How much javascript does Googlebot read
-
We have a site where we have certain navigational links solely for the human user. These links help the user experience and lead to pages that we don't need crawled by googlebot. We have these links in javascript so if you disable javascript these links are invisible. Will these links be considered cloaking even though our intention is not to cloak but save our Google crawl for pages we do want indexed?
-
Hi CruiseControl, If you want to see how Google views your website you can download a tool called Lynx, Lynx is a text based browser which is very very similar to how Google's crawler views your website.
-
Thank you all for your input.
-
I wrote up a nice reply then decided to investigate a point and found a nice interview with Matt Cutts from 2010. The relevant quotes are:
Matt Cutts: For a while, we were scanning within JavaScript, and we were looking for links. Google has gotten smarter about JavaScript and can execute some JavaScript. I wouldn't say that we execute all JavaScript, so there are some conditions in which we don't execute JavaScript.
Eric Enge: If someone did choose to do that (JavaScript encoded links or use an iFrame), would that be viewed as a spammy activity or just potentially a waste of their time?
Matt Cutts: I am not sure that it would be viewed as a spammy activity, but the original changes to NoFollow to make PageRank Sculpting less effective are at least partly motivated because the search quality people involved wanted to see the same or similar linkage for users as for search engines. In general, I think you want your users to be going where the search engines go, and that you want the search engines to be going where the users go.
Article link: http://www.stonetemple.com/articles/interview-matt-cutts-012510.shtml
-
There are circumstances where you are allowed to use 'cloaking' as some very influential websites have done however in your particular situation a nofollow tag and noindex tag would be the 'normal' procedure.
Personally, I think it is a grey area. You are not using the javascript to hide content as such and provided you are clearly not trying to manipulate the system there should be no reason why you would be penalised for it.
-
I would say yes they are cloaked links. I would suggest using HTML links only for maximum juice and to not anger the Googlebot. Serving different content to the user with and without javascript is a no-no. As for your crawl budget - best practice is to use a nofollow tag on the link and a noindex on the target page if you don't want it in the SERPS.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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
-
Invalid Microdata - How much of an impact does invalid microdata have on SERPS
Invalid Microdata - How much of an impact does invalid microdata have on SERPS?? The Low down. We are located in Australia We run our business on the Bigcommerce platform. Problem is Google is crawling our bigcommerce in USD and displaying our micro data (price in USD instead of AUD) How much of a problem is this in terms of SEO issues? We have seen a steady decline or many of our top 3 rankings shift down a few pegs to mid-bottom of top 10. We're also getting google shopping microdata warnings too. Hi, I am just wondering how we fix invalid micro data (Price) is displaying USD where we are located in Australia so it should be AUD. Solutions: Does anyone have a solution for this they can help me out with to resolve this microdata issue on the bigcommerce platform (stencil cornerstone based template)? Are there any other technical elements at first glance you note on our website that may be a potential cause in the SERP decline from top 3's to top 10's? URL https://wwww.fishingtackleshop.com.au
Technical SEO | | oceanstorm0 -
JavaScript page loader - SEO impact
Hello all,
Technical SEO | | Lvet
I am working on a site that has a bizarre page load system. All pages get loaded trough the same Javascript snippet, for example: Changing the values in the form changes the page that is loaded. The most incredible thing is that, against my expectations, pages do get indexed by Google.
My question is: "Does loading pages dynamically using JavaScript affect the overall SEO performance?" Why are pages getting indexed? Thank you for shedding light on this.
Cheers
Luca0 -
Can Googlebot read the content on our homepage?
Just for fun I ran our homepage through this tool: http://www.webmaster-toolkit.com/search-engine-simulator.shtml This spider seems to detect little to no content on our homepage. Interior pages seem to be just fine. I think this tool is pretty old. Does anyone here have a take on whether or not it is reliable? Should I just ignore the fact that it can't seem to spider our home page? Thanks!
Technical SEO | | danatanseo0 -
Why would an image that's much smaller than our Website header logo be taking so long to load?
When I check http://www.ccisolutions.com at Pingdom, we have a tiny graphic that is taking much longer to load than other graphics that are much bigger. Can anyone shed some light on why this might be happening and what can be done to fix it? Thanks in advance! Dana
Technical SEO | | danatanseo0 -
An expert opinion would be much appreciated.
