undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Intermediate & Advanced SEO
  4. Does collapsing content impact Google SEO signals?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

Does collapsing content impact Google SEO signals?

Intermediate & Advanced SEO
3
12
10.3k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • RosemaryB
    RosemaryB last edited by May 13, 2016, 8:50 PM

    Recently I have been promoting custom long form content development for major brand clients.  For UX reasons we collapse the content so only 2-3 sentences of the first paragraph are visible.  However there is a "read more" link that expands the entire content piece.
    I have believed that the searchbots would have no problem crawling, indexing and applying a positive SEO signal for this content.  However I'm starting to wonder.  Is there any evidence that the Google search algorithm could possible discount or even ignore collapsed content?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
    • RosemaryB
      RosemaryB @EGOL last edited by May 20, 2016, 6:37 PM May 20, 2016, 6:37 PM

      Thanks EGOL.  Still looking for additional evidence about this.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Yoav-Blustein
        Yoav-Blustein last edited by May 17, 2016, 4:03 AM May 17, 2016, 4:03 AM

        well.. yup. I know many SEOs that do think that the collapsable are is just not important enough for google to consider it 😕

        good luck

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • EGOL
          EGOL @RosemaryB last edited by May 16, 2016, 6:06 PM May 16, 2016, 6:06 PM

          If I see a study, I'll post a link here.

          RosemaryB 1 Reply Last reply May 20, 2016, 6:37 PM Reply Quote 1
          • RosemaryB
            RosemaryB @EGOL last edited by May 16, 2016, 6:05 PM May 16, 2016, 6:05 PM

            Yep I completely agree with your response.  Unfortunately I'm in a position where I manage major enterprise accounts with multiple stakeholders (including some people are not educated in SEO).  Every major change we propose needs to be documented, cited and reviewed.  When making an argument for content expansion I would need to use thorough research example (Moz study, documentation on search engine land, etc).

            Anyway thank for taking the time to share your feedback and advice on this thread.  Although this is not the answer I wanted to hear (i.e. Google doesn't respect collapsed content)...however it's very likely accurate.  This is a serious SEO issue that needs to be addressed.

            EGOL 1 Reply Last reply May 16, 2016, 6:06 PM Reply Quote 0
            • EGOL
              EGOL @RosemaryB last edited by May 28, 2016, 7:55 AM May 16, 2016, 4:54 PM

              Are there any case studies about this issue?

              Just the one that I published above.  The conclusion is... be prepared to sacrifice 80% of your traffic if you hide your valuable content behind a preview.

              I would be asking the UX people to furnish studies that hiding content produces better sales.

              We have lots of people raving about the abundance of content on our site, the detailed product descriptions, how much help we give them to decide what to purchase.  All of this content is why we dominate the SERPs in our niche and that, in many people's eyes, is a sign of credibility.  Lots of people say... "we bought from you because your website is so helpful".   However, if we didn't have all of this content in the open these same people would have never even found us.

              Nobody has to read this stuff.  I would rather land on a website and see my options than land on a website and assume that they was no information because I didn't notice that the links to open it were in faded microfont because the UX guys wanted things to be tidy.    I believe that it is a bigger sin to have fantastic content behind a clickthorugh than it is to put valuable information in the open and allow people to have the opportunity to read it.

              Putting our content out in the open is what makes our reputation.

              I sure am glad that I am the boss here.  I can make the decisions and be paid on the basis of my performance.  🙂

              RosemaryB 1 Reply Last reply May 16, 2016, 6:05 PM Reply Quote 0
              • RosemaryB
                RosemaryB @EGOL last edited by May 16, 2016, 4:32 PM May 16, 2016, 4:32 PM

                We are applying 500 to 800+ word custom content blocks for our client landing pages (local landing pages) that shows a preview of the first paragraph and a "read more" expansion link.  We know that most website visitors only care about the location info of these particular landing pages.  We also know that our client UX teams would certainly not approve an entire visible content block on these pages.
                Are there any case studies about this issue?  I'm trying to find a bona fide research project to help back up our argument.

