SEO for maps-based websites that require user interaction
- by j0nes
I have a website that basically shows a lot of locations worldwide on a Google Maps like interface. The map itself is built using the Leaflet library and Open Street Map tiles.
In the map, I show markers at each location I have. There is a popup window when I click on a marker that shows additional information and contains links to "detail" pages for this location. I fetch the location data for the viewpoint from an AJAX call from my server, so the additional information is not available in the HTML page itself. The detail pages are the pages my users are interested in.
My normal users load the map, search the location they are interested in, click on a marker and click on a link in the popup window. However for search engines, this might look different. As this navigation pattern relies on user interaction, I think they might not be able to find the details page.
My questions:
Are search engines able to follow a navigation path like outlined above?
How can I improve the navigation for search engines? (For example showing textual links below the map, sitemaps...)
How important are internal links for SEO?
