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Search Engine spiders are not very sophisticated. They like simple and easy-to-read HTML. Most search engines spider software was written back when virtually all Web sites had grey backgrounds, almost no graphics, and lots of text. Remarkably, search engine spiders still favor Web sites that are just that simple. Web design has left the spider behind. Since humans are bound to use the latest and most complicated technology, whether warranted or not, many Web sites are built without any consideration for how they will fare in search engines.
While they will visit your Web site and capture every element, there are many page elements they they cannot interpret. Therefore, if your targeted keyword phrases are contained in any of these elements, you should consider moving them into other parts of the HTML so that they will have a chance to be read by the search engine's spider and ultimately returned by the search engines in response to a keyword query. In general, if you cannot highlight it on the page, the search engine cannot read it.
The following are page elements that will not be read by or considered by the search engines. That is not to say that these page elements can be used with reckless abandon...these are to be considered in general sense, not specifically. For every rule, there is an exception, and exceptions abound.
Keywords Contained in Graphics
Flash is a particular problem, as are most "gee whiz" new technologies. Search engines cannot read or recognize the text contained in a graphic image. All they see is a bunch of http://picture.jpg or graphic.gif files. If your site is graphic intensive and much of the copy is contained in an image, you have a serious SEP problem. There may be nothing for the search engine to index on your page.
Keywords in JavaScript
Search engines cannot optically recognize text. Even if you have coded a JavaScript to produce a long sentence full of keywords to scroll across you Web page, the search engines likely can't read any of those words. In fact, search engines seem to all but ignore the JavaScript contained in HTML documents. If your keywords are contained in a graphic, they will not be read or considered by the search engines. Keyword contained in a graphic are fine for directories whose human editors will read and consider them. Search engine spiders see only the file-name of the graphic, not its textual content, if any.
Frames and Tables
Frames are problematic, as are nested tables, but page design mostly impacts keyword prominence. When your page design includes Flash and other cutting-edge design elements, it can impact your site's ability to be index by search engines.
The bottom line. Search engines can only index HTML text and follow hyperlinks between Web pages, and there are only so many places where keywords can be included within a Web site. Where, how often, and how early your keywords are placed will determine your ranking. Remember these variables when you are analyzing other Web sites that have ranked higher than yours. Look at it like a puzzle, not some magic bullet or immeasurable force. Each player has a nu