#anchors and SEO

[ikonic]

Nobody is talking about using hidden divs FOR seo, we're talking about if using hidden divs has a negative effect on SEO.

I consider FOR and ON to be the same (if its bad for SEO then it has a negative effect on SEO).

Does it have a negative effect? Yes, always, but like i said its about how its implemented and its context which in turn provide a value for its worth.

As an example, with the following piece of markup a bot can read and easily understand that the link above the hidden content opens it. This could also be different syntax, but as long as there is some type of relationship* between the hidden content and an action to unhide it you aren't going to be penalised as hard.

sometext
<a onclick="document.getElementById('x').style.display='block'">learn more</a>
<div style="display:none" id="x">text</div>

*location, elements referenced, function called etc.

But, if you only had the following code on a page then the bot can't find a way for the user to activate the hidden content and therefore you would expect a harsher penalty then the above example.

sometext
<div style="display:none" id="x">text</div>

Also, when i say penalty I mean if 100% of its SEO worth is valued when its not in a hidden div then rationally it might only be worth 80% - 90% of its original worth (else why would it be hidden?).

 

[xentech]

I consider FOR and ON to be the same (if its bad for SEO then it has a negative effect on SEO).

When I said people aren't using them for SEO, I said it because it sounded like you thought people were trying to intentionally use hidden divs to improve SEO, when in fact people are just asking what the negative effects of using them are...

I don't necessarily disagree with what you said after that.

 

[erect]

Also, when i say penalty I mean if 100% of its SEO worth is valued when its not in a hidden div then rationally it might only be worth 80% - 90% of its original worth (else why would it be hidden?).

The above quote is the root of my question. I suspect the same and know it can't be a 0% penalty as I've gotten some search visitors for content inside (keywords unique to hidden div). Honestly, it was more of an observation than a test.