SE Optimization and JS ?

toimprovelife · 07-21-2004, 01:43 PM

Hi,

On my website (still not finished since there is always more to do

), I recently decided to put all the html code of my menu and footer in a javascript. This allows me to not have to paste the menu on all my pages everytime I change or add a category in my menu. That works great (only one menu definition, reduce size of pages) BUT I start to think that it may be a very bad solution for SE Optimization...

: What would you recommend I should do ?

: Are javascript files a bad thing to use for an efficient SE spidering ?

: How important are internal links within a website ?

Please help, any advice ?
Thanks

Ferre · 07-21-2004, 02:09 PM

Bad for seo, maybe do it with php?

awall19 · 07-21-2004, 06:32 PM

internal links are extremely important for spidering.

search engines usually do not like to follow java

try to have at least one set of text navigation on the pages

Caped Crusader · 07-22-2004, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toimprovelife

This allows me to not have to paste the menu on all my pages everytime I change or add a category in my menu.

In order to avoid having to paste code into hundreds of pages on a site, I use my HomeSite HTML editor. It has a function called extended replace, which will swap out the menu code for every document in the folder on my hard drive. It saves me tons of time, I can still use SE-friendly anchor text links, and I don't have to mess with JavaScript for it.

In fact, that's the only time I whip out the HomeSite. I'm a Notepad addict.

pcarlow · 07-22-2004, 07:24 AM

Use server side includes. Works wonders. Just Google it for more info.

toimprovelife · 07-22-2004, 07:43 AM

Hi,

If I use a include .php, would it be ok for SEO ?
Do spiders / robots go through php includes ?

Thanks,
Fab

Liam Caulfield · 07-22-2004, 07:43 AM

Does this apply to GoLive components? My navigation links are components.

loki · 07-22-2004, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcarlow

Use server side includes. Works wonders. Just Google it for more info.

hey pcarlow,

i worked on a site that used ssi for the navegation and google couldn't spider the site. are you sure about this?

to toimprovelife: if you don't want to use 'find and replace' (dreamweaver) or similar to change your navegation site wide, a decent sitemap will do the trick.

awall19 · 07-22-2004, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loki

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcarlow

Use server side includes. Works wonders. Just Google it for more info.

hey pcarlow,

i worked on a site that used ssi for the navegation and google couldn't spider the site. are you sure about this?

my http://www.searchmarketing.info site uses modular 3 column SSI for the content area and SSI for the page header, global navigation, and page footer.

server side means the page is constructed on the fly prior to a spider or brower requesting it.

so long as you do it correctly it works well.

toimprovelife · 07-22-2004, 08:17 AM

I know PHP but not Server Side Include... I just looked on google about SSI.

What is the difference between PHP and SSI ?
Are both technology equivalent, what are the pros ans cons to use one or the other one ?

Fab

imaginemn · 07-22-2004, 08:25 AM

A true SSI uses the extension of .shtml. Most programming languages can include files using a server side include tag.

Here is some info on using SSI with PHP.

http://www.w3schools.com/php/php_includes.asp

imaginemn