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Submission and Optimization >>Search Engine Optimization Tips

Avoid Pitfalls with Frames

While frames make Web site designing and navigation of a site a bit easier, they wreak havoc on your Web site's ranking in the search engines for two reasons:

1. Half of the search engines cannot read the content contained in frames.

2. Frames increase the file size, the number of total words that make up the Web site, and thereby can decrease keyword weight.

These non-frames capable search engines view the Web site just as if you were viewing your site with an outdated browser. This is evidenced by the large numbers of search engines that return listings like this:

Used-PCs.com

is your webstore for Used PCs and PC parts. This web page uses frames; You'll need Netscape or IE 2.0 or better to view them.
98% http://www.used-pcs.com/ (Size 1.3K)

What happened here??!?? This is how this great company that sells used Pentiums, and operates an otherwise high-quality Web site is listed in one particular search engine. How come? Simple, the search engine's spider couldn't read frames. Therefore, it only read the contents of the <NOFRAMES> tag - and it wasn't very compelling. This information is returned to browsers that are not frames capable instead of just returning a jumbled page. Unfortunately, the text in the <NOFRAMES> tag is often instructions to the reader that they need a frames capable browser to view the site properly.

So, how do you overcome this problem? First, if at all possible, do not design your Web site with frames. In my opinion, only very large, very complex sites with many menu options and levels truly need frames.

If you insist on using frames, take measures to ensure that your page can be indexed by the major search engine's spiders. You can accomplish this by carefully using the <NOFRAMES> tag. Also, don't forget effective site titles and meta tags. Just because you're using frames doesn't mean you should leave out other essential elements of the page design.

It's really quite simple. You must create an alternate Web page within the <NOFRAMES> tag such that search engines have something to index. Compose a complete HTML Web page between the <NOFRAMES> and its end tag, the </NOFRAMES> tags and make sure you include the NOFRAMES tag immediately below the very first frameset tag, because, as always, you want the keyword rich text to appear as close to the top of the page as possible like so:

<BODY>

<H1>I'll start the content in my NOFRAMES tag with a header tag</H1>

<P>In the copy you can include all the text and HTML that would otherwise make up your Web site. Here's a link to another page, maybe one that would make up another frame:

<A HREF="http://www.yourcompany.com/otherpage.htm">Click to link to another page</A>

<P>

And here's some more text for the search engines to index

</BODY>

</NOFRAMES>

</frameset>

The preferred method is to include all the information from the other framed pages on this new, separate page contained in the <NOFRAMES> tag. When you design this new Web page within the <NOFRAMES> tag, make sure you include links to other pages in your site so that the search engine can Spider to those pages and index them as well.

Make sure <NOFRAMES> follows the <FRAMESET> tag. Moving it up higher in the page such as in the <HEAD> section could make your wording more prominent to the search engine but would be incompatible with some browsers.

Since the extra tags to set up frames may dilute the density of keywords versus other words on the page, you should definitely consider creating optimized static HTML pages as an alternative for engines and browsers that do not support frames. These pages would not use frames at all, but would serve as pointers to your main site that uses frames. This solution can provide the best of both worlds.

This article is copyrighted and has been reprinted with permission from FirstPlace Software, the makers of WebPosition Gold. FirstPlace Software helped define the SEO industry with the introduction of the first product to track your rankings on the major search engines and to help you improve those rankings. A free trial of WebPosition Gold is available from their Web site.

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