The architecture of a website can enhance or hinder the ability of search engine robots to index web pages. Frames, flash and dynamically generated pages may at times pose a problem for indexing. How do you work with these and other technologies to get the best page indexing throughout your website?

Gosh there are so many answers to this question because there are so many different possible scenarios that could exist. I will give my generic analysis though.

Frames - make sure that there is good content and links to index between the <noframes> tags

Flash - With an all flash site either have an alternative html version and if that is not possible make sure there is good content and links in the <noscript> or <noembed> tags.

Dynamic - Make sure URLs are not passing more than 3 parameters.

Many other situations and solutions could exist. I know I have run across my share of them in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

Gosh there are so many answers to this question because there are so many different possible scenarios that could exist. I will give my generic analysis though.

It is a wide-ranging topic.

Frames - make sure that there is good content and links to index between the <noframes> tags

Right, and JavaScript to reload the pages as well.

Flash - With an all flash site either have an alternative html version and if that is not possible make sure there is good content and links in the <noscript> or <noembed> tags.

Anyone successfully using CSS layers for text?

Dynamic - Make sure URLs are not passing more than 3 parameters.

Yes. And content management systems, we're running into quite a few of those lately.

Dynamic IMO, mod-rewrite it. From my experience with it thus far, I have had much better success and figures from using mod-rewrite than just delivering straight up dynamic content to some engines. Yahoo seems to be struggling with some and dropping others. I did a little test in Yahoo just recently and got a small dynamic site from half to fully indexed through the mod-rewrite script. I am testing others now. I am sure SEOMIKE could probably feed more onto that one though.

I have an article on Flash Optimization (http://www.search-this.com/website_promotion/optimize_Flash.aspx) here...don't mean to promote, but it does provide some advice.

I have an article on Flash Optimization (http://www.search-this.com/website_promotion/optimize_Flash.aspx) here...don't mean to promote, but it does provide some advice.

A few things (don't get me wrong, I like your stuff and link to it often) that I feel need correcting or perhaps just expanding on ....

When you find a Flash file on Google, notice that it is the actual swf file and not the html page that it is embedded in. One of the three reasons that Flash isn't often ranked highly in Google is that links are often to the html page and not directly to the Flash swf file. Google doesn't index the page using the Flash file content even though it can read it.

The other reason is that Flash files don't have titles. I'm reasonably sure this will be corrected soon, but right now the title is simply the first text that Google finds in the file and Google doesn't treat it as a title so the Flash file is forced to "compete" without the title asset which we all know is a major factor in the rankings. Google doesn't take the title of the html page that the flash is embedded in into account, nor should it since there might well be two or more Flash files on a given page.

Finally, Google will not read the Flash file if it is compressed which it is by default in Flash 6 and above, you have to change the publish setting to "uncompressed" - this is why you sometimes see the listing in Google is simply the URL and not anything to do with the content.

As far as the "all Flash website" goes, Google follows links in Flash so that you can easily separate the content into many smaller Flash files and have them all indexed, Flash can easily have numerous "pages" and still be an all-Flash website.

I think if you take the above points into account and then read your article on Flash optimization you'll that it (the article) is sort of misleading. Anyway, as I said I enjoy your writing and love the Search Engine Decoder but I do think that the article is not exactly accurate.

>>Anyone successfully using CSS layers for text?

Not currently but I've used display: none; to optimize flash only pages before and of course it works just fine...

>>CMS

There was a good thread on SE Friendly CMS's (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/forum/showthread.php?t=210) a while back that covers some of the better solutions.

Nick

Yes I am building pages in CSS layers, and especially find the use of layer based DHTML menu systems, which are spider readable to provide "one click" navigation from any page to any other, as a boon to both navigation and spiderability.

Anyone who is still building sites with frames these days really needs to be taken outside in the snow and battered about the face and head with a small wet kipper.

Frames were a thing of the 1990's - php includes are the thing of the 2000's - amongst other options.