On his Twitter account recently Google’s Gary Illyes confirmed that Google does not index content that is hidden in a JavaScript array. This is not new, Google has hinted at this previously. If important messages in your content require JavaScript in order to be displayed you might want to consider a refresh of your website design.
What exactly did Gary Illyes say?
Gary issued a public service announcement (PSA) on Twitter: “PSA: 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”
Can Google Index content in JavaScript?
The short answer is that in general Google can parse web pages that require JavaScript or AJAX. However, this can also cause issues.
Back in July Gary Illyes said that Google “won’t see the content behind tabs if the content under the tab is dynamically generated”
How Can I check that Google can index all my website pages?
If Google cannot index your web pages correctly, the rankings of your web pages will not be as good as they should be. For that reason it is important to check your web pages regularly to make sure that:
- Google and other major search engines can index them correctly
- The pages include all that is required for the search engines robots to see all the content on them
Tyler Consultants can carry out a comprehensive SEO website audit of your site to check for known issues that cause problems with Google. We can also run a detailed check to ensure that your web pages include all the elements required to achieve high search engine rankings.
For more information about our web design or SEO services please leave a comment below or call us today on 01273 328877.