[BNM] Quick SEO question

[Dave Child]

Hi Simon,

> We have a site and we already know the content for it is not very search
> engine friendly and is currently undergoing a rewrite. So to get round  
> this
> it has been decided to wrap it in a frameset. The upper which contains a
> load of search terms but is only 0px high. The lower one contains the  
> site.

Aaaargh! This doesn't work anyway - best thing that could happen is that  
the 0px high frame ranks in Google. Anyone that clicks through will land  
in that frame, not your site. Unless you add a javascript frame redirect,  
which bites (and the engines hate).

> Frankly; when I discovered this I was almost sick in my mouth. But the
> management insist that this is how it's got to be.

Aaaargh! Educate them. They're very very wrong.

> I have suggest that we create a div at the top of page with all the  
> search
> terms and then in the CSS define
>
> Div{
>             Display: none;
> }

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! Nooooooooo! Hidden text ... bad bad idea.

> A. Is this true ?

Yes. Sort of. Google historically hasn't read CSS files, but there are  
indications they are starting to. If they're not now, they will be very  
soon.

> B. Is there any better technique?

Yes. Add real content. Remove the frameset and the div now. Add the real  
content when you have it.

In practical terms, you're going to get banned from Google. This is  
standard hidden-text stuff, and hated by the engines. It might not happen  
today, or tomorrow, or for six months, but you will be banned. Possibly  
because you're reported by a competitor, possibly because Google get  
better.

Your best bet is to remove the hidden junk, add the new rewritten content  
when it's available, and don't let the management near website decisions  
again.

Dave

-- 
www.ilovejackdaniels.com