The URL recoding feature detects whether the site visitor is a web spider, and if it is, generates static URLs for links to pages, rather than the dynamic URLs that the ATG platform typically uses. A static URL can include the product and category name, which may result in higher ranking for the page in searches for that product or category. For example, the static URL (minus the host name and context root) for a product detail page might look similar to this:
/jump/Crystal-Decanter/productDetail/Glassware/xprod2081/cat10024
This page will have a higher ranking for a search term like “Crystal Decanter” than the equivalent dynamic URL, which looks similar to this:
/browse/productDetailSingleSku
.jsp?productId=xprod2081&categoryId=cat10024
To implement the URL recoding feature, Commerce Reference Store includes components that:
detect whether a site visitor is a spider or not
render either static URLs or dynamic URLs, depending on the type of visitor
specify how to translate a dynamic URL to its static equivalent
In addition, it includes components that translate static URLs in incoming requests (issued when the customer clicks a link returned by a Web search engine) to the dynamic URLs that the ATG platform understands.
These components are described below.