Hidden text is text that is concealed using formatting tags or other techniques. It resides in the page's source code and can be read by crawlers, but is not visible to users.
This technique (also known as cloaking) was often used to suppress keywords and links. Google considers it a black-hat technique.SEO-Practice.
This is an important question because certain strategies for using "hidden text" are unacceptable to Google, while others are perfectly fine. Especially in online marketing, it is crucial that a website's content can be crawled and correctly interpreted by search engines to improve its ranking.
At the same time, however, the user experience must not be neglected, as hidden text can lead users to perceive the website as confusing or misleading.
Hidden text is information on a website that is invisible to humans but visible to Google crawlers, which index and evaluate the page. Therefore, SEOs have tried various methods to hide text and improve rankings, but it's important to emphasize that this is no longer recommended.
Google recently published guidelines on the use of hidden text on websites. To improve website rankings, it is recommended to avoid techniques that conceal text from search engines.
Examples include using the same color for text and background, hiding text behind images, placing text outside the screen, and using zero-size fonts.
By adhering to these guidelines, companies in the field of online marketing can ensure that their websites are indexed and correctly interpreted by search engines without compromising the user experience.
CSS is often used by so-called black-hat SEOs to embed irrelevant keywords into websites. Some of the properties used are `display: none`, `visibility: hidden`, `height: 0`, and `width: 0`.
Google further explains that hidden text isn't always misleading and can help both Google and human readers by providing precise words for images, videos, JavaScript, Flash components, and other technologies that Google crawlers don't easily understand and sometimes can't load in the browser. Google provides guidance on how to handle hidden text in specific cases.
Microsoft Word includes a feature that allows you to hide text so that it is not displayed in the document.
Google retrieves JavaScript and CSS files to render the webpage as it would appear to a user. It's crucial that what consumers see on a mobile device matches what the search engine sees. Google generates the webpage in an attempt to simulate what users might see.
It is acceptable if the content is hidden behind a "Read more" link to make it visible on the page.
If users can see it, Google can see it too. Google sees websites through the eyes of the users.
Over the years, Google has confirmed this method for processing tabular content. And Google emphasizes that nothing has changed regarding the processing of hidden tabular content. Since at least 2013, Google has had no issues with information hidden within clickable tabs.
Gary Illyes, a Google Webmaster Trends analyst, has also confirmed that tabular content is fine. He confirmed in 2016 that Google indexes information hidden behind an accordion tab.
He also said that Google does not penalize this content. In early 2020, Google's John Mueller confirmed that hidden tabular content is fine. He stated unequivocally that Google crawls information hidden behind a tab.
Hiding information or links in a post to manipulate Google search results is considered dishonest and a violation of Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Text (such as keyword overuse) can be hidden in various ways, including:
However, not all hidden text is considered deceptive. For example, if your website uses technologies that are difficult for search engines to access, such as JavaScript or images, using descriptive text for these elements can improve your website's accessibility.
When used correctly and for the right reasons, hidden text can be beneficial for both human readers and Google.
Here are some important examples:
Hide text in the main navigation to improve usability. Visitors are overwhelmed when presented with a menu containing hundreds of links.
To ensure a pleasant user experience, web designers often use dropdown menus and other design options to keep the top part of the website visually clean and easy to understand.
Websites that use a paid subscription plan (e.g., an online newspaper) are permitted to display the content of a page on the first visit, but to hide it from human readers on subsequent visits.
Websites that use responsive design (i.e., a design that adapts the layout of a web page for optimal display on mobile phones, tablets, and desktops) may exclude certain content elements from the mobile view in order to optimize formatting and avoid overwhelming mobile users with content that would be acceptable in the desktop view.
Google encourages web designers to make the mobile viewing experience as excellent as possible – as long as hidden content is used for this reason, you shouldn't have any SEO difficulties.
The average person searches for something about 3 to 4 times a day.
Video transcripts can be displayed alongside the video in abbreviated form instead of the full transcript. Besides helping Google crawlers identify, index, and evaluate video content, transcripts can be useful for human readers and serve a genuine function in the user experience.
If the video is the main focus of the website, displaying the full transcript may be more beneficial for SEO. Otherwise, a shortened version is likely the better option to keep the website concise and easy to understand. 84% of consumers stated that they were convinced of a product or service after watching a video from a brand.
User reviews, technical information on product or service websites, and information on non-indexed websites are examples of content that can be shortened without concern.
Keep in mind that Google gives slightly more weight to text that is not hidden, especially for product/service websites, and that the page with the most visible content for a given product or service will receive the highest organic ranking under the same conditions.
As mentioned previously, it is preferable to hide texts that describe visual components such as video, images, JavaScript and Flash.
In summary, Google supports the use of hidden text in any situation where it improves the user experience. When determining the best use for hidden text, user needs are paramount. As with all SEO topics, Google favors the practice if it benefits the reader.
Although the use of hidden text is often frowned upon and punished, there are non-fraudulent and advantageous ways you can use it to your benefit.
These are often referred to as white-hat techniques and include the following:
Search results often contain a large number of images, and if you don't use alt text for images, you're missing out on an important source of organic traffic.
Alt text for images is considered hidden text that describes the image and how it relates to the surrounding content of a website.
In other words, it's more text for search engines to index.
Furthermore, the text, although hidden, is displayed if the image itself is not loaded correctly on the page.
Keep part of your text visible and hide the rest behind a "Show more" or "Read more" button or link. You can also use additional phrases like "Learn more" to encourage readers to access the rest of the text.
An example of when you should use this valuable technique of hidden text is when you have product reviews on your website. You don't want them to take up too much visible space, so you specify the first 100 characters or so and then add a "Show more" button.
Instead of cluttering your website, especially if you are optimizing it for mobile users, you should create ways to provide information without integrating all the text into one view.
One way to achieve this is to use hidden content in dropdown boxes and other navigation aids, such as obvious icons for news and press releases.
This improves the user experience, and your hidden text will be detected by search engine algorithms without penalties.
It is acceptable to include certain content with the Duplicate the -tag and use JavaScript for uploading.
However, the content must be identical, regardless of whether JavaScript is enabled or disabled in your browser.
Website visitors are big fans of FAQs, so use this feature to cleverly hide content.
Create a list of frequently asked questions and link each one to its corresponding answer. Or use FAQ accordions, which include design elements or visual cues to indicate to the reader that more text is available.
When used correctly, pop-ups can contribute to your overall SEO.
Make sure that this hidden text technique contains content that improves your website's products or services, your overall brand, or in some way enhances the visitor experience.
Otherwise, Google may penalize you for the presence of "intrusive interstitials".
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