Will SEO be affected if

Hey guys,

Noob question but something I never thought of before. Taking into account how google indexes sites will my SEO be effected if I put my content in containers?

Currently, my content is set in divs which span 80% width across a section.

And I would appreciate no speculation or guesses as the effects could be disastrous for me :frowning:

I built a website where all the content was in containers (and at some points they are in multiple containers and divs), and both Google and the SEO system seems to be working just fine (I’m not exactly sure about your website though, since I’m not an SEO expert.).

hmmm… what I meant was right now I have great rank for my targeted keywords. But, currently my content is in a div that is set to 80% width. Now take the div and move it into the container will it affect my rank? Cause as I understand it SEO is set based on the tags used and the order they are used in. I might be wrong though, does anyone know?

As long as your H1 tags, text, and meta information remain intact, there would be absolutely no reason your SEO would suffer if you move your copy from an 80% div to a container.

I don’t understand your concern about the DIV’s.

Most search engine remove html and css code from the scrape in order to determine what the site is offering.

The engine will scan for the H tags and other pertinent info.

@Revolution I’m not sure I agree with you on whether search engines remove html and css. From what I understand they base SEO and rank on a couple of things of which html, css are of equal importance as the actual content you have on your site. In addition, they look at your nav system and see how easy it is to use and reach the content you have.

SEO is slowly becoming content marketing. However, my concern is with how my content is structured. Since, the

are set within a

. I’m worried about if I put my content in

if it will affect SEO,

@sigad what you say comforts me a bit. Again, I am asking because I am thinking about doing a site redesign and don’t want to risk losing any SEO value.

Doesn’t sound like you have anything to worry about here. If you’re worried about Google viewing your content, take out the stylesheet and take a look at how the bare hierarchy looks. Make sure you’re using semantic code, i.e., proper headers, paragraphs, etc

@Hamzster No, no worries there. It wouldn’t be penalize for that. Not unless if you’re hidding your content through css and that would be illegal in the eyes of G.

HINT:
IF you want to see how Google see’s your page.

  1. Type in Google Search Box - “cache:yoursite.com” (without quotations)
  2. Then click → Text-only version

if you can see your content there, then of course, nothing to worry about because that’s what Google sees.
Note: Google put more values on “your content” not on web elements(the code).

Hey guys thanks for the replies and information.

@joeyocaro I am trying to do the cache sequence but when I search it comes up blank. As in nothing appears below… tried this for other websites as well; same result :frowning:

if there’s no result from the “Cache:” it means, your site or a page is not yet got indexed by G. It’s pretty normal for a NEW site to be like that. Having sitemap.xml and submitting it to GWMT(Google Webmaster Tool - webmaster.google.com) will help speed up the indexing process. But a site without sitemap.xml will still be indexed but it takes a lot of time to be indexed. But if ever your site has been up for quite a while and got no results from cache:, then it means, you got de-indexed by G. Google will send you a Google spam warning message in your GWMT. Is your site new?

Few tips and tools would help:

  1. Site Speed - if your site is so slow in loading up your site or
    page(caused by having lots of HD images and some scripts) then site
    speed optimization is in need. If your page or site takes a long
    time loading the page up, googlebot will bounce-out, of course that
    will bring you no good :slight_smile: Minify scripts, Compress image quality a
    bit(use photoshop or Free Image Optimizer - Compress and resize photos).
    or Let WF host it for you, it got CDN.

  2. SEO Test - http://www.feedthebot.com - will crawl your site and will let you know how google see your contents and show you a couple of bits of SEO. There are a lot of SEO tools out there but mostly good ones are paid.

  3. Watch out of duplicate content - Consolidate Duplicate URLs with Canonical Tags | Google Search Central  |  Documentation  |  Google Developers

again, no need to worry about the size of your container. But have to worry about your page/site size, thus CDN or just page speed optimization is needed.

Thanks for the detailed information mate!

Actually my website ranks number one for the keywords I am targeting. That’s why I was asking the question!

When I type ‘cache: sitename.com’ without the quotes it doesn’t work for any site I type; not just mine :stuck_out_tongue:

Glad to hear that. Good job! Then you have nothing to worry about =)


Make sure to click that → “Text-only version”.

You said you’re #1 in SERP then you should be able to see your cache result in Text version. I’m a bit confused because if a site ISN’T INDEXED with G your keyword/site will not be appearing at SERP at all. INDEXED means you’re listed in Google SERP. I’m pretty sure you should be able to see your content, not unless if you did some ‘magic’ with your content(blackhat) then Google wont be able to provide you your correct cache info.

Oh I got! Tried from my mac and it showed me the same thing as in your screen shot!

hmm… isn’t this what I mentioned ?

I do have a small advantage

  • considering we are an seo company

@Revolution I have nothing else to say but Good job (y) :slight_smile:

sounds like you might be having a browser-issue of some sort :). I’ll pass on this one, browser troubleshooting isn’t my thing…