SEO Tycoon

**gamesector** · 12-13-2006, 06:46 PM

Are these effective ways of boosting search rankings? And also, are they frowned upon by search engines or considered as acceptable? I would be using them in context, of course.

**chrishirst** · 12-13-2006, 07:25 PM

how can you be using HIDDEN headers in context ???????????????????????????

you are assuming that Hx elements are given special treatment which they may or may not.

You are also assuming that your pages won't be reported or discovered as spamming, and in which any boost you get (or not get) will be only temporary. Then you will be sat back with several months pleading and waiting for reinclusion after cleaning the site up.

**stOx** · 12-13-2006, 08:02 PM

Hidden anything is bad.
if you have to hide it, don't put it on your page.

**vangogh** · 12-13-2006, 09:32 PM

Hidden text including page headers is an effective way of getting your site banned. Just write your pages for the people who read them. Trying to stuff keywords wherever you can isn't what seo is about.

**gringo** · 12-14-2006, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stOx

Hidden anything is bad.

In the past I've created drop down menus that use display: none. I don't consider them bad.

I agree that to hide text for any perceived seo benefit is naughty though.

**jaguar-archie15** · 12-14-2006, 01:07 PM

Hiiden text are Bad on SE's and Visitors.

**gringo** · 12-14-2006, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaguar-archie15

Hiiden text are Bad on SE's and Visitors.

Any chance you could explain why? You seem to have completely ignored the previous post.

No deception is involved, so why would a drop down menu that uses hidden text be bad for search engines and visitors? You do realise that the text is only hidden until the user rolls over the menu...?

**ADAM Web Design** · 12-14-2006, 04:49 PM

http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/commun...her-languages/ <--- there's your answer. The keywords were "hidden in context", and they got busted.

Look at it this way: if it hurts your user and is done for the sole purpose of a search engine (as a hidden H1 would be), you're gonna eventually get found out. Don't waste your time when there are plenty of other ways to work in SEO that not only don't hurt your users, but in some cases enhance the experience for them.

**vangogh** · 12-14-2006, 06:30 PM

gringo I think hiding things for a drop down menu is fine, though if I'm not mistaken they have caused trouble for some sites. It might just be in the way the drop down was created.

The rise of Ajax will also mean some text might be hidden when a page first loads and I think that too is fine.

The difference though is that in both the drop down menu and Ajax related hidden text that text can become active and visible based on user action.

Just like Adam said the bad stuff is when the text never becomes visible so it's there only for search engines and not people. You might get away with it temporarily, but if and when you do get caught a ban is likely to follow.

**gringo** · 12-15-2006, 04:02 AM

It looks like we agree then. Drop down menus that use display:none solely to enhance the user experience and not trick the search engines are not bad from a seo perspective.

Getting a screen reader to read the text is another matter though.

**SEOJoe** · 12-15-2006, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamesector

Are these effective ways of boosting search rankings? And also, are they frowned upon by search engines or considered as acceptable? I would be using them in context, of course.

dont hide any html or text elements. you will cause more problems that you solve in the long run.