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Frames and SEO
By Robin Nobles
Contributing Writer
Article Date: 12.02.02
Dear Robin,
Q:After reading the latest WebProNews Article about
Search-Engines dropping sites, I felt I had to ask a few more
questions.
I hope you are able to help.
FRAMES - My web-site uses frames as it is quicker to load pages with the
header and TOC (Table of Contents) static on screen rather than load
them up again every time somebody clicks a link to another page. Is this
a problem with search engine optimisation and does it lead to SE's
ranking you lower in the listings.
You didn't say what your rankings are for your most important keyword
phrases. My first rule of thumb is never to mess with success. If you have
top rankings for your keyword phrases, I wouldn't touch the site. But since
you're writing in, I'm going to assume you're having some ranking problems,
so let's go on. :)
Yes, frames can be a problem with search engine rankings. However, like most
"problem" design strategies, there ARE work arounds. Since Google is so
important in the search engine world these days, let's see what Google has
to say about frames. This information was taken from Google's Webmaster area
on why your pages may not be indexed.
(http://www.google.com/webmasters/index.html)
"Google supports frames to the extent that it can. Frames tend to cause
problems with search engines, bookmarks, emailing links and so on, because
frames don't fit the conceptual model of the web (every page corresponds to
a single URL). If a user's query matches the site as a whole, Google returns
the frame set. If a user's query matches an individual page on the site,
Google returns that page. That individual page is not displayed in a
frame -- because there may be no frame set corresponding to that page."
A:<Robin>
Your best bet when working with frames is to use the <noframes>
tag, because you're making SURE that the engines have something
to index when they get to your site. Plus, you need to make
sure to include links to additional pages within your site in
the <noframes> tag so the spiders can find those interior
pages and spider them.
So, let's look at your <noframes> tag:
<noframes>
<body background="image001.gif">
<p><i><b><font color="#FFFFFF"><img
border="0" src="image003.jpg"
width="264" height="74"></font></b></i></p>
<p><i><b><font color="#FFFFFF">This
page uses frames, but your browser
doesn't support them.</font></p>
<!-- www.toolshack.com web tools statistics hit counter
code -->
<a href="http://www.toolshack.com"><script
language="javascript">
var data,nhp,ntz;document.cookie='__support_check=1';nhp='http';
ntz=new Date();if((location.href.substr(0,6)=='https:') ||
(location.href.substr(0,6)=='HTTPS:'))nhp='https';
data='&an='+escape(navigator.appName)+ '&ck='+document.cookie.length+
'&rf='+escape(document.referrer)+ '&sl='+escape(navigator.systemLanguage)+
'&av='+escape(navigator.appVersion)+ '&l='+escape(navigator.language)+
'&pf='+escape(navigator.platform)+ '&pg='+escape(location.pathname);
if(navigator.appVersion.substring(0,1)>'3') {data=data+'&cd='+
screen.colorDepth+'&rs='+escape(screen.width+ ' x '+screen.height)+
'&tz='+ntz.getTimezoneOffset()+'&je='+ navigator.javaEnabled()};
document.write('<a href="http://counter.hitslink.com/'+
'redirector.asp?acct=comlinkents">');document.write('<img
border=0 hspace=0
'+
'vspace=0 width=88 height=62 src="'+nhp+'://counter.hitslink.com/'+
'statistics.asp?v=0&s=11&acct=comlinkents'+data+'"></a>');</script></a>
<script language="javascript1.2">document.write('<');
document.write('!-- ');</script><noscript>
<a href="http://www.hitslink.com/">
<img border=0 hspace=0 vspace=0 width=88 height=62
src="http://counter.hitslink.com/stats-ns.asp?acct=comlinkents&v=0&s=11">
</a></noscript></b></i><!--//-->
<p><i><b><font color="#FFFFFF">Please
Click on the link
below</font></b></i></p>
<p><font color="#FFFFFF"><b><i><a
href="corporate.htm">Click
here to
continue</a></i></b></font></p>
</body>
</noframes>
I've highlighted in red the text that the search engines can
see when they crawl your site. Not much in the way of "keyword
rich," is it?
Okay, here's what I would do. I would create a "mini site"
within the <noframes> tag that contains keyword rich
text about your site. Then, I include links to the important
interior pages of your site in that <noframes> tag.
Make sure you have at least 100 words, but 250-300 would be
better. I would put this keyword rich content at the very
beginning of the <noframes> tag. Then, I would follow
it with the HitsLink code.
