[DEMUG] search engine question

[Michele Stapleton]

Okay, this isn't a Mac question, but since we've got so many  
wonderful geeks in this group, I thought someone might know the  
answer to this. TIA.

I get lots of folks contacting me with "opportunities" to advertise.  
Lots of online wedding directories. When I get approached, I evaluate  
each site for

1.  visual impact (is it pleasing, would my market audience us it?) and
2.  is it well ranked, or if it's a brand new site, does it show the  
potential to rank well?

My question today comes up in the context of this second issue.

I've been "offered" the chance to buy a listing in a brand new  
directory. It's operated by folks who have been highly successful  
with other ventures so I feel like they have the drive to do well  
with this one, but I worry that this one has some flaws SEO-wise.

My concern are menus which I suspect are not searchable by Google.

See, http://www.wedding-photographers-directory.com/

In the bottom lefthand corner there is a the brown box with a list of  
specific US towns which I think is crawlable.

However, above it in the blue box it has two menu buttons where you  
select the state and the metro area, and I suspect these are not  
crawlable.

So, if I listed in Portland (a specific town) I could do okay, but if  
I advertised in any other Maine metro area the page my name is on  
could be invisible to search engines.

I've tried to do research on this, but I don't really understand all  
the language about how sites are coded, so I'm not sure how to read  
what I am finding. Is the menu in the blue box using a "JavaScript- 
based menu system" labeled a big no-no under Paragraph 3 of Technical  
Problems on this page http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html? 
page=3627951

Thanks!

Michele

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Michele Stapleton, photographer
BRUNSWICK, MAINE
http://www.MicheleStapleton.com
http://www.MaineWeddingPhotographer.com/
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