does <iframe> harm bots ability to follow links?

Discussion in 'Link Development' started by UBF, Aug 22, 2006.

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  1. #1
    At my site unique-baby-footprint.com I've created the menues using the <iframe> tag so that I will only have to update the menu once.

    However I was unsure whether that will make it harder for bots to follow the links as they will go through an additional page?

    Sencondly I'm using the no follow tag on the "menu-page" because I don't want that page to appear in SE. I have an idea that it could "kill" my internal linking?

    Any suggestions or comments?
     
    UBF, Aug 22, 2006 IP
  2. Cryogenius

    Cryogenius Peon

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    #2
    Frames used to be a problem for search bots, but they've become more intelligent since. If you are worried, add an ordinary link to your menu underneath the IFRAME. This way, search bots can enter through the link if they can't follow the IFRAME reference. Alternatively, create a sitemap which has links to every single page on your site (or every category if your site is huge).

    Cryo.
     
    Cryogenius, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  3. SEOTeam

    SEOTeam Peon

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    #3
    use PHP includes instead. Gives you the frame capability but the SE's dont see it as a frame but just one page.

    Framed sites dont do well because its many pages in one and bots tend to crawl and index one frame and it takes a long time for it to get fully indexed.

    One thing you can do if you need the fames is create a sitemap link on the frame that gets crawled a lot and reference your other frames.

    Site structure is very VERY important to SEO and my best advice is to get ride of frames at ALL COST!!

    They are a thing of the past. You need to get with the times and use CSS along with php includes.
     
    SEOTeam, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  4. UBF

    UBF Peon

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    #4
    Thanks. However I was afraid that you were going to say that. I don't know anything about php and so far I've only learned to use CSS for fonts and styles *lol*

    Do you have any links to goods site with php and CSS for dummies?
     
    UBF, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  5. TwistMyArm

    TwistMyArm Peon

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    #5
    Your site looks like a good candidate for a content management system. Download Joomla or something and have a play with it... if you decide to use it, you won't need to bother with all of that stuff as the whole menu and what not is down through a web interface.
     
    TwistMyArm, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  6. UBF

    UBF Peon

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    #6
    Thanks for the tip. However I feel that its a huge step to re-do the site in a new program that I know nothing of. The I prefer using the sitemap option until I learn the php or css part.

    However if I have the time I'll give Joomla a try ;)
     
    UBF, Aug 23, 2006 IP
  7. SEOTeam

    SEOTeam Peon

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    #7
    http://www.w3schools.com/ is a good site to learn css and you can actually get the code for certain things here.

    a php include is pretty simpe its <?php include'file.php'; ?>
     
    SEOTeam, Aug 23, 2006 IP