SE Optimization: Optimizing Frames for Search Engines

Optimizing Frames for Search Engines

Written by Dale Goetsch

Background

Because of repparttar way framed web pages are created, search engine robots have a difficult time spidering sites built in frames. As a general rule, search engine robots are not very good at executing client-side code, and framed pages are "built" on repparttar 128018 client side. The best way to make a website accessible to repparttar 128019 robots is to take it out of frames, but what can be done if repparttar 128020 site absolutely must remain in frames?

How frames are built

Typically repparttar 128021 "framing" page--the page that includes repparttar 128022 tags--does not contain any links to repparttar 128023 rest of repparttar 128024 website; rather, it contains only information necessary for repparttar 128025 browser to construct repparttar 128026 framed pages.

SuperWidget XYZ from XYZ< itle> </head> <frameset cols="30%,70%"> <frame src="navbar.html" frame="left"> <frame src="page1.html" frame="right"> </frameset> </html> Figure 1--index.html:<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128027"> "framing" page<p>The framing page loads<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128028"> files named in<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128029"> <FRAME> tags into<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128030"> frames defined in<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128031"> framing page. In our example, they look like this:<p> <html> <head> <title>Navbar< itle> </head> <body> <a href="page1.html" rel="nofollow" frame="right">Page 1</a> <a href="page2.html" rel="nofollow" frame="right">Page 2</a> <a href="page3.html" rel="nofollow" frame="right">Page 3</a> </body> </html> Figure 2--navbar.html<p> <html> <head> <title>Page 1< itle> </head> <body> Welcome to XYZ, home of<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128032"> new and improved SuperWidget XYZ. We have<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128033"> best widgets available anywhere today, and at half<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128034"> price of most leading widgets! </body> </html> Figure 3--page1.html<p>What if you can't do frames? Unfortunately, most robots cannot navigate through this page. They do not understand<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128035"> <FRAME> tags, and are unable to move through this page to<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128036"> pages "navbar.html" or "page1.html". Without being able to move through here, there is literally nothing of interest for<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128037"> robot to index, so there will really be no information in a search engine listing, if<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128038"> site is listed at all.<p>The <NOFRAMES> section<p>One of<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128039"> tricks that was incorporated into HTML with<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128040"> advent of frames was<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128041"> recognition that a page may be accessed by older browsers that are incapable of rendering framed pages: they literally cannot understand<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128042"> <FRAMESET> tag. This is why there also exists<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128043"> <NOFRAMES> tag. This then allows users on browsers that are not frames-enabled to at least see something on a website. Typically,<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128044"> <NOFRAMES> section is wasted on a message telling<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128045"> user to get a newer browser, thus:<p> <html> <head> <title>SuperWidget XYZ from XYZ< itle> </head> <frameset cols="30%,70%"> <frame src="navbar.html" frame="left"> <frame src="page1.html" frame="right"> </frameset> <noframes> This web site must be viewed using a frames-capable web browser. Your web browser, however, is not capable of displaying frames. </noframes> </html> Figure 4--index.html with added <NOFRAMES> section<p>This page now has information that<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128046"> robot can spider and include in<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128047"> search engine database. Unfortunately, you will now be known as<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128048"> website with<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128049"> content:<p> This web site must be viewed using a frames-capable web browser. Your web browser, however, is not capable of displaying frames. Figure 5--search engine listing with poor <NOFRAMES> text<p>Text in <NOFRAMES> section This is probably not what you want your potential visitors to see when they look in<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128050"> search engine listings. Since<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128051"> robot can spider at least this page, it only makes sense to put your best foot forward and put some real content into<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128052"> <NOFRAMES> section. That way, your search engine listing will actually tell something about your site, rather than just annoy people because they choose to use a browser that doesn't do frames.