Another story about a site that has been trashed by Penguin/Panda. My site's been around for 10 years. It's had ups and downs but right now it is WAY down. The site is in a competitive arena but I am targetting less competitive niches within and I can confirm these are much less competitive, quite specialised and only people with relevant experience can produce content of any value. (that's not saying people can't produce abundant garbage that ranks!) According to Google there are no manual spam actions but pages that once had top 5 positions are now nowhere to be found. Pages that contain links to these once popular pages are appearing in SERPS but not the pages themselves. Or at least I've not trawled below page 50..... I'm trimming away old pages and low content pages and I'm going to start cleaning up backlinks (already got rid of a few old sitewide links but things have just got worse!). It truly is as though ex-high ranking pages are having their heads held under the water but I don't know why and I can't understand why considerably lower quality pages are ranking but mine are not. I don't overoptimise and I design pages to contain helpful content and the service people receive is also good quality (I have testimonials!) What I need is just someone to take a look and help me understand why my site has been slammed and what steps I need to take. There is no doubt the site is being held back. I've read several articles on what to do to improve things and I am working on it but I would love an expert opinion. Can anybody offer some suggestions & what would you need from me...?
Technical SEO | | cmarket0 -
How valuable is content "hidden" behind a JavaScript dropdown really?
I've come across a method implemented by some SEO agencies to fill up pages with somehow relevant text and hide it behind a javascript dropdown. Does Google fall for such cheap tricks? You can see this method used on these pages for example (just scroll down to the bottom) - it's all in German, but you get the idea I guess: http://www.insider-boersenbrief.de/ http://www.deko-und-kerzenshop.de/ How is you experience with this way of adding content to a site? Do you think it is valuable or will it get penalised?
Technical SEO | | jfkorn0 -
Can Google read text in Javascript?
We have just completed the redesign of our product page, which you can see here: http://www.uksoccershop.com/p-19045/2011-12-Chelsea-Adidas-Away-Football-Shirt.html Because we want the select size / add to basket section to appear prominently, you can see we are showing only a snippet of the product description in this section and then user has to click "more" to see it. My question is, can Google read the product description here since it's in Javascript? The code is as follows: 2011-12 Chelsea Adidas Away Football Shirt £44.99 Item Code:379606 Brand new, official Chelsea away shirt for the 2011/12 Premiership season, available to buy in adult sizes S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL. This football shirt is manufactured by Adidas and is black in colour.[ More...](javascript:void(0);) Brand new, official Chelsea away shirt for the 2011/12 Premiership season, available to buy in adult sizes S, M, L, XL, XXL, XXXL. This football shirt is manufactured by Adidas and is black in colour. Cheer on the Blues in style in the new adidas Chelsea Away Shirt, featuring a striking blue blocked design on an imposing black background complete with the club crest and adidas logo embroidery across the chest for a great style on or off the pitch. The new Chelsea Away Shirt is designed with adidas' ClimaCool technology to bring moisture away from your skin, keeping you cool, comfortable and performing at your best as you emulate the skills of Frank Lampard, Fernando Torres and John Terry on the pitch. Customise your shirt with Premiership shirt printing for your favourite Chelsea stars or choose your own custom name and number. Adult Football Shirt
Technical SEO | | ukss1984
Short sleeves soccer jersey
Chelsea club crest to left chest
adidas logo and stripes
Print sponsor to centre
ClimaCool technology
Machine washable Product code: 379606 The 2011/12 Chelsea away football kit is released on 7th July 2011. <form name="currenychange" action="http://www.uksoccershop.com/p-19045/2011-12-Chelsea-Adidas-Away-Football-Shirt.html" method="get">
<select class="topselectbox" onchange="this.form.submit();" name="currency" style="float:right;"> <option value="USD">US Dollars</option> <option value="EUR">Euro</option> <option value="GBP" selected="selected">UK Sterling</option> <option value="AUD">Australian Dollars</option> </select>
</form> Available Now [Be the first to ask a question](javascript:void(0); "Ask a Question")
[Be the first to review this product](javascript://) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars <form name="cart_quantity" action="http://www.uksoccershop.com/p-19045/2011-12-Chelsea-Adidas-Away-Football-Shirt.html?number_of_uploads=0&action=add_product" method="post" enctype="multipart/form-data"> Which parts of this is Google going to be able to read? Should we make the product title our H1 header for this page and can it currently read that within the code above? </form>0 -
Reading Crawl Diagnostics and Taking Action on results
My site crawl diagnostics are showing a high number of duplicate page titles and content. When i look at the flagged pages, many errors are simply listed from multiple pages of product category search results. This looks pretty normal to me and I am at a loss for understanding how to fix this situation. Can I talk with someone? thanks, Gary
Technical SEO | | GaryQ0