Responsive design to serve different page for IE8 - SEO Implications?
-
A client is planning on developing a responsive designed website which redirects visitors using IE8 to a static webpage that encourages users to visit in another browser. What are the SEO implications of a server redirect just for IE8 visitors?
Possible solutions: would containing a link on the static page to "continue browsing" and give the visitor access to the entire site in IE8 work well? Or should a CSS overlay message appear to IE8 visitors, no redirect, that encourages them to visit in another browser? Or serving a separate stylesheet for IE8 visitors, and not giving a responsive experience be optimal?
Any suggestions or thoughts are appreciated.
Cheers,
Alex
-
Thanks everyone. Feedback much appreciated. I think I will go with a separate stylesheet which won't be responsive, but at least give IE8 users a better experience. If I see a high bounce rate or poor engagement with IE8 users, then I will probably add a overlay with browser message.
Cheers,
Alex
-
My preference goes to a seperate stylesheet. Many people will indeed not update their browser because they don't want too or because they can't. Depending on the niche you're in people might be visiting from their work computer a lot. Could be that they are stuck in an old browser from their. Therefor a link to a browser upgrade will only annoy them instead of helping them.
Using a stylesheet to fix the errors in older browsers (such as IE8) will give them a usable site which looks good too. This increases the user experience much more than an annoying pop-up.
-
I would go with the separate CSS for IE8 visitors. I agree that many WILL NOT download or even update their browser.
-
I like your suggestion with the overlay when a visitor is using IE8. Couple that with an additional stylesheet with fixes to make the site usable (if not responsive) to reduce visitor drop off (because you can bet that many people won't download a new browser and just leave the site)
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Will having two wordpress themes installed hurt seo?
We currently have 3 sites built on WordPress that have little to no blogging capabilities. Currently, all published posts show up on a /category page which does not resemble the traditional blog format and is not aesthetically pleasing. We would like to have a more traditional blog and are considering installing a second wordpress theme on the site which will strictly be used for /blog and all the posts. My question is will having the second WordPress installation on the sites hurt us in any way on the SEO front and if we go this way should we place the install in a subfolder or on a subdomain? Is there anything else we need to worry about with making this transition? Thank you in advance for the advice! Patrick
Web Design | | PlanetDISH0 -
Designed by Backlink - Where to?
Now I know these links don't create much value. However, every web design company seems to do it. My question is this: If you use it, is it always good to go to the home page of your site, or is it best to redirect to sub pages. For example, if you made an e-commerce website and you link it back to your e-commerce portfolio or description page? Overall, is it still worth linking back from these? Should you only do it on a single page? Thank you in advance.
Web Design | | vortexuk0 -
Mobile SEO vs. Usability - SinglePlatform
I have a restaurant client that we're setting up with SinglePlatform.com to distribute their menu and make sure all of the restaurant sites have updated information for their business. As part of SinglePlatform's service, they offer a mobile site. Normally we would just create a mobile site and make sure that it's optimized but this client isn't ready to invest in a customized mobile site yet. The mobile site we can get with SinglePlatform is very simple. Call, Menu, Address, View Full Website, Photos, General Info. I know this would make it much easier for mobile users to find information and contact them but it's not mobile best practices. Whatever main page they land on would redirect them to the home page of the mobile site (i.e. not a 1 to 1). We also won't have any Google Analytics information for this site. The question comes down to usability or SEO? I'm leaning toward the mobile site for now and sell them on a customized solution later. I guess I'm just looking for some verification or any insight. ZRVbARv
Web Design | | JaredDetroit0 -
Post vs Pages
Does Google make any distinction between a web page and a blog post? Assuming all else is equal...any reason why a page would rank higher than a post? And that includes a page in WordPress vs a WordPress blog post.
Web Design | | Pinlaser1 -
Does stock art photo attribution negatively impact SEO by leaking Google Page Rank?
Greetings: Companies such as Shutterstock often require that buyers place credit attribution on their web pages when photos you buy from them appear on these pages.. Shutterstock requests that credit attribution links such as these be added: Songquan Deng / Shutterstock.com Do these links negatively impact SEO? Or do search engines view them as a positive? Thanks,
Web Design | | Kingalan1
Alan0 -
SEO downsides to minimalist (copy-light) homepage?
Curious for your thoughts on this - are there any SEO downsides to not having any substantive content on the home page (big background design)? We would obviously have appropriate page titles and link structure, etc. Our guess is that if the home page doesn't have much copy, that odds are that other specific pages will tend to perform better for non-brand search terms, which seems OK. If people DO find the homepage, it would likely be a brand search or an ad referral, in which case the minimalist, non-copy design would be conversion-friendly. Does that theory hold any water? I suppose a middle ground might be a single H1 line unobtrusively on the page. Thanks in advance for any insight, guys! Sincerely, Stephen
Web Design | | PerfectPitchConcepts0 -
Home Page Optimization
I only discovered SEOmoz about a week ago and my knowledge in this area has grown 500% in that time, but I'm still a newbie. I'm looking for whether I have the right general idea or not with my home page in regards to SEO. The page is located at Line.com. The top section with the images is 100% for humans. The next section is where the SEO comes into play. I have 5 different services [sports monitor, free sports betting, sports betting forum, sports handicapper websites, gambling affiliate program] that I offer on 5 different inner pages. What I'm trying to do is have my home page rank decently for my desired terms and then pass link juice to the respective pages. My goal is to eventually have my inner pages rank higher than my home page for my desired search terms. Do I have the right general idea or am I way off? Is this too much for the search engines with all of the links and bold text? Design criticisms are also welcome, and anybody who wants to critique the inner pages would be forever thanked. Feel free to be as harsh as you want as long as it's constructive. Thanks!
Web Design | | PatrickGriffith0 -
Infinite scrolling - is it SEO friendly ?
If i am trying to implement infinite scrolling and remove pagination completely, will it effect my SEO ? Why or why should not infinite scrolling be implemented ?
Web Design | | Myntra0