Why Frames are Deadly in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Chances are, if you've done some work as a webdesigner, you know a little bit about frames. As the name indicates, a frame page is created using some HTML code that frames other pages. It can look quite good on a website, it can save you some time, and once you understand the code, it isn't that difficult to set up. So what's the problem?

The problem, at least from a search engine's point of view, is that there's nothing to see, and certainly nothing to index. The html code you used to create the webpage is the only thing the search engine’s spider will find , i.e. no real content.

There are ways to work around the problem, such as, using the “noframes” tag. But by the time you've created content for the “noframes” tag, you might as well have created the entire site without the frames to begin with.

In the long run, it will be easier, as instead of creating website + “noframes” content, you could just as easily create a website without frames, and save yourself some trouble.

And the question arises: is it really worth it? Granted, frames can have their advantages. But ninety-nine times out of a hundred, there is another way to design your webpage so that the frames aren't really necessary.

If frames are necessary, then create optimized content for your “noframes” tag that search engines will be able to read and index. Pay close attention to your TITLE and META tags, since these and the “noframes” tag are the only things search engines will be able to use.

It's much more work than creating a straight HTML website would be, and your site will probably never rank as high as it would if it were straight HTML.

If you have the option, avoid frames. They simply aren't worth the extra effort required for good SEO search engine optimization.