                EGOL 1 Reply Last reply May 16, 2016, 4:54 PM Reply Quote 0
                • EGOL
                  EGOL @RosemaryB last edited by May 16, 2016, 4:28 PM May 16, 2016, 4:19 PM

                  It was similar to a Q&A.  There was a single sentence question and a paragraph of hidden answer.  This page had a LOT of questions and a tremendous amount of keywords in the hidden content.  Thousands of words.

                  The long tail traffic tanked.  Then, when we opened the content again the traffic took months to start coming back.  The main keywords held in the SERPs.  The longtail accounted for the 80% loss.

                  RosemaryB 1 Reply Last reply May 16, 2016, 4:32 PM Reply Quote 1
                  • RosemaryB
                    RosemaryB @EGOL last edited by May 16, 2016, 4:13 PM May 16, 2016, 4:13 PM

                    How collapsed was your content?  Did you hide the entire block?  Only show a few sentences?  I'm trying to find a research article about this.  This is a MAJOR issue to consider for our SEO campaigns.

                    EGOL 1 Reply Last reply May 16, 2016, 4:19 PM Reply Quote 0
                    • RosemaryB
                      RosemaryB @Yoav-Blustein last edited by May 16, 2016, 4:07 PM May 16, 2016, 4:07 PM

                      Yes that is a very legitimate concern of mine.  We have invested significant resources into custom long form content for our clients and we are very concerned this all for nothing...or possibly worse (discounting content).

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • Yoav-Blustein
                        Yoav-Blustein last edited by May 14, 2016, 4:07 PM May 14, 2016, 3:07 PM

                        Recently i a had related issue with a top ranking website for very competitive queries.
                        Unfortunately the product department made some changes to the content (UI only) without consulting SEO department. The only worth to mention change they made was to move the first two paragraphs into a collapsible DIV showing only the first 3 lines + a "read more" button. The text in collapsible div was crawlable and visible to SE's. (also it's worth to mention that these paragrap
                        But the site lost its major keywords positions 2-3 days later.

                        Of-course we reverted the changes back but still two months later, the keywords are very slowly moving back to their "original" positions.

                        For years i believed in what Google stated, that you can use collapsible content if you are not trying to inject keywords or trying to inflate the amount of content etc. Not anymore.

                        I believe that placing the content under a collapsible div element, we are actually signaling google that this piece of content is not that important (that's why it is hidden, right? Otherwise it should be in plain sight). So why we should expect from google to take this content as a major part of our contents ranking factor weight.

                        RosemaryB 1 Reply Last reply May 16, 2016, 4:07 PM Reply Quote 1
                        • EGOL
                          EGOL last edited by May 14, 2016, 12:25 AM May 14, 2016, 12:25 AM

                          About two years ago I had collapsed content on some important pages.  Their longtail traffic went into a steady slide, but the head traffic held.   I attribute this to a sign that the collapsed content was discounted, removing it from, or lowering its ability to count in the rankings for long tail queries.

                          I expanded the page, making all content visible.  A few months later, longtail traffic started to slowly rise.  It took many months to climb back to previous levels.

                          After this, every word of my content is now in the open.

                          RosemaryB 1 Reply Last reply May 16, 2016, 4:13 PM Reply Quote 0
                          • 1 / 1
                          1 out of 12
                          • First post
                            1/12
                            Last post

                          Got a burning SEO question?

                          Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                          Start my free trial


                          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.

                          • See all categories

                          Related Questions

                          • BeckyKey

                            Paragraphs/Tables for Content & SEO

                            Hi Does anyone know if Google prefers paragraphs over content in a table, or doesn't it make much difference?

                            Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Dec 16, 2016, 8:09 AM | BeckyKey
                            0
                          • jlo7613

                            Can Google read content that is hidden under a "Read More" area?

                            For example, when a person first lands on a given page, they see a collapsed paragraph but if they want to gather more information they press the "read more" and it expands to reveal the full paragraph. Does Google crawl the full paragraph or just the shortened version? In the same vein, what if you have a text box that contains three different tabs. For example, you're selling a product that has a text box with overview, instructions & ingredients tabs all housed under the same URL. Does Google crawl all three tabs? Thanks for your insight!

                            Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Oct 5, 2016, 9:38 AM | jlo7613
                            0
                          • Roi_Bar

                            How search engines look at collapse content in mobile while on desktop it open by default?

