Links/Text within a javascript reveal

[baldidiot]

Question for you SEO gurus here... How does google treat content which is not displayed on page load but revealed using javascript? For example when a user clicks "show more" to reveal an additional paragraph or clicks on a menu item to reveal the full menu.

Is this type of content seen the same as regular (shown on default) content? Matt Cutts did a video talking about it but he just said that you wouldn't be penalised for it so long as it was legitimate (eg: not for keyword stuffing), but he didn't say anything about whether the content would be devalued.

[rak]

Hope this helps....

Google Site Search isn't able to index content contained in JavaScript. The general rule for making sure that a web page can be indexed by Google is to ensure that all of the text that needs to be indexed is visible in a text-based browser, or a browser with JavaScript turned off.

http://www.google.com/support/custom...y?answer=72366

[baldidiot]

Oh ok that's interesting - thanks.

So in theory if I made the text visible as standard and then used javascript to hide it on page load, it would be seen by google? I might have to do some experimenting.

[rak]

Oh ok that's interesting - thanks.

So in theory if I made the text visible as standard and then used javascript to hide it on page load, it would be seen by google?

I think so!


From Webmaster Tools :

When Googlebot indexes a page containing JavaScript, it will index that page but it cannot follow or index any links hidden in the JavaScript itself.

Having a link visible, and then using JS to hide it would make ok for what u are doing by the sounds of it.

[michael1981]

As far as I know, Google crawls the html coding of web pages it visits (it doesn't look at web pages visually like a human does). If any content is visible in your html source code, it should be indexed by Google.

[universal4]

From the way I understand what is posted above, if the javascript is used to show/hide a layer, then the layer does in fact exist within the page and therefore should be indexed.

I would never want to use this method to hide keywords or for content stuffing, since competitors would certainly file spam reports for such methods.

I also would be a little concerned about using such methods for navigations since this could affect spiders following links that you want them to follow.

And you should NEVER use such methods for hiding links to link partners.

Rick
Universal4

[rak]

I would never want to use this method to hide keywords or for content stuffing, since competitors would certainly file spam reports for such methods.

I also would be a little concerned about using such methods for navigations since this could affect spiders following links that you want them to follow.

Agreed, it could be seen as content stuffing, if you're linking to a site, imo, just link to it.

With navigation, it can be appropriate to use javascript, especially when you are using AJAX to build an extensive dynamic menu which might be based on daily data. In this respect, this why the Sitemaps play such an important part. It should match up to your site structure and navigation.

from google
http://www.google.com/support/webmas...y?answer=66355

Sneaky JavaScript redirects When Googlebot indexes a page containing JavaScript, it will index that page but it cannot follow or index any links hidden in the JavaScript itself. Use of JavaScript is an entirely legitimate web practice. However, the use of JavaScript with the intent to deceive search engines is not. For instance, placing different text in JavaScript than in a no-script tag violates our Webmaster Guidelines because it displays different content for users (who see the JavaScript-based text) than for search engines (which see the no-script-based text). Along those lines, it violates the Webmaster Guidelines to embed a link in JavaScript that redirects the user to a different page with the intent to show the user a different page from the one that the search engine sees. When a redirect link is embedded in JavaScript, the search engine indexes the original page rather than following the link, whereas users are taken to the redirect target. Like cloaking, this practice is deceptive because it displays different content to users and to Googlebot and can take a visitor somewhere other than where they intended to go.
Note that placement of links within JavaScript is alone not deceptive. When examining JavaScript on your site to make sure that your site adheres to our guidelines, consider the intent.
Keep in mind that since search engines generally can't access the contents of JavaScript, legitimate links within JavaScript will probably be inaccessible to them (as well as to visitors without JavaScript-enabled browsers). You might instead keep links outside JavaScript or replicate them in a no-script tag.

[baldidiot]

Don't worry guys I'm not turning over to the darkside

It's for a FAQ page - so all you see are the questions and then click to reveal the answer - seems to be pretty common. I like the idea of loading the page and then hiding with javascript - that way if a user has javascript disabled they will still see all of the answers.

[rak]

Don't worry guys I'm not turning over to the darkside

i couldn't help myself... "baldidiot.. i am your farrrzeerr"

[baldidiot]

i couldn't help myself... "baldidiot.. i am your farrrzeerr"

Lol.