Inbound Links through tracking tools - 2 Dilemma

[emzeegee]

My page rank ain't what it used to be.

My company carefully tracks ROI for ads by using a referral program that runs through a dynamic single page hosted on ONE of our domains. This page associates a source from our database with the visitor and then redirects to any number of other domains or subdirectories also pulled from the DB. The source stays with their session and is associated with their name when they fill out a form.

This is GREAT for recording sources (the referring server code in ASP or server logs alone is never enough, though we do this too). However, Google doesn't recognize these links as being pointed to their final destination - they are all recorded as going towards the referral.asp page. Which brings me to

QUESTION 1:
Can I continue to use this database-driven link-tracking (a la www.domain.com/directory/referral.asp?linkid=123)?) Is there a way to help Google realize the FINAL page is the right destination?

Currently they are set up as asp pages with a javascript redirect: response.redirect(url)

Is there a better way to do it? Keep in mind that I'd like to continue to pass the actual URL from a database.

QUESTION 2:
I was doing some competitor research and I found a site that is providing one of my competitors with hundreds of indexed backlinks but not providing either of two other competitors on the site with ANY indexed backlinks.

The site uses phpAdsNew... Does anyone have experience with phpAdsNew or OpenAds? Does it use nofollow links or something?

You can find the page here:

http://www.pnnonline.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=index

The side banner ads seem to be repeated all over the site. The bottom ad's URL is getting inbound links from all of the pages on the pnnonline site while the other two are not. Can't figure it out!

Why would one of the URLS get tons of inbound value from that page while the other two don't!?

Thanks a lot!

[beu]

When Googlebot indexes a page containing Javascript, it will index that page but it cannot follow or index any links hidden in the Javascript itself. I'm not sure I understand your question but a 301 redirect is better to use in most cases than a javascript redirect.

It is best to allow search bots to crawl your sites without session IDs or arguments that track their path through the site. These techniques are useful for tracking individual user behavior, but the access pattern of bots is entirely different.

The big problem is that search engines cant find links in your navigation within the code of your page.

[Marcia]

Run the URLs (in the links) through a server header checker to see what header code they're returning for the redirects.

[emzeegee]

Those comments are really helpful.

I'd like to clarify something for BEU and ask something of MARCIA.

For BEU (and anyone else):
Can I create a 301 redirect that pulls the URL out of a database?

Currently my referral.asp page works like this:
An ad sends them to referral.asp?id=123. The id # matches up with a record in our DB that includes the full name and details of that ad and the exact URL I want to send them to. The URL is passed into a javascript redirect like this response.redirect(url).

I really need a way to retain my tracking ability (ideally using the same general structure) while showing google my final destination instead of a useless page full of javascript.

For MARCIA:
I ran a page through a server header checker and found that the javascript redirects are showing up as "HTTP/1.1 302 Object moved" and the final destination which is either the 2nd or 3rd server response shows up as a "HTTP/1.1 200 OK".

What does this mean? The key says 302 means Object Found.

Thanks for any help!

[emzeegee]

Someone recommended I use this in my referral.asp page :

Response.Status="301 Moved Permanently"
Response.AddHeader "Location", "http://www.newdomain.com/newdir/newpage.asp"
response.end


That seems to cover the 301 issue. Right?


In my case it would be:

Response.Status="301 Moved Permanently"
Response.AddHeader "Location", "[DATABASE DRIVEN URL]"
response.end

With the [DATABASE DRIVEN URL] being determined by the id code in the referral.asp?id=123 address. Can anyone see any problems arising with this setup? Does it look like it will allow SE's to see the final destination instead of my referral redirect page?

Thanks!

[beu]

Yes you should be able to 301 from a database but, I'd get with your admin or someone who knows your site. Just to be certain not to screw up some other aspect of the site.

Yes a 301 and not a 302!