What is the exact use of .Htaccess file? How could it will be helpful from SEO perspective?

[Rohan Singh]

Well i found on seomoz.org that .Htaccess file will be very useful for seo practice, specially for redirecting and making dynamic links static! Is that really possible with that, please tell me complete process in detail.

[Fabrizio]

The original purpose of .htaccess (reflected in its name) was to allow per-directory access control, by for example requiring a password to access the content. Nowadays however, the .htaccess files can override many other configuration settings including content type and character set, CGI handlers, etc.

Common usages are:

- Authorization and authentication settings;
- Rewriting URLs;
- Blocking by IP address or domain;
- Enabling SSI;
- Changing the page that is shown when a server-side error occurs (404, 301 etc.)
- Cache control.

For SEO perspective it is important for Rewriting/redirecting URLs and blocking some parts of your website from search engines to prevent duplicated content warnings and penalty.

[Amirul Islam]

its really dipped on your

[Hal Smith]

It is helpful for directing your web pages.

Hal Smith
URLdreamer Consultant