Do server-side includes break Google SEO?

[Sbabb]

Tech-geek question here:

I want to create a page template that uses PHP includes to pull in common elements for each page like layout, page header graphics, navigation, and page footer. Basically, this lets me split out the parts of my site that are identical on each page so that I don't have to update hundreds of pages if I add a button on my navigation, for example.

All of the includes are done on the server, so a browser sees what looks like a normal HTML page. If a spider behaves like a browser, then I would think that it would just see a SSI page as looking like a normal HTML page, but I really don't know how spiders work.

Does anyone know if this will confuse spiders and possibly break Google (or other search engine) ranking? Any issues with AdSense and server-side includes?

Thanks,
Scott

[MickC]

The short answer is a reassuring "no."

On almost all of the sites that I make, I use a header and footer system. I have a header and footer file and then use a server side include to bring them into the content pages. If I want to change the look and feel of the site, I only need to change those two pages and all resulting pages then get changed. When I make a new page, I can concentrate on creating the content, not the layout.

Not once have I had a problem with indexing while using this method.

I suppose an easy way to check what Google is seeing is to look at Google's cache for the site.

[CJAndT]

Any type of "server side" processing will have no effect on serach engine spiders.
When a page is requested with a server side include, the server itself processes the include and sends out the processed HTML code (whether it be to a browser or a spider). Client side includes, however, are NOT processed by spiders (javascript and other scripting languages that the browser itself parses).

To get a fairly accurate look at how a spider sees a page, do a quick search on "search engine simulator" - there are a number of them out there. You simply give it a URL you want to check, and it will spit back how a spider will see that page.

[BigBizBlog]

Wordpress uses PHP includes for all its page - and as you can tell, it hasn't affected search engine rankings!

As for SSI (different from PHP includes), I've used them in pages for quite some time, and the pages get indexed fine - as you mentioned, from the search engine's point of view, it's all one page.

[Reprobate]

I actually drafted a question before coming here...

When you have an include in a page (in this case a php page) does Google (as a search engine) spider it was a part of your page?

And when it comes to adsense, does it use the info in the include as part of the content for the page that your adsense code is in?

And upon visiting adsensechat I thought I'd do a search for "php includes".

As it turns out the answer to my question is already here!

Good work guys!

[Reprobate]

Can I stick the adsense code in as an include?

[tsutton]

Can I stick the adsense code in as an include?

Yes, that what I do.

[Reprobate]

Yes, that what I do.
Thanks for the response.

I was playing around and trying it out in the meantime and it works. Just making sure that it's acceptable.