A representative from Google tweeted out something many Webmasters and SEO-minded people have usually presumed there was no issue with. However, in the case of having your page content indexed by the Google search engine, for best results your content should be plainly visible on the page as it loads, instead of being hidden in on-screen widgets that are typically programmed in Javascript.
The representative, Gary Illyes, said in his tweet that Google doesn’t consider (or ‘index’ in search engine lingo) content that is programmed into Javascript. So, basically if important parts of your content are embedded in Javascript code, then you may want to reconsider the design of your website. This doesn’t imply that Javascript functionality isn’t ‘worth it’. It most likely is. Only if say 20% of your content is hidden by it until the viewer clicks “see more” or “expand”, then it might be worth trying another design technique. Google “won’t see the content behind tabs if the content under the tab is dynamically generated.”
What did Google precisely admit in their most recent statement?
Gary Illyes of Google said on Twitter:
“ If you put content in a Javascript array and only expand them when you click e.g. ‘…’, those contents won’t be indexed by Google.”
Here is a snapshot of his November 4th tweet:
How can you check if Google is indexing your web pages?
If Google cannot index your web pages fully or correctly, your web pages probably won’t rank as high as they probably would rank otherwise.
It is a good idea to check if Google, and other search engines, are indexing your pages in full - and that your pages contain everything that the various search engine robots expect or require when spidering over your website.
If you’d like help with your SEO efforts, please write us at support (at) 4goodhosting.com and we’d gladly consult and provide a quote to you for SEO optimization for your website.
