PUBLIC MARKS from gregR with tag mod_rewrite

Apache's low-cost, powerful set of features make it the server of choice for organizations around the world. One of its most valuable treasures is the mod_rewrite module, the purpose of which is to rewrite a visitor's request URI in the manner specified by a set of rules.

The single most ugly part of a URI is usually the query component (i.e. the part after the question mark), where Web-based applications communicate a varying number of parameters of diverse importance. The most widespread ugliness is probably these sites where any single page is with a URI à la index.php?page=welcome.

It's not generally known, but many of the search engines will not index your site in depth if it contains links to dynamic pages like the one mentioned above. They simply take the "name" part of the URL (that's everything before the question mark, which contains the parameters that are needed for most of the scripts to run correctly)