You'd be wanting to change your link from
index.cgi?page=edit;cont=content
to
index.cgi?page=edit&cont=content
since the ampersand(&) is the delimiter you are looking for.
As far as doing something with the parameters in your script, I recommend Ovid's CGI course.
Update: Per InfiniteSilence's reply below, you can keep your parameters delimited by semi-colon(;). (Thanks, IS, for the new knowledge!) If you are still unsure as to how to proceed after reading chas's reply and consulting Ovid's CGI course, you might post more of the code you've tried, which is much more likely to elicit specific assistance.