catalog entries and categories in a store. The seourlkeywordgen utility runs a query that searches for products and categories that are missing SEO keyword data and generates default keywords. This same utility is called during store publish to setup newly published stores. This way
you do not need to manually create the URL keywords for the sample catalogs. If there are collisions caused by entries with the same name, the part number is appended to generate the keyword. If there are collisions caused by the same name being used in different languages, the part number and language ID are appended to generate the keyword.
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Caching support for URL keywords
New SEO URLs require database lookup for Construction Deconstruction
Four caches provided with solution URL token to URL keyword cache URL keyword to URL token cache SEO URL cache Redirect rule cache
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The new SEO URLs require a database lookup for both construction and deconstruction purposes. To facilitate quicker look up, the SEO solution uses the distributed data cache supported in WebSphere Commerce. The data cache is used in 2 different ways. There are four caches provided with the solution. The URL token to URL keyword cache is used to look up URL keywords during construction of the SEO URL. The URL keyword to URL token cache is used to rebuild the URL token pattern during URL deconstruction. The SEO URL cache saves the result of URL deconstruction so that once parsed, static URLs can then be mapped directly to their dynamic equivalent. The redirect rule cache saves all the keywords that have been redirected and the new keyword IDs they have been redirected to.
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Configuration and customizationConfiguration and customization
Section
This section summarizes the configuration and customization options.
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Setup and configuration
Apply Fix pack 3 Install Feature Pack 3 Feature enablement store-enhancements Enable WebSphere Commerce search Publish Madisons-FEP.sar and MadisonsEnhancements.sar
Elite, Extended Sites, Brazil and MayUJoy stores are supported as well New stores automatically enabled to use new SEO solution No store function option for SEO
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To enable the new SEO enhancements in this release, you need to apply fix pack 3, install Feature Pack 3, and enable the store-enhancements feature. If you want to make use of the title and meta description templates, you also need to enable WebSphere Commerce search. Next, publish a new store. The SEO enhancements support all store models and stores including Madisons, Elite, extended sites, Brazil and MayUJoy. When you publish any of the new stores in Feature Pack 3, it will automatically be enabled to use the new SEO solution. If you want to enable an existing store, there are additional steps required as part of the migration process. There is no store function selection option for SEO in the Store Management tool.
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Infrastructure component configuration file
wc-admin-component.xml Location: \xml\config\com.ibm.commerce.infrastructure-fep\ Sections
Marketing Specifies URL pattern name
SEO URL keyword generator Specifies configuration files and not valid characters
Management Center Specifies characters Management Center blocks users from inputting
URL redirect engine Specifies rules for SEO redirect engine
To change properties Create customized version in extension folder Location: \xml\config\com.ibm.commerce.infrastructure-fep-ext\
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The SEO component configuration file contains properties related to configuring and customizing search engine optimization features. The SEO component configuration file is divided into several sections and has examples within each section on how to use the configuration properties. The marketing section specifies the URL pattern name used for e-Marketing Spot product and category recommendations. This URL pattern name is defined in the pattern files. The SEO URL keyword generator section specifies the three URL loader configuration files to load. It also specifies characters that are not valid and cannot be used in URL creation and their substitutions. The WebSphere Commerce Management Center section specifies the characters that the Management Center blocks users from inputting. The URL redirect engine section specifies how long the redirect rule stays active and how many redirect hits accumulate before the redirect engine updates the "RedirectHitCount" in the database. You can change the properties by creating a custom version of the wc-admincomponent.xml file that includes the modified properties.
