Ecommerce & Responsive design

[Jvalops]

Hi there,

We are thinking to redevelope our ecommerce websites and thinking responsive design. Due to responsive design when the screen gets smaller to fit iphone and ipad we need to hide some content to make it more user friendly.

My question is, how Google will treat hiding content with the smaller screens?

Will this effect our rankings in a negative way?

We really don't want to get punished by Google 

Thank You

[Jungles]

That would be craziest think from me if I would put such kind of statement about responsive design. I newer told that responsive design is dangerous! I told that any technique to hide something that is not visible for humans and is visible for search engines 'could' be read wrongly by Google if not now then some day!

I wouldn't risk with my personal business with this. Any possibility for me that could lead to been blacklisted/penalized etc. is strict no no.

For me, to hide something in my website is bad and to show two different versions according to 'responsive design'  is something completely different and it is good.

For example:

One day SEO/BH people will start to utilize this responsive CSS design/technique to manipulate their results in Mobile search. I can guess personally what will happen - Google will tell that they are not longer favor this design or they will 'ask' to tweak and twist it. Or, they can tell that they will favor something else. What will happen with my business!?  - I will be forced to redo all my work and change design,coding etc. If I will have heavily developed platform at that time I will be forced to implement huge amount of work which will cost me thousands and thousands.

I would follow only proven values and not follow some trends that are not stable in this field even if that is obvious for now.

That was what I meant and that is what I'm saying now.

Best,

Jungles

[RyanKent]

**There are thousands and thousands websites in the past that used hidden attributes/CSS tricks, hidden divs etc. on the page. **

When those "techniques" were used to manipulate search rankings, they violate search engine policies. In the case of Responsive Design, the CSS is being used to provide a better user experience. There is a BIG difference.

The content is fully viewable on a full screen. On a smaller screen, the less important content is not displayed. There is absolutely no intent to manipulative search rankings.

your responses was quite arrogant and I have got impression that you definitely don't need any help but coming here to show how smart you are

It seems you have been offended by my response. That certainly was not my intention. How can I share a different opinion which conflicts with yours in a manner that is not offensive to you? If you can help me understand, I will make an effort in the future.

I originally chose to visit the SEOmoz Q&A to learn about issues and challenges I do not normally face, and also to understand alternative methods of practicing SEO. That is still the case, but I contribute to the community in an effort to help others.

You have a very unique viewpoint. During my literally thousands of responses shared with hundreds or thousands of SEOs and site owners, no one has ever reacted in such a manner.

My sole goal was to ensure the topic was thoroughly and openly discussed. Your response clearly stated Responsive Design was "dangerous", a "trick" and added a "risk". I completely disagree with your assessment and do not wish any SEOs or site owners to not adopt a best practice based on misinformation. My response was presented accordingly.

Best Regards,

[Jungles]

Needless to say - it is dangerous!

Do you have any evidence to support that claim? To be candid, it sounds like you are attempting to drive fear due to your unfamiliarity with the practice.

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There are thousands and thousands websites in the past that used hidden attributes/CSS tricks, hidden divs etc. on the page. Please, refer this website - http://css-tricks.com/snippets/css/accessibilityseo-friendly-css-hiding/

Mostly all of those sites that used this techniques has been penalized. It is old BH technique and has been heavily prosecuted by Google in the past and now as well. I would be afraid to use any hiding techniques on my business website. You skipped most important part of my previous response -  lack of case studies in this field (responsive design + hidden css) therefore I would not implement any hidden element on the page.

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Responsive Design was talked about in 2009. The implementation of it rose sharply in 2011 and in 2012 it is widely adopted. So much so Google specifically recommends using Responsive Design.

Tell that to all the major companies who incorporated Responsive Design and have only seen benefits from doing such.

If you will browse around this topic and count the numbers of responsive design websites and websites that has been created in 2012 without this design feature - you will have some number that definitely is not -'widely adopted'. As I said before - It is just becoming popular as Google prefers it more and more and it may become a major trend whose real benefits we do not know yet.

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To my taste, your responses was quite arrogant and I have got impression that you definitely don't need any help but coming here to show how smart you are. No doubt you are smarter than Google.

I regret that I posted my response and spent my time on your thread and will newer do it again. Thanks.

best,

Jungles

[RyanKent]

Needless to say - it is dangerous!

Do you have any evidence to support that claim? To be candid, it sounds like you are attempting to drive fear due to your unfamiliarity with the practice.

**I would newer use any CSS tricks or whatever programming technique on my business site! **

Responsive Design is not a CSS trick. It is CSS.

Perhaps you should learn about this established and recommended approach to presenting websites. I am not aware of any risks. Please share what those might be.

Responsive Design was talked about in 2009. The implementation of it rose sharply in 2011 and in 2012 it is widely adopted. So much so Google specifically recommends using Responsive Design.

Responsive design is quite new player in this field and as far there is no ranking/penalty etc. case study - do not risk!

Tell that to all the major companies who incorporated Responsive Design and have only seen benefits from doing such. A couple examples:

http://bostonglobe.com/

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/

[Jungles]

Needless to say - it is dangerous!

I would newer use any CSS tricks or whatever programming technique on my business site! I would rather go for other version on my site(for mobiles). Just present to Google mobile version without content that you think is not fitting in mobile screens. You newer know what will be in Google's mind in the future and safe play is always guarantee that you will not loose rankings/traffic when/if you will be forced to recode/change/delete something in website code!

Responsive design is quite new player in this field and as far there is no ranking/penalty etc. case study - do not risk!

Business is a business and unnecessary risk is newer appreciated.

regards,

Jungles

[RyanKent]

Responsive design is specifically mentioned as Google's preferred method for presenting mobile websites.

how Google will treat hiding content with the smaller screens

Google understands the code very well. As long as you implement the code in a reasonable manner, you should not have any concerns about a Google penalty.

Will this effect our rankings in a negative way?

Not if implemented correctly

https://developers.google.com/webmasters/smartphone-sites/

[Jvalops]

This really doesn't answer my question.

[askshopper]

I Guess it depends on how you design the site, you could just use an extra theme built for mobile devices which detects the users device and directs them accordingly. or a web site that works for all users so no hidden items, most eCommerce websites have a simple navigation view on a mobile device.