.lbi file - SEO friendly or not?

[kchandler]

Up until yesterday afternoon i had never heard of a .lbi file. It turns out it is a library file used by Adobe Dreamweaver. From what i can tell it works like a client side included but i am unsure of the technology behind it.

The issue:
When running through a recent SEO audit for a new client i found these .lbi files being used all over there site for site wide callouts and even navigation. When viewing this content through firebug or in the browser you can see the executed  HTML content but when viewing the source or the page in seo-browser.com the content is nowhere to be seen.

So my thought is this is not SEO friendly and is the same as displaying content in any client-side script like JavaScript or JQuery.

Any feedback or thoughts on this subject would be awesome, especially if anyone has used these previously. Unfortunately i cannot share the client site but i would be more than happy to answer any questions if more detail is needed.

Thanks in advance - Kyle

[Jinx14678]

Hi,

The Actual call for the .lbi file is much like php - Although it is per page, not necessarily server side. And the HTML is actually dropped in using a call like

I currently use .lbi and .dwt HEAVILY ( although currently redesigning to use .php includes)

Is your question--- is the .lbi file followed?

Not if it is commented out, as the .lbi does no server side processing, it only drops the HTML or whatever code snippet is in the referenced .lbi live in dreamweaver, thus making it just embedded HTML (or whatever code was in .lbi)

Then - If you change the master .lbi any files that have  will also be changed (not seamlessly like .php includes) Dreamweaver keeps background notes, and sync data - that each time you make a change it profiles the site, finds any that have the referenced .lbi, and will change accordingly per page.

Shane

PS. After second read, it seems as if the content from .lbi is not being seen by seo-browser.com if this is true, then this IS NOT the norm, and there must be something wrong in the implementation - as the .lbi itself should be commented out to not be followed, but the code it places SHOULD be seen by bots

[kchandler]

Thank you for the insight on how the technology works, Shane!

I have used .dwt many of times in the past but never .lbi files. It sounds like it works like a client side include which normally means search engines cannot crawl any of that content.

[Jinx14678]

No not client side, dreamweaver side - It works exactly like a .dwt - but used for repetitve code such as secondary navigation, or quick links.

I verified with my own site on seo-browser.com, and as anticipated all my .lbi placed code was viewable, just not the .lbi itself as it is commented out

It is not client side, and not server side - It is just a system of "Macros" i guess would be a way to explain.

When you drag an .lbi "asset" into page it automatically places code in .lbi into page real time, no processing other than in dreamweaver to keep sync data. (or at least it does if implemented correctly)

[kchandler]

Interesting...

When i view the page they have a section called press releases with a handful of content and links. In the browser it looks great. They have 3-4 releases intros listed out with links to the full article.

When i look at the source it looks like this:

Press releases

View press releases

When i look at seo-browser.com it looks like this:

Press releases View press releases <-- with this item being a link

[Jinx14678]

Hi,

It looks as though the code being inserted by the .lbi is inline and ajax - This is why.

And kind of weird?

It is almost like they are using Assets to place a dynamic piece of code (ajax), which seems redundant to me?

But this seems to be why - It is not due to the .lbi itself, it is because the code being placed by the .lbi is Ajax.

I would assume the reason for Ajax is the easy management of adding new items, but the use of .lbi seems redundant.

(at least this is how it appears from code)

But you loose me at Ajax, as I am not sure at what levels ajax is readable and executable by bots.

Shane

[kchandler]

Shane - thank you for the insight and great spot on the ajax! I was so wrapped up with the .lbi that i didn't even realize the other elements.

[Jinx14678]

Code is my life right now (redesign of website and 2 web apps) - So I see it clearly at this point - it is reality that eludes me.