Frames

Frames are used by a web designer to combine content from two or more web pages. When the Frame feature is used, the webpage display area is divided into two or more sections (or "Frames"), and each section can have its own scrollbar.  For example, one Frame may include the website or company's logo, another Frame may include the navigation menu, while the other Frames contain featured products or a rotating menu.

Years ago, many website programmers favored framed web pages because they were easier to maintain. However, editing tools available today can modify information on 75 pages at once, in just a few seconds. Because of this, Frames are not used as commonly and often look outdated.

The process of building and maintaining webpages with Frames can be easier than other methods, but Frames present a number of drawbacks. For the Internet visitor, Frames are difficult to navigate. If a website visitor tries to bookmark a Framed pages, the bookmark usually takes them to the home page, not the Framed page. Framed web pages have a tendency to get orphaned (separated from the rest of the website, with no way for the website visitor to get back to the main page).

Search engines can have difficulty spidering Frames, and as a result framed pages may not show up at all on search results. Because of this bad effect on Search Engine Optimization (and lowering page rank), Frames are usually not recommended.