: I would say that it depends. If all of your content is accessible without Javascript enabled, I think you should be safe - with some caveats. Javascript use, in itself, doesn't kill SEO.

@Angie530

I would say that it depends. If all of your content is accessible without Javascript enabled, I think you should be safe - with some caveats.

Javascript use, in itself, doesn't kill SEO. It can add some interesting behaviors, and even improve the user experience quite a bit for people whose browsers support it. But it must be applied correctly.

If you design your site with progressive enhancement in mind, it should not be penalized in search engines. Make sure that someone with Javascript disabled still gets a usable experience. Their pages don't have to bounce back and forth, but they have to be able to navigate around to everywhere a user with Javascript enabled would be.

A good way to go about this is to build your website in HTML5 first, without Javascript, and make sure it's functional. Then use Javascript to manipulate that HTML and provide the effects you're looking for.

Oh yeah, that caveat: you mentioned that this transition reduces your site from eight pages to one. This could cause a problem for indexing if there is too much disparate information on that one page, or that single page takes too long to load.

If search engine spiders can't determine the purpose of the page they're on - if your 'services' page content is mashed in with your 'related links', then it will have a harder time indexing you for the right keywords.

You might want to look into keeping your original 8-page layout, and using AJAX to load the pages when the user "slides". It's dead simple in jQuery, and you may even be able to do it in a way that won't kill the back button in user's browsers.

Vote Up Vote Down

Login to post a comment!