We have talked a few times here on the blog that it is not usually a good idea to use Flash and Javascript on websites. We also do not recommend over images, especially if they are replacing texts.
That’s because search engines (such as Google) are not always able to interpret what’s behind these items, unlike simple texts. That way, Google’s vision can be quite different from the view of an ordinary user.
As we continue to see many companies ignoring good practices, our idea today is to show a rough experience of how Google sees this kind of feature.
This is one of the most shocking and efficient ways to convince someone that the site needs to be modified.
How Google sees x how the user sees:
As we said before, images, Flash and Javascript make the user see one thing and Google see another.
To illustrate, we show two different pages: a post ours on the Digital Results (more “clean”) and the Coca-Cola Home (loaded with images and javascript).
How Google sees the Home of Coca Cola:
Note that in our case, that we privilege the text and use fewer images and Javascript than Coca, Google’s view is much more like that of a visitor.
If someone looks for the topic of our post, Google can realize that we have more complete content, which serves as a response to what the user searched. Even in the images we use, we offer an alternative text (the so-called alt text) to show that there is a relation to the subject.
All this greatly increases the chance of us positioning ourselves well for terms related to the topic of the post.
Already on a page like Coca-Cola, there seems to be no content. All those images and features are not read by Google, which sees almost a blank site. In that case, the content would hardly be interesting enough to be in the top positions for competitive keywords. And this may be happening with your site!
Why Coca Cola does not Use Good Practices
It’s possible that some readers may have thought, “If Coca Cola is a giant, it’s not that important.”
The problem is that we chose Coca Cola exactly because it’s a company that cares little for Google.
The brand is already consolidated and all the site needs is to position itself well for the “Coca Cola” search, which for them is ridiculously easy. It does not make sense, in the status that the brand has already achieved and in the market in which it operates, the company positions itself well for other terms of the soft drinks market.
However, there are great chances that the same cannot be applied to your company.
It is very likely that when someone searches for information from your market it is important for your company to be in the top positions. So do not afford to give up a site rich in text and relevant content.
How to have this same vision on your site:
Having this approximate view of how Google sees your site is quite simple: just blocking images, javascripts and Flash, which are things that the search engine cannot read.
Using Firefox
The simplest way we know to do this is by using the Mozilla Firefox browser. You will need to install the Web Developer plugin. Click and download the link below:
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After installing, close and reopen your browser to begin using it.
On the plugin bar click on “Disable”, “Disable Javascript” and “All Javascript”. Then click “Images”, “Disable Images” and “All Pictures”. Ready, Javascript and disabled images.
