Many people believe that
dynamic websites won’t do well in search engines without creating mirror sites
with static content. That is not entirely correct. There is plenty you can do
to promote the actual pages within a dynamic site. Here are some ideas…
Frames
It’s no secret that I am not a fan of framed sites. They make it
easy for the webmaster to design a navigation scheme, but they make it
difficult for search engines to index your site. Frames are also much more
difficult for handicapped people to use (see issue one). Some search engines
are beginning to add support to framed sites, but their ability to handle
framed sites is weak at best.
Part of the solution to this problem is to use the "no
frames" section of the index page. Many HTML editors often put in that
section, "Your browser does not support frames." That is the only
text search engines can see on that page. Simply taking the text and links from
the front page and putting it in this "no frames" section will give
the search engines much more to go on for indexing the site. Remember to keep
this updated as the main page changes. But don't be tempted to use spamming
techniques in this instance. People won't see this text, but search engines
will easily spot an overly dense keyword ratio and may boot the site off the
index permanently.
Heavy JavaScript
Javascript is a great way to add interactivity to a website. Those
of you who attend the class I recently taught learned how to make a javascript
menu system that greatly reduces the amount of work to maintain a large site. Remember
that search engines do not read javascript links, so you need a page with all
the links on it for the search engines to follow. This type of page is often
called a “site map” and you should provide a physical link on the main page to
the site map.
Not only do search engines not read the javascript, but rollover
buttons, interactive date scripts, banners and the like are typically created
by putting JavaScript in the head section of a Web page. This pushes down all
the text in the code of the page. Since search engines are only looking for
text and links, text that is higher in the code is more valuable in the search
engine's eyes. Consequently, the text that you worked so hard on is given less
merit than the JavaScript at the head of the page. The solution here is to create
external JavaScript files. The Javascript menu solution from the class is a
great example of how to do this.
Flash Intros and Sites
I really discourage the use of Flash intro pages or Flash
navigation schemes. If you must use flash, do something cool and unique. Maybe
an evangelistic presentation, the story of salvation or something like that. Use
a more static page for your main page so you will do better in the search
engines.
If you have a Flash intro or use Flash within your site, the
engines are not reading or indexing these pages at all. The solution to this
problem is, unfortunately, not a simple one. (Unless you simply stop using
Flash.) In this case, you do have to create a static site or static doorways
for submission to the engines. Make sure this static site or the doorways are
rich in content rich and create and offer value to Web searchers.
Unfortunately, the best page within a site to rank well is always going to be
the site's home page. So the unfortunate part comes when a home page is a Flash
intro. But using effective static pages will significantly help get the site
registered online.
Sites with a Low Number of Links
If you haven’t been following search engine technology (I know it’s
your favorite bed time reading material J ), there is a new way
that search engines are evaluating sites. Search engines are looking at how
many related sites are linking to your site and vise versa. If you don’t have
sites linking to you, you won’t do well in the ratings. There is no easy or
simple way to fix this problem. A favorite fix of those with some is to create a
1 x 1 pixel that contains links to random sites or sites in the designer’s portfolio.
Bad idea. First off it is spam. And secondly, arbitrary links have little
long-term benefit for better search engine rankings. The only solution is to
take the time to make connections with related sites and establish valuable
link exchanges. This often means calling and e-mailing site owners and Web
masters, but it's worth the time.
Dynamic URLs
Most churches do not have dynamic URLs, so this won’t apply to
most of you. But just in case, dynamic sites are convenient for running
shopping carts and quickly updating and customizing content, and many sites are
entirely designed within dynamic URLs. Unfortunately, search engines don't read
URLs that have non-alphanumeric characters in them (Such as &, +, %, $, ?).
Nor can some engines read .asp pages. The solution to this problem is to change
the names of your URLs. This can be done by creating scripts on the server that
modify how the server calls or "serves up" dynamic pages. Check this
link for more details about scripts and software that help sites accomplish
this: http://spider-food.net/dynamic-page-optimization.html
Hopefully some of this will
help you design an appealing, dynamic site and still let you do reasonably well
in the search engine rating game.
See ya next time,
Bill
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