For a long time, bloggers and website managers have been trying to figure out an answer to a big question: Does Google index iFrame content? We’ll explain the iFrame content in more detail. For those who haven’t heard of it, it’s an HTML feature that allows you to embed certain content from a web page – like a video, a form, a document, or even an entire web page – within a different web page.
It seems that it can make a big difference whether Google indexes iFrame content or not. For example, imagine that the iFrame content is taken from a reputable website and embedded into another webpage. How does that affect search engine rankings? Does Google investigate where you’ve taken your content from and impose penalties if you violate copyright regulations? Let’s dig a little deeper and find out about iFrame SEO impact!
What Is an iFrame & How Does It Work?
An inline frame or iFrame is an HTML component that hosts another HTML page or its content within a different web page. An iFrame is typically used for external ads, embedded videos, web analytics, tags, and interactive content.
Every well-established web browser supports iFrame. Once the browser identifies the content as an iFrame, it creates a new HTML document space to load it. The browser finds the SRC or SRCDOC as a reference point but displays the content on a completely different web page than the parent webpage. To users, it looks like there is only one page.
iFrame creates an entirely different environment within the parent frame. It has its own JavaScript and CSS content and is loaded, synchronized, and updated independently of the parent page. However, the parent website can specify and restrict how iFrame can be embedded. For example, administrators can create a guideline for iFrame’s size, position, and security context.
So, Does Google index iFrame content?
Google’s stand is discouraging the use of iFrame content. But at the same time, everyone, including Google, knows that iFrame will not simply disappear. It is a widely used HTML capacity, and many well-known websites use it to make their content more attractive. For a long time, there was uncertainty about the indexing of iFrame content.
According to Google Webmaster Guideline:
“The content displayed via iFrames may not be indexed and available to appear in Google’s search results. We recommend that you avoid the use of iFrames to display content. If you do include iFrames, make sure to provide additional text-based links to the content they display so that the Google bot can crawl and index this content.”
So, here’s what we know about iFrames and SEO: Google doesn’t index iFrame content with the URL because, in most cases, iFrame comes from another website with a different URL. Indexing iFrame using the URL would seriously compromise the website’s intellectual property and would be a perfect example of copyright infringement.
Imagine if someone iFramed an entire website, such as Wikipedia, in a few hours. Should the iFramed content appear in search engine results pages? The answer is a resounding NO! But there are more details.
Google and other search engines cannot crawl or index iFramed content. So, website viewers could easily see the iFrame content, but the iFrame content was unknown and invisible to the search engine. But that’s changed. Long story short: Today, Google can crawl and index iFrame content.
SEO Tips for iFrames
As you see, iFrame content has a very complicated relationship with search engine algorithms. Sometimes it may even lead to confusion and frustration. Here are a few useful tips and best practices to optimize iFrame SEO impact to avoid those pitfalls.
Make iFrames SEO-Friendly
Search engines consider iFrame content belonging to another website, so it shouldn’t impact the secondary website. If you aim to rank high in SERPs and optimal SEO results, avoiding iFrames on main pages is probably the best advice. High-priority pages should contain original, high-quality content. To achieve this, you can use a plagiarism checker, which will help create accurate, related, and engaging content, thereby proving beneficial for your audience. Leave iFrames for pages with lower importance.
To ensure content accessibility, index the iFrame with robots.txt. This allows search engine crawlers to access your page’s content whenever you want to make it visible to the browser.
Use X-Frame-Options Meta Tag
The X-Frame-Options HTTP response header is a meta tag used for a similar purpose as robots.txt. If you want to exclude certain parts of your web page, you can use this meta tag to inform Google that this part shouldn’t be indexed.
Leverage Contextual Text & Backlinks
To protect intellectual property and avoid copyright infringement, you can use iFrame content along with text-based links to the main website that the iFrame displays. Using backlinks and contextual anchor links allows search engine crawlers to find and index the content more accurately.
You can even use Kino keel tags within the iFrame page to clarify the relationship between your page’s original content and the iFrame version.
Bottom Line
Back to our main question: Does Google index iFrame content? Yes, it does. Still, iFrame SEO impact is not always clear. Some people may believe iFrame SEO impact is entirely negative. Others firmly believe iFrames are useful tools no matter what.
But as you’ve noticed by now, the iFrames and SEO puzzle isn’t easy to solve. But remember one thing: your website doesn’t receive any credit for iFrame content. Sometimes it can even be penalized by search engine algorithms.
We’ve offered different tools to help you prevent being punished by Google. So, you can at least ensure that using iFrames doesn’t damage your website’s credibility. But our advice?
Expand your SEO perspective and use different tools and methods to boost your online visibility. iFrames are mostly neutral tools in Google’s eye. But if you diversify your resources on SEO, it will surely yield incredible results.
For SEO Audit and Services connect with Dubai SEO Agency, one of the best SEO services company in Dubai.