SEO Question - Splash Pages Work Around

[robert89]

Hi
I have a front page to my site. It is a graphic with graphic buttons at the bottom and a couple of text links. It is the entrance point to the sites two language's. What I've read says that a page of this sort doesn't leave spiders with much.

My question: If I create a robot.txt file and tell spiders to start spidering on each of the main language index pages. Is this possible and will the spiders follow this type of instrucrtion.

Alternatively, would a long description file of the main graphic be read? or

Since there is some javascirpt in this page, would a no script section be read by the spider.

Any thoughts on these questions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[Foamcow]

Although splash pages are generally a bad thing in my opinion, yours does have some purpose.

So long as you have some straightforward HTML links into your site then your pages should get crawled. Remember Search engines index pages not sites.

There may be more of a problem when submitting to some directories, although if there is a genuine reason then I would hope the editor would see past the splash page.

How about rethinking the way you present the alternate language?

Assuming that your 2 languages are English and Spanish, why not have the site default to the English version and offer a very clear link to switch languages? That way you are getting straight into the site, but also offering users some flexibility.

http://www.foamcow.com

 

[ChrisHirst]

I'll get this in first. Most search engine spam is not in what you do but in why it is done. Intent!

Having a <noscript>section simply because you have a bit of javascript is simply that. Intended for search engines. No thought given to the text browsers or screen readers that people use.

If a splash page is an absolute must, and very rarely they are, put some text (visible) "below the fold" on the page for visitors and spiders alike.
AFAIK no evidence exists that the SEs pay any attention to the longdesc attribute. However its intended use is for accessibility to give a more detailed description of an image where the alt attribute text is too brief.


Chris.

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