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Migration
Define URL patterns for all pages you want SEO friendly URLs for Use pattern files from Madisons starter store
WC_installdir\starterstores\consumerdirect\madisons-fep.sar Extract pattern files and place in store directory
WC_eardir/Stores.war/WEB-INF/xml/seo/stores/storedirectory
Run seourlkeywordgen utility Load title and meta description templates Modify JSP files
Provide pattern name to wcf:url tag to create links for products, categories and static pages
Retrieve title and meta description information
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If you want to make use of the new SEO friendly URLs in an existing store, you first need to define URL patterns for all pages that require SEO friendly URLs. To simplify this process, you can take the pattern files from the Madisons or Elite starter store and modify them as needed. There are pattern files for static pages, categories, products and search landing pages that you can extract and place in the store directory. Once this step is complete, the SEO feature is enabled in the store and in Management Center. Then the next step is to run the seourlkeywordgen utility to generate initial URL keywords for the categories and products in your store. You also need to load the title and meta description templates for your store. Finally, you need to modify your store JSP files to pass the pattern name in each wcf:url tag that creates a link to a product, category or static page. In the product, category and static JSP files, use the CatalogNavigationView Get service to retrieve the title and meta description information to include in the page.
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Tutorial: Creating SEO friendly URLs for recipes
Information Center link: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wchelp/v7r0m0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.commerce.madisonsstarterstore.doc/tutorial/tsm_recipeSEOURL.htm
Time: 2 hours
Summary Register new URL token, token usage and keyword data in the database Define new SEO friendly URL patterns for Recipe pages Modify Recipe JSP files to construct new SEO friendly URLs Test new SEO friendly URLs in Madisons
Pre-requisites Tutorial: Creating the Project BOD service module Tutorial: Adding the Recipe tool to the Madisons starter store
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The WebSphere Commerce Information Center provides a tutorial where you can learn more about working with SEO friendly URLs. In this tutorial, you will customize the new SEO friendly URL feature in order to provide shorter and more meaningful URLs for Recipe pages in the Madisons starter store. These new customizations will provide SEO-friendly URLs for each new Recipe and Recipe Collection object. You need to complete the tutorials for defining the recipe services and adding recipe pages in the Madisons store as prerequisites to this tutorial.
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Troubleshooting and limitations
Known issues Changing language in store will not resolve to SEO URL
Limitations The sample URL displayed in Management Center is for the master catalog Title and meta description editing not supported for static pages Gift Center and Mobile stores not supported Data load not supported
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These are the current known issues and limitations for the solution. The starter stores have a language selection drop down in every catalog browsing page. Selecting a new language loads the same page in the language chosen. When you change the language, the URL will initially change back to a dynamic URL. Browsing to another page restores the static URL. The sample static URL displayed in Management Center always contains the master catalog keyword. The steps to view the correct sales catalog URL are provided in the Information Center. Title and meta-description management for static pages is not supported in Management Center. The Gift Center and mobile stores do not use the new SEO solution. Data load is not supported for the new SEO tables.
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Summary
Solution overview Features in detail Configuration and customization Troubleshooting
This presentation began with a review of the current search engine optimization solution in WebSphere Commerce. Following that was a high level overview of what is available in Feature Pack 3 and then each of the features in more detail. The presentation concluded with configuration and customization steps and some troubleshooting scenarios.
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References
SEO for V7 Feature Pack 3 (top level) http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wchelp/v7r0m0/topic/com.ibm.commerce.seositemap.doc/concepts/csdSEO.htm
Working with pattern files http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wchelp/v7r0m0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.commerce.seositemap.doc/concepts/csdSEOpatternfiles.htm
Working with the SEO infrastructure component configuration file http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wchelp/v7r0m0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.commerce.seositemap.doc/tasks/tsdwcadminSEOcont.htm
Working with SEO in the WebSphere Commerce Management Center Catalogs tool http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wchelp/v7r0m0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.commerce.managementcenter.doc/tasks/tpn_seomain.htm
Store Management tool http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wchelp/v7r0m0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.commerce.managementcenter.doc/tasks/tpn_seomodstatpg.htm
Migrating SEO in Feature Pack 3 http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wchelp/v7r0m0/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.commerce.seositemap.doc/tasks/tsdSEOmigration.htm
39 Search engine optimization 2011 IBM Corporation
Here are additional references of the Search Engine Optimization solution in the information center.
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Trademarks, disclaimer, and copyright information
IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, and WebSphere are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of other IBM trademarks is available on the web at "Copyright and trademark information" at http://www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml
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