10 replies to this topic

[webstream]

Does text within a div tag with style="display:none;" have any positive or negative effect on SEO? Do SE spiders read and decipher all of the page style tags and attributes today?

Thanks!

Webstream

[Randy]

They can certainly look for things like display: none; if they want to. None of them have said if they actively look for it in order to ascertain if a site is possibly hiding content or using it for a legitimate purpose.

As a general rule such text will be a ranking factor just as if it appeared on the page, which makes sense considering there are many sites that use this css element to make certain blocks able to be toggled visible or invisible. And that's really the trick for the search engines. They would need to be able to see if there is such a visible trigger that real people can use to make the content visible. Which is easier said than done when you're trying to decipher it within the automated nature of their algorithms.

[piskie]

Just an inkling, no actual proof, but I believe that Google (maybe others) has been spidering external css files anonomously for some time just to quantify the size of the problem.

[Randy]

It wouldn't surprise me if they were piskie.

Not that I have any proof one way or the other since I've never even bothered to look.

[Jill]

They've been threatening to do that for a good 4 years or so now.

[piskie]

I looked at the logs for one of my clients site last week and they showed the external CSS File had been taken 641 times this year without any refering pages. I didn't take the time to set up filters to look into it any deeper, but it'd not the first time i've noticed it.
I've got nothing to hide so no point.

[chrishirst]

There should never be a refer page to a CSS file. The refer field in the HTTP request is only ever filled when a URL is clicked

[Jill]

So what does that mean, Chris? Why would Piskie see referrers to it in his stats?

[chrishirst]

He hasn't seen referrers as I read the post, just 641 requests which will be from browsers.

What your logs would show for a visual user agent is;
a page request from a given IP (may have a referer) and also requests for;
favicon.ico
associated .css files(s)
associated .js files(s)
any images called from the page.

All requested by the same IP & session ID over a short timeframe (2-3 seconds), even items that are cached will be requested.

IF you see a request for a .css file without a preceding page request then it is likely to be a validator UA, if there is a referer it has to be a link that has been clicked.

For a SE bot page request, ONLY the page will be requested, NO external files will be requested.

[Borkow]

Good Question,
So can I use the display: none technique to replace header text with graphics and still have google pick it up?
i have heard from some SEO people never to use display: none.

I noticed the css zen garden technique of using background images to replace header tags:
<h2><span>Header Text</span></h2>
then set the h2 tag to display a background image with the graphic header and set the h2 span to display: none.

If I am really concerned about search engines picking up the contents of that h2 tag should I avoid this technique?

If I really want a graphic header should I use the <img src.... alt="Header Text" /> instead?
I have read on this forum that google only takes into the account an img alt attribute if the img is in an anchor tag.
Would it work to just link that header image to the current page? like <a href=""><img src.... alt="header" /></a>

Thanks everyone, i've been a long time reader here, this is my first post.

-Borkow

[Dimmerswitch]

I noticed the css zen garden technique of using background images to replace header tags:
<h2><span>Header Text</span></h2>
then set the h2 tag to display a background image with the graphic header and set the h2 span to display: none.

My understanding is that Google et al. can index the text in this example just fine (can't find citations from the forums atm though).

Another option to achieve the image-replacement effect, without having an extraneous <span> tag is to leverage overflow:hidden.

CODE

<h2 id="kittens">Some Kitteny Text</h2>

combined with css like

CODE

h2#kittens {height:30px; width:400px; overflow:hidden; text-indent: -50em; background: #fff url(/img/omgkittens.jpg) top left no-repeat;}

should also work. I used this extensively in a single-sitting conversion exercise a while back (http://chronicle.thr...om/revised.html)

I know the display:none issue has been kicked around a couple times, but I was wondering if anybody here has done tests with overflow:hidden ? I'd expect it to be similarly unaffected, but there's nothing like data to inform an opinion.

Chris