Question - Hidden Content via 'Read More;'
-
Hi,
Does having text in hidden areas (that are expandable with a button) harm their value in SEO?
E.g. there are 'read more' areas on the homepage of this site that have content that is not accessible otherwise. Does this content have the same weight when it is hidden versus if this whole area was visible?
-
Google is pretty clear on hidden text:
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66353
In practice, it's pretty common to "organize" text using CSS or Javascript in a way that sometimes hides it from the user.
In your case, since your intention is not to deceive search engines, but to enhance user experience, one option would be to include the "read more" via javascript, and then include the same text in a <no script="">tag.</no>
Keep in mind, Google will read this as html text on the page, and often in the same position as you place it on the page. So if you place several paragraphs of text in a no script tag towards the top of the page... ask yourself is this is how you want Google to view your homepage.
As long as you follow Google's guidelines, and are careful to make your text accessible, you should be fine.
-
Thanks for the question and responses.
I just love all the answers and responses from SEOmoz - they are real world questions and you get real time quality response. It is so helpful for small business.
-
I don't think hiding the text the way you have harms their SEO value since the content is still readily available in the HTML of the page.
However, with that being said, from the perspective of a new visitor to your site, it seems a bit strange to have to click a "read more" link to read more of the welcome section. Doesn't seem very welcoming :).
-
Great feedback. I always like to think of the search engine as a person.
-
In my opinion, 100% visible is better. So yes, you are on the right track. The concern that you have in your head that lead you to this question is right. It does not carry the same weight. If I were you, I would display it all and/or highlight the important areas of the content using some creative design techniques. Think SEO, but also think about the user. Would they really read all the content. Highlight the important/keypoints for them to see.
I hope this helps.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Is there a good tool for finding Duplicate Content?
Hi! Are there any recommendation voor Duplicate Content finder tools? Is it offered on MOZ (not the one that belongs to 'seo issues') or a different site?
Content Development | | Marketing-SurpriseFactory1 -
I want to use some content that I sent out in a newsletter and post as a blog, but will this count as duplicate content?
I want to use some content that I sent out in a newsletter a while ago - adding it as a blog to my website. The newsletter exists on a http://myemail.constantcontact.com URL and is being indexed by Google. Will this count as duplicate content?
Content Development | | Wagada0 -
Duplicate Content
Hi All, I am doing work for a rug company that acts as a third party. They have close to 4,000+ products. Each rug belongs to a collection. The collection has one main description that is the same throughout every rug in the collection. Ex. One Collection has 15 rugs, all with the same description. Should I take the time and change every single description? I think the answer is yes but I wanted another opinion. Thanks
Content Development | | Mike.NW0 -
Site Content Review Please!
I m looking for someone who can review my site and let me about quality of content on my site. Can anyone suggest / know who I can talk to about this ? Nick
Content Development | | orion680 -
Does the duplicate content on the crawl errors report test content on external websites?
Hello, Can you tell me if this is just duplicate content within my site or if it also recognises duplicate content on external sites as well? Thanks
Content Development | | stuarta600 -
Does this count as Copied Content ?
Hi, we are publishing news on our website blog. In the news we use excerpts from other websites but do mention the source like "according to XYZ news source" etc. Does it count as copied content as sometime copyscape shows alsmot 30% duplicated content due to inclusion of references from different sources in our news stories ? Regards, shahzad
Content Development | | shaz_lhr0 -
Guest Blogging Question
Hi Everyone, Bit of a serious question here for me, Is it worth doing a guest post on a blog more then 2 times? As an example one blog I guest post on has a homepage PR6 which I have posted 2 times, now they have requested another guest post but im thinking would it just be better to guest post on a different blog? So my question in simple terms is: 5 guest posts on two PR6 websites or 10 guest posts on ten different blogs with PR3
Content Development | | activitysuper0 -
Is it considered as duplicate content ?
Hello, I see a lot of errors on my webmaster tools because of this ajax code on my questions pages of the site (screen) : www.dismoicomment.fr The code : | / ADD ANSWER FORM |
Content Development | | elitepronostic
| | $("#answer-add-button").click(function () { |
| | $.ajax({ |
| | type: 'POST', |
| | url: '/answers/quelle-assurance-choisir-pour-un-scooter/', |
| | data: $("form#answer-add").serialize(), |
| | dataType: 'html', |
| | success: function(data) { |
| | |
| | if(data=="answer") { |
| | $('.answer-add-message').show().empty(); |
| | $(document).ready(function() { |
| | $(' Vous avez déjà répondu à cette question. ').appendTo('.answer-add-message'); |
| | }); | I have add a line on my robots.txt : http://www.dismoicomment.fr/robots.txt for remove all urls with /answers/. These urls with /answers/ aren't indexed in google. Do you think that it is dangerous and that can be considered as duplicate content ? 1129546035.png0