Redirects - are they advisable?

[namniboose]

I am getting someone to import my site into FrontPage and he has taken it upon himself to set up redirects.

This is what he says:

'You'll notice that the home page is no longer ../index.html - I have used a trick here to improve search engine ratings.........now you can optimise the page and not worry about what it looks like, just the content. Users will never see this page and are directed to the new home page ../maui/hawaii.htm!'

Is this a doorway page? Is it a dubious practice liable to be considered spamming?

He insists that this is advisable but I would like a second (and third opinion) as to whether this might kill the patient.

Thanks for your esteemed advice!

(edited by: namniboose at 7:58 pm (gmt) on Oct. 29, 2001

[bufferzone]

It will depend on how it is made. HTML redirect is a big no no, Javascript redirect you can use, Information Frames, like the pages created in Position Weaver, Be ware!!!

[Marcia]

>optimise the page and not worry about what it looks like
So spiders will get one page and users will see other than the index page.

Googlebot will not follow JS redirect. I've seen some really strange phenomena in the Google cache.

Why Front Page, namniboose? Are you intending on switching to FP yourself?

(edited by: Marcia at 8:01 pm (gmt) on Oct. 29, 2001

[namniboose]

What exactly is an 'html redirect'?

[Marcia]

html redirect uses meta refresh. Not generally a good idea.

[namniboose]

Hi Marcia,

Yes, I am going to start using FrontPage myself. NetObjects seriously limits where you can add html - I can't call data via SSL, I can't change the metatags for each individual page, etc etc. Also, there is no tech support for the foreseeable future.

I believe he is using meta refresh - can you tell why it is not a good idea?

Thanks.

[Marcia]

namniboose, you're raising a couple of issues. First of all, FP is fine for certain things, some people here use it for wonderful sites. But "support" comes in different forms. A company is very unlikely to carry support beyond installation or bug problems - so I would not count on any instruction for using any software beyond what's in the help files or manuals. Some companies have additional support available - but it can be very costly.

You're going from one package to another with proprietary features. Using FP is fine, but only if staying away from anything propietary. Use our site search and evaluate what you find. Some members put it to very good use, but generally recognize certain limitations - like FP inserting extra meta tags, proprietary bots and navigation features, all non-standard. There are also certain issues with servers once Front Page Extensions are installed -again, proprietary, and very limited with the amount of help available. Staying with what's standard and commonly used is the safest route for anyone, unless they want to become dependent on paying someone for help.

Different issue. Sorry, let's get back on topic, please save yourself much grief. Do a site search on redirection and meta refresh, and please read this thread very, very carefully:

[webmasterworld.com...]

[namniboose]

Hi Marcia, thanks for your advice - I appreciate it.

I am expecting to learn FrontPage from the manual - I would imagine it is quite easy to learn the basics.

What are 'proprietary features'? Do you mean they only support standard features? My site is very simple (I do not want to put special metatags on - just be able to put different keywords on different pages - which doesn't appear to be possible with NetObjects).

At least people are familiar with FrontPage and will know what I am talking about. NetObjects has been a nightmare in that respect - everyone who has looked at it says it is a very weird program that works in a very unique way.

Thanks for the link re redirects. I will have a look at that.

[Woz]

namniboose,

off topic,

FrontPage is a great program and I use it ALL the time to produce sites with no problems whatsoever. Some say that using Frontpage is a no-no when it comes to SEO, others say no problem. A lot of people here, members and mods alike, use Frontpage to varying degrees with seemingly no problems.

However, like any program, it does have its own quirks, like, as has been said, adding unwanted metatags and so on. It also uses it's own system of "features" that require frontpage extensions on your server. Most of these include proprietry code which is what is believed to confuse the search engines.

The only "feature" I use is the include page feature, sort of like a poor mans server side include. I stay away from the others.

I would suggest you check out [jimcoaddins.com...] which has a series of add ins for Frontpage that fix some of the metatag problems and add a lot of usefull and clean features that the FP designers forgot.

Don't use FP98 as the code IS terrible, FP2000 produces clean code. I have not used FP2002 myself but some would suggest it comes with it's own set of problems. The jury is out on that one.

Back on topic, it sounds like the doorway pages you are being offered may cause you some grief in the long term. Be careful.

Hope this helps,

onya
Woz

[namniboose]

Hi Onya, thanks for your post.

I still don't know what 'proprietary code' is! And what unwanted metatags does FP include?

The person who persuaded me to import my website into FrontPage says he is not using html redirects but it sounds like any type of redirect is dubious?

Aline
aka Namniboose

[mivox]

"Proprietary code" means FP "makes up" some of it's own special code that is not part of HTML or other related web programming standards. Using proprietary code can not only confuse search engine spiders, but has the potential to cause problems with site visitors' browsers. It would be like me trying to make up extra letters for the alphabet, or my own new punctuation marks.

I've heard that as long as you avoid using FP's "wizards" and other special features, 2000 can put out clean, standards compliant (non-proprietary) code.

Almost any kind of redirect is considered suspect by the search engines, if they detect it. It makes it look like you are trying to hide something or trick their ranking systems, and they really don't like that. ;)

[namniboose]

Thanks Mivox, That has cleared up my questions!