Being aware of obstacles you may face when optimising your website for search engines is paramount to successful optimisation.
Awareness of ‘roadblocks’ will allow you to address important issues – if you don’t, your SEO could be significantly hindered.
This post will focus on some of the ‘technical’ aspects which present themselves as obstacles to search engines.
Examples of Roadblocks
1. Frames
Frames are like layers to a website; some layers are fixed, others are moveable. The classic example might be where a website has a navigational menu bar down the left hand side which never moves, even when the page content is scrolled up & down.
Search engines do not like these at all. So, in the ideal scenario… Avoid them.
2. Flash
Allows interactivity on a web page & is particularly useful for multimedia aspects of a site.
Whilst using Flash technology may look really interesting and eye-catching, it is difficult for search engines to access – this is because it doesn’t have any HTML text or links. The result: Flash won’t get indexed by search engines.
Again, this is best avoided where possible.
3. JavaScript
Often used for interactive elements of a web page, like drop-down menus.
Search engines often ignore scripts in pages due to not being able to identify their function. It is therefore important to ensure menus are search engine friendly, in order for your site to be fully indexed.
4. Complex URL’s
Certain characters can pose a problem for search engine spiders. Examples include question marks (?), equal signs (=) and percentage symbols (%).
One reason search engines aren’t a fan of these symbols is because they view the URL as bearing no relation to your page’s content.
Take Action
So, if any of the above apply to your site & you hold value on optimising your site for search engines, then the solution is simple… Take action now!
Please feel free to leave any comments & share any other roadblocks you consider significant in hindering successful optimisation of your website.