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SEO friendly links
Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:39 pm
by alex.barylski
Not sure if this belongs here or not, but WTF right?
I have a page which has many of it's links stored in a drop down...the dropdown when selected is inside a FORM which sets an ID (representing a link) and stores that ID in a $_SESSION
I can't see a search engine being smart enough to iterate through the combobox items and submitting, etc...
So I figured I should probably have a list of links which do the same...
index.php?action=setid&pageid=12
I will have about 300 of these links at any given time...so obviously making them visible to end users is out of the question...I figure I could have a seperate page which displayed a sitemap of sorts...
But incase I choose not to do this...
Would it be wise to have those links inside a display: none DIV at the beginning of the page? If CSS is somehow disabled would the element display? Do search engines check CSS attributes?
Any input on the matter? Not looking for whether you think this is bad design or not
Cheers

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:30 pm
by DaveTheAve
Why not include them in a sitemap? If your gonna include them in a hidden div then your looking at TONS of wasted bandwidth and higher load times.
Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:41 pm
by Burrito
putting keywords in a hidden div is a huge no-no for SEO anyway. If you get caught doing that, you'll likely be penalized and suffer the reverse effect of what you're after.
Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:45 pm
by alex.barylski
Hmm...they still go after people for that eh? I thought that was no longer a big issue as search engines detected repeat keywrods, etc and banned you automatically...
These links are genuine...won't flag any kind of warning...so unless someone manually see's my page...
In anycase, sounds like a sitemap it is
Thanks

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 4:25 am
by Jenk
It's the "invisibility" that is the no-no, search engines are trying to achieve as close to the human user experience as possible, and rate sites based upon that info. So sites that are caught displaying one thing to users, and displaying something else to search engines, are penalised. (This is within reason - some sites do show a 'cut down' version to search engines, which is acceptable)
A sitemap sounds the best route, or simply display all of your links (but as you have 100's, a sitemap sounds better option)
Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:42 am
by John Cartwright
This is a BlackHat technique, and can get you banned from google if they find out.
Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 11:39 am
by Luke
I'll jump on that bandwagon...

BAD HOCKEY!! NO INVISIBLE LINKS! BAD!!
Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:38 pm
by John Cartwright
Makes me wonder though, considering there are many instances where this would be legitamate in a website. Togglable navigations for instance, hmm..
Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:42 pm
by hawleyjr
Jcart wrote:Makes me wonder though, considering there are many instances where this would be legitamate in a website. Togglable navigations for instance, hmm..
Generally togglable navigation would be to the site it self and not external sites. It's when you hide a bunch of links to sites. Another thing I've found is it doesn't matter who you link to it matters who links to you...
Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:45 pm
by Luke
I'm pretty sure linking to relevant sites helps a little... just not as much as relevant sites linking to you... but I'm not an SEO expert by any means.
Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:43 pm
by alex.barylski
Jenk wrote:It's the "invisibility" that is the no-no, search engines are trying to achieve as close to the human user experience as possible, and rate sites based upon that info. So sites that are caught displaying one thing to users, and displaying something else to search engines, are penalised. (This is within reason - some sites do show a 'cut down' version to search engines, which is acceptable)
A sitemap sounds the best route, or simply display all of your links (but as you have 100's, a sitemap sounds better option)
Didn't even think of that...I wonder if I could check the referrer and if it's a register search engine, show only content...hmmmm...
I still agree a sitemap is the way to go...but still...I can't help but think maybe

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:46 pm
by alex.barylski
First of all...stay off using words like familiarization or togglable in any of my posts...I can't read them out loud then as I can't seem to pronounce those damn words
Secondly....these links are completely internal links...pointing to my own documents...and yes it's well known or at least heard of, that incoming links matter way more than outgoing...so I agree with that statement