Frames do not cause the engines to give you lower rankings,
but you do need to make sure you give them content to spider
and links to other pages within your site.
I don't know whether you submit interior pages of your framed
site to the engines or just the main page. I'm looking at
your casino.htm page right now, and I see that you are using
the title, description, and keyword tags on the page. But,
what if someone finds that page outside of your frames? You're
not providing a link back to the home page. You'll need to
include a home link at the bottom of each of your pages, to
where your viewers will be able to navigate your site. By
clicking on the home link, the viewers are taken back into
the frames and all is well. Be sure to use the "target_top"
command to keep your visitors who enter from the index page
from getting into a new set of frames if they click on the
link back to the home page. (To see this in action, go to
your main page -- http://www.comlinkentertainments.co.uk/
-- and click on Disco. Scroll down and click on Main Menu.
Just LOOK at those frames!) Here's the tag that will prevent
this from happening:
<a href="index.html" TARGET="_top">Home</a>
There's also a JavaScript solution as well.
You *are* using a Main Menu link on the bottom
of your disco.htm page -- GOOD! You just need to make sure
you do on every one of your pages. I wouldn't name that link
"Main Menu" though. I would name it after your important keyword
phrase, like "Additional suppliers of top quality corporate
entertainment," or whatever. The point I'm trying to make
is to USE your valuable link text by including your keyword
phrase in it whenever you can.
Q:The reason I am worried about this is because
as a small entertainment company I need all of the web-site
listings that I can get. I am continually optimising my web-site
using META CONTENT, META DESCRIPTION and META KEYWORDS but
I feel that it is not helping.
A:< Robin>
On the frameset page, you aren't using META description or
keyword tags. Here's your section of that page:
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
charset=windows-1252">
<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft
FrontPage 5.0">
<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
<title>Com-link Entertainments, suppliers of Top quality
corporate
entertainments based in Nottingham, East Midlands.</title>
</head>
I would move the <title> tag to the top of the <head>
section, get rid of all of the other META tags, and add META
description and keyword tags. META description and keyword
tags are only one very small piece of the search engine pie
these days, but I still use them. You can NOT depend on them
to help you much with rankings, however.
</Robin>
Also I use hitslink.com for my web-stats, as this is an external
webstats site, does this also discriminate me with SE's Listings.
<Robin>
No -- but again, I would put the code underneath the important
content in your <noframes> tag.
</Robin>
Please take a look at my site and let me know if there is anything that
I can do to help get better listings on the Major SE's.
Web: www.comlinkentertainments.co.uk
Yours gratefully
Steve Colledge
Web: www.comlinkentertainments.co.uk
<Robin>
Here's the good news. Your site has a 5 out of 10 PageRank with Google. I
know, I know. This isn't exact rocket science, but it is always something to
pay attention to. You only have 4 links pointing to your site in Google
(proving that quantity isn't what counts!), 153 in AlltheWeb, 14 in
AltaVista, and 7 in MSN. (I checked it at LinkPopularityCheck.com:
http://www.linkpopularitycheck.com)
If I were you, I would work toward building that link popularity, paying
attention to authoritative, important sites in your keyword focus. Remember
that QUANTITY isn't what we're necessarily after -- it's QUALITY. Read this
article on 131 legitimate ways to build your link popularity -- available in
both e-book format and in HTML:
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/131LinkPop.html
Go to http://www.searchengineguide.com
and click on their listing of search engines and directories.
This is basically a "search engine of search engines/directories."
Search for your keyword phrases, and see if you can find any
"vertical" engines/directories to submit your site to. Vertical
engines and directories are on one topic only, like FindLaw.com.
They are often popular sites, and they're good ones to target
for building link popularity.
And remember: always use your important keyword phrase in the link text when
you're requesting a link from another site. You want the Web community to
know that your site is about your keyword focus. VERY important.
With all of those interior pages, you have great potential for optimizing
them based on their specific topics. Try to have at least 250-300 words on
each page --
Always keep this in mind: your goal is to build valuable content for both
your users AND the search engines. Never forget either group. Both groups
want valuable content, so give it to them!
GOOD LUCK!
</Robin>
About the Author:
Robin Nobles teaches online courses in search engine marketing
through the Academy of Web Specialists (http://www.academywebspecialists.com),
and live, hands-on workshops in search engine marketing through
Search Engine Workshops (http://www.searchengineworkshops.com). |