                            Hello everyone!
                            To have a mobile friendly UX we chose to collapse some of the page content.
                            On the desktop it is in open mode by default and user can see the whole content.
                            Does the search engines see the content even if it's collapse? is the collapse mode on the mobile only can hurt us with SERP ranking? okgF0pX 1LU6utU

                            Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Jun 29, 2016, 8:28 AM | Roi_Bar
                            1
                          • CarlosZambrana

                            SEO time

                            I wanto to be in the top of the google search. I am usiing a lot of SEO tools but... I have done it  during one month. Do I have to wait more?

                            Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Mar 27, 2015, 5:47 AM | CarlosZambrana
                            0
                          • friendoffood

                            Google crawling different content--ever ok?

                            Here are a couple of scenarios I'm encountering where Google will crawl different content than my users on initial visit to the site--and which I think should be ok.  Of course, it is normally NOT ok,  I'm here to find out if Google is flexible enough to allow these situations: 1. My mobile friendly site has users select a city, and then it displays the location options div which includes an explanation for why they may want to have the program use their gps location.  The user must choose the gps, the entire city, or he can enter a zip code, or choose a suburb of the city, which then goes to the link chosen.  OTOH it is programmed so that if it is a Google bot it doesn't get just a meaningless 'choose further' page, but rather the crawler sees the page of results for the entire city (as you would expect from the url),   So basically the program defaults for the entire city results for google bot, but for for the user it first gives him the initial ability to choose gps. 2. A user comes to mysite.com/gps-loc/city/results   The site, seeing the literal words 'gps-loc' in the url goes out and fetches the gps for his location and returns results dependent on his location.   If Googlebot comes to that url then there is no way the program will return the same results because the program wouldn't be able to get the same long latitude as that user. So, what do you think?  Are these scenarios a concern for getting penalized by Google? Thanks, Ted

                            Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Dec 11, 2014, 1:29 PM | friendoffood
                            0
                          • webestate

                            How to get content to index faster in Google.....pubsubhubbub?

                            I'm curious to know what tools others are using to get their content to index faster (other than html sitmap and pingomatic, twitter, etc) Would installing the wordpress pubsubhubbub plugin help even though it uses pingomatic? http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/pubsubhubbub/

                            Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Jan 8, 2013, 4:43 PM | webestate
                            0
                          • knielsen

                            Copying my Facebook content to website considered duplicate content?

                            I write career advice on Facebook on a daily basis. On my homepage users can see the most recent 4-5 feeds (using FB social media plugin). I am thinking to create a page on my website where visitors can see all my previous FB feeds. Would this be considered duplicate content if I copy paste the info, but if I use a Facebook social media plugin then it is not considered duplicate content? I am working on increasing content on my website and feel incorporating FB feeds would make sense. thank you

                            Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Nov 22, 2012, 7:20 AM | knielsen
                            0
                          • nicole.healthline

                            Best way to de-index content from Google and not Bing?

                            We have a large quantity of URLs that we would like to de-index from Google (we are affected b Panda), but not Bing. What is the best way to go about doing this?

                            Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Nov 8, 2011, 5:07 AM | nicole.healthline
                            0

                          Get started with Moz Pro!

                          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                          Start my free trial
                          Products
                          • Moz Pro
                          • Moz Local
                          • Moz API
                          • Moz Data
                          • STAT
                          • Product Updates
                          Moz Solutions
                          • SMB Solutions
                          • Agency Solutions
                          • Enterprise Solutions
                          Free SEO Tools
                          • Domain Authority Checker
                          • Link Explorer
                          • Keyword Explorer
                          • Competitive Research
                          • Brand Authority Checker
                          • Local Citation Checker
                          • MozBar Extension
                          • MozCast
                          Resources
                          • Blog
                          • SEO Learning Center
                          • Help Hub
                          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                          • How-to Guides
                          • Moz Academy
                          • API Docs
                          About Moz
                          • About
                          • Team
                          • Careers
                          • Contact
                          Why Moz
                          • Case Studies
                          • Testimonials
                          Get Involved
                          • Become an Affiliate
                          • MozCon
                          • Webinars
                          • Practical Marketer Series
                          • MozPod
                          Connect with us

                          Contact the Help team

                          Join our newsletter
                          Moz logo
                          © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                          • Accessibility
                          • Terms of Use
                          • Privacy

                          Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.