Member Avatar for naughtyangel

can a website that is made in frames be optimisaed?

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Short answer: yes, but only imperfectly. Framesets are a legacy layout technique (the HTML frameset element is obsolete in HTML5) and they cause indexing, linking, accessibility and analytics problems. If this is a new site, rebuild with semantic HTML/CSS instead of frames. If stuck with a legacy frames site, there are practical short- and longer-term strategies.

Short-term fixes (if you cannot rebuild immediately):

  • Make sure every framed document is directly reachable at its own URL and has clear, descriptive on-page headings and content so crawlers can understand each page.
  • Create and submit an XML sitemap listing those inner URLs so search engines see the actual pages you want indexed.
  • Prefer linking to the content URLs (not the frameset entry) from elsewhere on the site and from external campaigns so link equity goes to the actual content pages.
  • Monitor indexing and crawl errors with Search Console (or equivalent) and check server logs to confirm which URLs search engines fetch.

A practical migration plan:

  • Inventory every frameset and its source URLs with a crawler.
  • Recreate the layout using a template, server-side includes, or a CMS so each logical page is a standalone URL with consistent navigation.
  • Put 301 redirects from old entry URLs to the new, canonical pages where appropriate.
  • Update internal links, refresh the sitemap, and request indexing for key pages.
  • Verify analytics and accessibility once live.

As warned, frames are best avoided; is right that some framed sites have performed OK historically, but the safer, long-term route is to move off frames. These steps preserve discoverability during the transition and give the site the SEO, usability, and maintainability benefits modern layouts bring.

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Member Avatar for Dani

Yes, slightly, but not nearly to the full extent that a non-frames page could be. Just make sure that the frames page has meta tags in addition to all of the frames themselves. Also, be sure to include a NOFRAMES tag with hyperlinks to all of the framed pages.

May I ask why you want to use frames? I'm very against them.

Member Avatar for nacho45

Yes, slightly, but not nearly to the full extent that a non-frames page could be.

Agreed. I have one frames site that has done better than expected, but it is no doubt harder to optimize.

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