How to make search engines index search results on my website?

Question

I have a classifieds website.

It has an index.html, which consists of a form. This form is the one users use to search for classifieds. The results of the search are displayed in an iframe in index.html, so the page wont reload or anything. However, the action of the form is a php-page, which does the work of fetching the classifieds etc.

Very simple.

My problem is, that google hasn't indexed any of the search results yet.

Must the links be on the same page as index.html for google to index the Search Results? (because it is currently displayed in an iframe)

Or is it because the content is dynamic?

I have a sitemap which works, with all URLS to the classifieds in the sitemap, but still not indexed.

I also have this robots.txt:

  Disallow: /bincgi/

the php code is inside the /bincgi/ folder, could this be the reason why it isn't being indexed?

I have used rewrite to rewrite the URLS of the classifieds to

  /annons/classified_title_here

And that is how the sitemap is made up, using the rewritten urls.

Any ideas why this isn't working?

Thanks

If you need more input let me know.

Answer 1

If the content is entirely dynamic and there is no other way to get to that content except by submitting the form, then Google is likely not indexing the results because of that. Like I mentioned in a comment elsewhere, Google did some experimental form submission on large sites in 2008, but I really have no idea if they expanded on that.

However, if you have a valid and accessible Google Sitemap, Google should index your classifieds fine. I suggest to use the Google Webmaster Tools to find out how Google treats your site and to diagnose any potential problems with crawling.

Answer 2

hi, that question is not answerable with the information given, to many open detail questions. if you post your site domain and URLs that you want to get indexed.

based on how you use GWT it can produce unindexable content.

Answer 3

To use ebay is probably a bad example as its not impossible that google uses custom rules for such a popular site.

Although it is worth considering that ebay has text links to categories and sub categories of auction types, so it is possible to find auction items without actually filling in a form.

Personally, I'd get rid of the iframe, it's not unreasonable when submitting a form to load a new page.

Answer 4

1. Switch every parameters to GET
2. Make html links to those search queries on "known by Googlebot" webpages

and they'll be index