Thanks to Barry Schwartz for posting this over at Search Engine Land yesterday. Google Webmaster Central Blog has posted some "advice" on how to make your site crawlable if you use AJAX and other Web 2.0 design features.
The use of Ajax from a design point of view is very cool, but from a search engine point of view is not very cool. If not implemented correctly, Ajax can be difficult for the search engines to index. So while you want to design your site for usability, without a visible presence in the search engines there will be no one to interact with the Ajax.
Google says that are working to better understand Javascript as it pertains to indexing of site content but suggests that it is still best to provide HTML links to your content. In addition, Google continues to emphasize that webmasters should create pages for users and not for the search engines. They make a great point that when designing your Ajax site, think about the needs of your users and those who may not be using a JavaScript-capable browser such as users of mobile devices.
Here is the full Webmaster Central post on "A Spider's View of Web 2.0"Labels: Google SEO Advice on Ajax |
