I Frames and SE optimization

[AmyNY]

If I use "I Frames" on my site will the search engines have any problems reading the code?

[mack]

They will read your page code, but all iframed content will be ignored.

Mack.

[AmyNY]

Thanks.

[isitreal]

That's not true, the iframe content gets read fine as long as you have a link in the iframe tag to the page content.

pseudo code:
<iframe src=somepage.htm>
If you can read this it means you don't have iframe support, please click <a href="somepage.htm">here</a> to read the content
</iframe>

I've been using that technique for years and my content gets spidered fine.

The real problem is when users come in to the content page, you have to lift them back up to the container page, that's the tricky part, especially if you have multiple content pages in one iframe.

[mack]

I always thought the iframe content would be indexed but not as part of the page the iframe is placed on.

For example page A has an iframe with the word "foo" in it. Would "foo" be indexed as part of page "A"?

Mack.

[isitreal]

No, it's indexed as a separate page, just like frames, that's where the problem comes in, since when people come into the iframe page from a search engine they are probably coming into the content area, which is another webpage.

[edited by: isitreal at 3:20 am (utc) on Mar. 27, 2004]

[AmyNY]

I had not heard of iframe until today. Did not know it was one word and there is info on ww about it. There seems to be disagreement about the SEs ability to read them. I want to use them for the main content of my pages in order to make the pages easier to edit. Layout of page would be banner at top, index on side, and footer at bottom. Middle of pages is item for sale with picture and description in an iframe. Would that work?

[isitreal]

Personally, I wouldn't use this technique commercially until I was very sure I understood what it entails in terms of making it work with search engines, and also that I knew I had dealt with all the potential problems it entails.

[encyclo]

AmyNY - you should really look to server-side includes (SSI) to manage your site rather than using iframes. There are significant issues with iframes - not just for search engines, but also for accessibility reasons.

[AWildman]

I use iframes and ssi. While I haven't had ANY SE ISSUES with the iframed sites, the pages of the sites using ssi all have better PR than the iframed ones. BUT NOTE: I did not see any significant difference in the amount of time to index or assign PR between the iframed content and the ssi pages.

I can't speak as to any accessibility issues. I'm sure there are some.