Scripts and Specialty Coding
Combine
a multi target for search engines
Search Engine Bots dont interpret scripts...
Use menu's that help your site.
This page is not anti script - indeed, what you can do with a
JavaScript Menu is fantastic. The drawback
however is that any hyperlink inside the <script> tag is not
proportionally indexed. This means, if you design your site with
Initial Page Rank in mind, the menu is not contributing to the sites
success.
Furthermore,
If you use a script inside your <head> or <body> tags, it will
add to the overall Page to Text
Ratio of your page.
The Menu Left
The menu used on this site is a single layer CSS
hypertext menu. It is not reliant on any scripting, imagery or
specialized coding. The refresh rate is not altered by a modem
speed. The hover function does not rely on image cache or
download.
Solution for JavaScript or other Script based
formats.
Use a .js style sheet
In the same manner as you would attach a CSS style sheet to your
page, you can also do the same for your JavaScript's. NOTE: You
should place all script coding inside a txt file, and rename as
example.js Do not include the opening / closing <script>
</script> tag in this txt document.
Then in the <head> or <body> sections of your coding, add >
<script src="domain/example.js" type="text/javascript">
This will draw in the scripting when
instructed by the browser. It will significantly improve your Page
To Text Ratio. Move your CSS and Javascript to external files.
It will not help your menu become more 'indexing friendly'. To
make your pages friendly for search engines, use static links. These
will look like this
http://www.quicksmart-design.com/javascript-menus.html
Ensure throughout your site you have at least each page written
in this format above.
Write both http://www. for URL addresses and www.
for URL addresses. Engines will list both. Then, when someone either
types in your address into the browser search bar OR links to your
site, your outside link strategy will come into play. If an engine
can not match URL's, they are perceived as different even though it
is the same page. Any extension before your domain name can be
listed. As with any extension after your domain.
e.g.
http://www.australiasigns.com.au/qsonline/proddetail.php?prod=Special-1
http://www.australiasigns.com.au/qsonline/products.php?cat=15
Use Hypertext Links Everywhere
Hypertext links ( also known as 'anchor links' ) are fully indexable AND are important for spiders
/ bots. Planning your site and through natural development over
time, you can improve your total index pages regardless of any
internal or external scripting, server side includes, include page
forms, webbots or drawn in content. Hypertext links are more
valuable to you.
The key is to also have lots of static full
length URL addresses.
learn more
Website Linking
Image Rollovers
An image rollover menu will look fantastic, however, the inherent
problems are greater than the creative advantages.
- External Links can not easily be created.
- Keywords are lost
- Users with slow internet speeds will only get poor
performance.
- Additional coding is required in 'source' files.
- Many corporate businesses will have their browser security
systems 'blocked' against scripts. So the rollover is wasted
anyway.
Summary
Dont reject the benefits of scripting. It can be a great asset
for your site, Use an external script sheet or attempt to simplify
your code.
Scripts can be used for retrieving information to benefit the
viewer, add extended options and lots more. Don't however, use a
script rollover based menu unless the benefits outweigh the losses.
Add lots of Full Length URL Addresses. Use lots of Hypertext
Links.