<p> <html> <head> <title>SuperWidget XYZ from XYZ< itle> </head> <frameset cols="30%,70%"> <frame src="navbar.html" frame="left"> <frame src="page1.html" frame="right"> </frameset> <noframes> Welcome to XYZ, home of<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128053"> new and improved SuperWidget XYZ. We have<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128054"> best widgets available anywhere today, and at half<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128055"> price of most leading widgets! </noframes> </html> Figure 6--index.html with better <NOFRAMES> text<p>This is a dramatic improvement, because we now have real content on<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128056"> page that<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128057"> robot can read and include in<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128058"> search engine database. You have now upgraded your search engine listing to this:<p> Welcome to XYZ, home of<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128059"> new and improved SuperWidget XYZ. We have<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128060"> best widgets available anywhere today, and at half<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128061"> price of most leading widgets! Figure 7--search engine listing with better <NOFRAMES> text<p>Unfortunately, this is still not enough.<p>Navigation in <NOFRAMES> section Most websites comprise multiple pages. Even though you may have a lot of navigation links in your navbar.html file,<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128062"> robot will never see it. That means that if you want<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128063"> robot to crawl<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128064"> rest of your site, you will need to give it some links in<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128065"> <NOFRAMES> section of<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128066"> page. To duplicate<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128067"> navbar functionality, you will need to add those links to<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128068"> <NOFRAMES> text, like this:<p> <html> <head> <title>SuperWidget XYZ from XYZ< itle> </head> <frameset cols="30%,70%"> <frame src="navbar.html" frame="left"> <frame src="page1.html" frame="right"> </frameset> <noframes> Welcome to XYZ, home of<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128069"> new and improved SuperWidget XYZ. We have<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128070"> best widgets available anywhere today, and at half<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128071"> price of most leading widgets!<p> <a href="page1.html" rel="nofollow" frame="right">Page 1</a> <a href="page2.html" rel="nofollow" frame="right">Page 2</a> <a href="page3.html" rel="nofollow" frame="right">Page 3</a><p> </noframes> </html> Figure 8--index.html with added hyperlinks<p>Now you have<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128072"> best of both worlds: you have text that<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128073"> robot can grab, and you also have links that<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128074"> robot can follow to access<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128075"> rest of your site. As long as you have links to all of<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128076"> pages on your website that you want<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128077"> robot to access, you are home free now, search engine-wise. The robot follows<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128078"> link to<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128079"> file "page2.html", for example, and indexes<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128080"> text on that page. How useful this newly-indexed content is to your visitor is now up to you. <br><br></font></td><td align="top" width="10%"></td><td align="top" width="45%"><h2>A Look at Ask Jeeves and Teoma</h2><font size="2">Written by Robin Nobles</font><br><br><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <br> <font size="2"> Recently, Jim Lanzone, Vice President of Product Management with Ask Jeeves, attended a chat session with students from<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar "> Academy, and he answered a lot of very interesting questions about Ask Jeeves' Web properties. <p>So, let's look at this interview with Jim, and learn more about Ask Jeeves and their relatively new search engine on<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128017"> block, Teoma.<p>As Vice President of Product Management, Jim overseas<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128018"> strategy, features, Web design, and product development for all of Ask Jeeves' properties, including Ask.com, Teoma, and Ask Jeeves for Kids at AJKids.com. Ask Jeeves is a top twenty Web property and is among<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128019"> most recognized Internet brands worldwide.<p>Jim began by giving some background information about Ask Jeeves and Teoma.<p>"Ask Jeeves is one of<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128020"> leading search engines on<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128021"> Web, with more than 16 million unique users per month. We also recently launched a new search engine called Teoma (Gaelic for "expert," in case you were wondering). <p>"Both Ask.com and Teoma.com are powered by Teoma's search technology. The difference between<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128022"> two sites lies in<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128023"> design and<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128024"> features. <p>"Here's an easy way to think about it: Ask is for `Passengers' (people who want help searching) and Teoma.com is for `Drivers' (people who don't).<p>"Our company makes money by serving advertisements that are triggered by<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128025"> searches people conduct on our sites. There are three main types of advertisements: Graphical (e.g., banner ads), Paid Placement (Sponsored Links), and a new program called "Paid Inclusion" (pay to be entered into our search index)."<p>Is free submission still an option?