Generating static HTM pages

It has been some time since this was introduced.  What are the results for those of you that implemented this?

I'm looking at using ProductCart for our e-commerce website. This SEO issue is one of our main hangups at the moment.

The problem arises from the possibility of duplicated content. Check these links out (taken from one of the featured ProductCart sites):
http://www.nutralife.com/supplements/pc/SAMe-400mg-30-tablet s-2p59.htm

That is the correct link, using the custom 404 as intended. However, there is an issue with duplicate content, because the link isn't really tamper-proof. Check this out:
http://www.nutralife.com/allcompletejibberishdoesntmatterata ll-2p59.htm

It doesnt matter what the first part of the URL is, as long as the last few characters (I'm assuming whatever's after the last hyphen) are correct, because that's what the custom 404 page is reading.

Supposedly this has to do with the IIS server's lack of a mod_rewrite equivalent. For example, check out page site running on a linux server with a php-based ecommerce solution:

http://www.balance-your-hormones.com/hormone-test/hormone-te st.html

You'll notice that there are no characters at the end of the URL, only the product name. This makes it much more unlikely that duplicate URLs will be produced and indexed.

Do you think this problem with possible duplicate URLs will be an issue in search engine rankings? Creating a static page for each of our products simply isn't an option, as we have over 10,000 products waiting to be entered into whatever software we decide to use.

Make sure that you have edited the 404 error handler on the server. The 404 error type must be a URL and the URL location of the 404.asp file in the "pc" subfolder of your store.

If you are not given a choice between a "File" and "URL" as the 404 error type, then simply set it to point to 404.asp.

Different hosting companies allow you to perform this task in a different way. For example, here is how this is setup on one of our test stores (this is hosted at GoDaddy).

I have tried all day to get this redirect to work.  I have followed the directions exactly three times to make sure that I got it right.  I am having the same problem as jackalope in that he (or she) keeps getting the 404 error.  To quote:   "I can see the different categories with the new .htm links. However, when I click on any category I get an "HTTP 404 Not Found" error. And when checking one of my product links using the static .htm address, I get "Result code: 404 (NotFound / Not Found)"."  

I am running version 3.11a and I used the corresponding files from early impact.  Does anyone have any ideas?  Thanks!

I followed the instructions and went through the process more than twice just to make sure I hadn't missed a step. When I check http://gsitecrawler.com/tools/server-status.aspx for a page that should be there like home.asp, I get a "Result code: 200 (OK / OK)", and when I check for a page that should not be there, I get a "Result code: 404 (NotFound / Not Found)". I think this is how it should be. And when I navigate to viewCategories.asp, I can see the different categories with the new .htm links. However, when I click on any category I get an "HTTP 4004 Not Found" error. And when checking one of my product links using the static .htm address, I get "Result code: 404 (NotFound / Not Found)". I even tried generating a Store Map to see what happened. The file generated fine and the links all point to the static .htm pages, but clicking on each link gives the "HTTP 4004 Not Found" error.

Just checking from within the PC control panel, if I locate a product and go to preview it, it has the original "viewPrd.asp?idproduct=..." address. Is this correct or should it have the .htm address?

I'm baffled and don't know what to do? Any help is much appreciated.

Edited by Jackalope - 10-October-2007 at 6:17pm