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SEO on html and text blocks, versus gallery description

ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
edited January 9, 2014 in SmugMug Support
Does google find the html and text block content?
Or just the formal description field (from legacy)?

I don't see mention of html and text blocks on this page:
http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/1229846-new-seo-made-easy

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    rainforest1155rainforest1155 Registered Users Posts: 4,566 Major grins
    edited January 7, 2014
    We don't hide the content blocks so Google and other search engines may index them. You can easily check on that by installing a user agent switcher extension on your browser and set it to the GoogleBot to see what Google sees.
    Sebastian
    SmugMug Support Hero
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    RyanYamadaRyanYamada Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited January 8, 2014
    Does it matter if you use underscores versus using dashes? (i.e. smugmug.com/S-E-O vs. smugmug.com/S_E_O)
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    denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,247 moderator
    edited January 8, 2014
    RyanYamada wrote: »
    Does it matter if you use underscores versus using dashes? (i.e. smugmug.com/S-E-O vs. smugmug.com/S_E_O)
    What are you asking here? S-E-O and S_E_O are just combinations of letters. You would be better off using words to improve your SEO. The words could be in text or HTML blocks on your page, they should be in gallery descriptions, photo captions, titles, and keywords. There are many articles about how to improve your site's SEO, easily found by searching.

    See http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/1229846-new-seo-made-easy as a starting point.

    --- Denise
    https://www.denisegoldberg.com ... https://denise.smugmug.com

    Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
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    ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited January 8, 2014
    I'm still ruminating on Sebastian's answer. "May index them" is not what I was hoping to hear. In all of legacy history SM was great at saying Google DOES index x, y and z. I would like to hear Does instead of May.
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    Hikin' MikeHikin' Mike Registered Users Posts: 5,458 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2014
    RyanYamada wrote: »
    Does it matter if you use underscores versus using dashes? (i.e. smugmug.com/S-E-O vs. smugmug.com/S_E_O)

    Use dashes because Google sees a dash as a separate word.

    http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/dashes-vs-underscores/
    - Mike
    Images in the Backcountry

    My SmugMug Customizations | Adding CSS to Your Site | SEO for the Photographer | Locate Your Page/Widget Number | SmugMug Help Desk
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    denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,247 moderator
    edited January 9, 2014
    ChancyRat wrote: »
    I'm still ruminating on Sebastian's answer. "May index them" is not what I was hoping to hear. In all of legacy history SM was great at saying Google DOES index x, y and z. I would like to hear Does instead of May.
    I think what it comes down to is that Google likes words. And that smug gives you a number of spots to place words where Google can index them. It sounds like you are overthinking things at this point - I would think that given your site is a mixture of text and photos that you should be fine. It would probably be good to make sure that your photos have captions / keywords.

    --- Denise
    https://www.denisegoldberg.com ... https://denise.smugmug.com

    Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
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    ChancyRatChancyRat Registered Users Posts: 2,141 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2014
    denisegoldberg wrote: »
    I think what it comes down to is that Google likes words. And that smug gives you a number of spots to place words where Google can index them. It sounds like you are overthinking things at this point - I would think that given your site is a mixture of text and photos that you should be fine. It would probably be good to make sure that your photos have captions / keywords.

    --- Denise

    Thanks, Denise. It is a little scary to have dropped all of my major HTML in the description field, moving them to blocks.

    There is a behavior I'm trying to understand as well, which is, when I post a link on, say, Facebook, the photo and a bit of the description is posted. I need to understand where the text is coming from. Right now I have a significant number of gallery descriptions hidden. And for the most part the leading sentence is likely the same between the description field and the HTML block. So I can't tell which has posted to FB.

    Do you know, if there is CSS to hide the description from the public, if Google still finds that content? And, separately, would the material on FB be able to pull from the description even if it is hidden?

    I guess I'm wondering whether, if it's possible that content in the description field is accessed for various purposes (like leading sentences in a FB link), maybe I should leave content IN the description field, while having it hidden with CSS.

    How's that for overthinking. :D
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    denisegoldbergdenisegoldberg Administrators Posts: 14,247 moderator
    edited January 9, 2014
    ChancyRat wrote: »
    Do you know, if there is CSS to hide the description from the public, if Google still finds that content?
    I've tried to stay away from hidden text, but this is your decision.

    You might want to look at the Google Webmaster Tools page on Hidden text and links.

    --- Denise
    https://www.denisegoldberg.com ... https://denise.smugmug.com

    Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
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