<p>Question: Can you still submit to Ask Jeeves if you have a site that answers questions, like we have been able to do in<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128026"> past for free, or do you have to go through pay inclusion to get into either index? <p>Jim: "Well, yes, if you want to submit, you need to pay. It takes special attention, and therefore resources, for us to take a site rather than simply crawl<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128027"> Web as usual. But there are special benefits to paying!<p>"Our editorial staff is much smaller than<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128028"> old days, and<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128029"> `questions' for Jeeves (what we call<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128030"> `Knowledge Base' internally) are not emphasized as much as they used to be, so<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128031"> exposure will be more limited...and it may take our editors quite a while to get to your site."<p>So, you can still submit your site to Ask Jeeves for free, but it will probably take a while for your site to make it into<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128032"> index. <p>Jim: "For<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128033"> search index, there is no free submit (for Teoma)."<p>Question: Compared to, for example,<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128034"> free add URL in Google,<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128035"> one for Ask Jeeves makes you jump through hoops. <p>Jim: "That's because it's quite an old program that was developed for our editors to review." <p>Remember that Ask Jeeves was established to answer questions, so you have to "prove" that your site does, in fact, very effectively answer<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128036"> question you're going after - which is a lot more detailed than a simple submission at Google.<p>What about pay inclusion? <p>If you submit to Ask Jeeves' and Teoma's pay inclusion program, your site will get visibility at both sites. The pay inclusion program is now out of beta, so<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128037"> subscription period is 12 months.<p>Benefits of their pay inclusion program include:<p>* Your page will be indexed within 7 days. * Your page will be refreshed every 7 days. * Your page remains in<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128038"> index for 12 months.<p>Cost?<p>$30 for<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128039"> first URL, and $18 each for 2 through 1000 URL's. For larger numbers of pages, you can use their batch processing facility.<p>Visit http://ask.ineedhits.com/ for more information.<p>Question: The Direct Hit site has been taken down, and traffic is being redirected to Teoma. What about<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128040"> Direct Hit results that were being shown in engines like HotBot? Are those now Teoma results? <p>Jim: "Yes, we still have Direct Hit on HotBot, as well as BellSouth and InfoSpace. DirectHit.com is redirected to Teoma. But some partners still have<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128041"> old DH "pop" (popularity) results. MSN still has<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128042"> Direct Hit results. <p>"We will be merging pop into<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128043"> Teoma technology sometime in<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128044"> near future, but some partners still want it as a "one-off," and we are open to providing it." <p>Question: Teoma does crawl sites on its own? Is that correct?<p>Jim: "Yes, that's correct. Its index is currently featured on both Ask.com and Teoma.com."<p>Question: A Web site with good link popularity then would not need<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128045"> Ask Jeeves/Teoma paid inclusion program? <p>Jim: "For a major site, that is probably true. However, for smaller sites, or sites that refresh their content frequently (or have many dynamic pages that are difficult for search engines to crawl), paid inclusion is still a great option if you really want<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128046"> traffic. Paid inclusion sites are spidered weekly. Other sites are spidered monthly, currently."<p>Question: When paying for inclusion for Ask Jeeves and Teoma, are<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128047"> results shared with other partners? If so who? <p>Jim: "Currently, no. However, we're aggressively pursuing partnerships that will extend our reach considerably. Not able to say who just yet, but<IMG height=12 src="/the2.jpg" alt="repparttar 128048"> usual suspects."<p>Question: In your FAQ's for Ask Jeeves/Teoma's pay inclusion program (http://ask.ineedhits.com/faq.asp), it states that you can't change URL's. Why?<p>Jim: "Because it's considered a new submission. We're not able to put enough resources against it yet." <br><br></font></td></tr><tr><td>Cont'd on page 2 ==<a class="mlink" href="2-Optimizing_Frames_for_Search_Engines-28018.htm">></a></td></tr></table><script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </td> </tr> </table> <table width="770" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> <tr> <td height="48" align="center" background="images/bg_nav_bottm.jpg"><span class="style3">ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005<br> <a href="terms.html" rel="nofollow">Terms of Use</a></span></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> </table> <script type="text/javascript"> var HASH_ESCAPED="%23"; function TrackIt(adUnit){ if (window.status) { var adDomain = escape(window.status.substring(6)); var pyPage = document.location.pathname; var params = document.location.search; var hasAnchor = params.lastIndexOf(HASH_ESCAPED)!= -1; params = hasAnchor? 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