I often come across websites that have an IFrame in them. IFrames, for those who may not be aware, are a rather simple solution to pulling content from one external website, into the current website you are viewing. Within minutes a programmer, web developer, or high school student can add an IFrame to any website.
So here is what you need to know! This is a REALLY BAD IDEA. Why you ask…because Google knows that these 2 websites are not the same. Google will crawl both websites and that will create a problem.
Issue #1 with IFrames
The first issue comes when attempting to Link directly to some content that is on the site that is within the IFrame. The typical user (that is one that is not familiar with programming) will simply copy and past the web address from the web address bar at the top of the browser. This web address bar IS NOT the location of the content. It’s actually the location of the IFrame on the current website. So when you share this website page with a friend, or on social media, that person will not see the content you are intending to share.
Issue #2 with IFrames
The second issue arises when you are doing a google search, and the search result that appears is from the IFramed page. Google will deliver you directly to the source of the content, giving you exactly what you were looking for, however the website owner loses all their branding around the IFrame, and as such, the web user may not convert into an inquiry or a sale.
The solution
There are many ways to integrate external data, via API calls, RSS Feeds, XML Feeds, and many other solutions, but ultimately to need to have a qualified web programmer doing this work. If you take the shortcut, and don’t pay for this to be done properly, you will pay dearly in the user experience and in the search results, and that will cost you far more in the long run!
Final Thought
Repeat after me…I will not use IFrames. I will not use IFrames. I will not use IFrames. I will not use IFrames. I will not use IFrames.