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beng2000
Known Participant
November 11, 2020
Answered

SEO and SSI

  • November 11, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 632 views

Hello again. 

 

I am using server side includes for the header and footer in Dreamweaver.  I am using Bootstrap 4. header.shtml and footer.shtml.

 

Many SEO techniques have changed in the past several years when I was designing - been out of the loop for 6 years.

 

If I use a SSI header and include the proper meta data will the search engines pick up on them?  Title and description, etc.  

 

Also when I build each page I am thinking I should leave all the <head></head> data out as it will be inserted from the header.shtml file.

 

Am I correct?

 

If anyone has an idea of where I can find new pertainent info on SEO now that would really help me.  I have found some but thought I would ask all of you as well as many of you have been using it recently.

 

As usual, thanks for all of your help.

      This topic has been closed for replies.
      Correct answer Nancy OShea

      Osgood is correct.  SSI or manually coded has no impact on SEO either way.

       

      That said, unique page titles and descriptions are a must have. Do not put those inside your server-side includes. 

       

      Meta keywords are ignored by major search engines. What matters most is good semantic markup (h1, h2, h3, p) inside the document's <body> tag. That's what search engines index.

       

      Read Google's SEO Starter Guide for reference.

      https://developers.google.com/search/docs/beginner/seo-starter-guide

       

      3 replies

      Nancy OShea
      Community Expert
      Nancy OSheaCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      November 11, 2020

      Also don't confuse your page <header> with the document's  <head> tag.  They are NOT the same thing.  Metadata goes inside the <head>, not the <header>.

       

      Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
        B
        beng2000Author
        Known Participant
        November 12, 2020

        I thank both of you for your guidance.

         

        I understand what you are stating.  

         

        So the ssi doc that is the header should only have the navbar bootstrap code and the bootstrap css and what I am calling main css attached to it.

         

        I am now reading up on on the link you sent Nancy.  Thanks.

        B
        beng2000Author
        Known Participant
        November 12, 2020

        I am just naming the ssi file header.shtml.  I know that is different from the <head> of the doc.  Thanks for clarifying though.

        Nancy OShea
        Community Expert
        Nancy OSheaCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        November 11, 2020

        Osgood is correct.  SSI or manually coded has no impact on SEO either way.

         

        That said, unique page titles and descriptions are a must have. Do not put those inside your server-side includes. 

         

        Meta keywords are ignored by major search engines. What matters most is good semantic markup (h1, h2, h3, p) inside the document's <body> tag. That's what search engines index.

         

        Read Google's SEO Starter Guide for reference.

        https://developers.google.com/search/docs/beginner/seo-starter-guide

         

        Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
          O
          osgood_
          Legend
          November 11, 2020

          Server-side includes are meant for the inclusion of generic information which is shared between pages, i.e, navigation, footer, perhaps a sidebar, news carousel - widgets, etc. They are not meant for page 'description', 'title' tags etc, as that information you will most likely want to change based on the main content information on the individual pages.

           

          As regards to SEO and SSIs - it make no difference if the page is manually hard-coded or dynamically coded using SSIs - a search bot will still be able to access the information.

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