Hi, I’m just optimizing a site I’ve built for a client, the navaigation is images, and the actual header is part of the background graphic, also I have a Javascript Flipbook, like an iBook, whose content is created through my graphic software.
So …
Theres a whole bunch of important content, like a main header, text links, and the content of the flipbook, not available in HTML.
So I’ve implemented the code for -10000px, text indent, for this, and it works fine.
This is also an Accessibility issue, where I will have to make my content available to screen readers.
So with all this in mind what is actually an OK practice for SEO, and with Google, for the header I think it is OK to create an equivalent and throw it off the page, otherwise there will be no content for screen readers. The links are images so already exist, I’ve created another copy of the links, so there is actually a text link, and thrown it off the page, is this really bad practice for SEO, or is it absolutely neccessary for accessibility.
My main content in the iBook style feature also needs to be available to screen readers, and it would be better for SEO as well if I created a copy and threw it off the page.
Finally I’m doing nothing dishonest here its just a fancy design, but I don’t want to score bad points with Google, for the sake of my client.
So what exactly is the best practice here.
Expertise welcome.
Ant
[FONT=Verdana][ot]I’ve never understood this obsession with flipbooks, when PDFs are so much easier to create, easier to use, easier to spider … I HATE using flipbooks, and I was delighted recently when I found that one site I go to that has flipbooks has an option to convert them to PDF. It’s like a miracle! I have yet to see a single advantage of using flipbooks over PDF, but I can find many, many disadvantages.[/ot]
If you’re creating an accessible copy of the flipbook, it might be better to have it on a separate page, and then you can give a link to the “accessible version” from the initial page. That way, you don’t have to worry about the easiest way to make your “invisible” content accessible, because no matter how you do it, there will be some people who struggle. Set the <link rel=“canonical” href=“…”> on the accessible page to point to the initial page that you want Google to index, and then hopefully it will be the initial page with the flipbook that is returned in search results.[/FONT]
If you are using automated content creation software, then try to avoid using it. Because it contains many errors when it is automatically created.
The grammar is one. When you run a content through a spinner, you might encounter some awkwardly placed phrases in between your content. When someone says salt, the spinner could change it to sodium chloride, sodium, or whatever. What if the content isn’t really talking about the chemical compound, but as a part of a proper noun? Here’s an example:
Salt Lake City
I encountered a blog before that used this as an example. Well, my memory’s kinda blurry, so I’m not sure if it was from a blog, or from another forum, or from here. Anyway, the spinner gave out something like “Sodium Body of water Town.” That’s waaaaaaaaaay different from the Salt Lake City, Utah that we all know.