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. Research & Trends
  3. Algorithm Updates
  4. Google & Tabbed Content

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.

Google & Tabbed Content

Algorithm Updates
6
13
9.5k
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.
  • BeckyKey
    BeckyKey last edited by Feb 11, 2016, 2:57 PM

    Hi

    I wondered if anyone had a case study or more info on how Google treats content under tabs?

    We have an ecommerce site & I know it is common to put product content under tabs, but will Google ignore this?

    Becky

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
    • BeckyKey
      BeckyKey @Odments last edited by May 2, 2017, 1:24 PM May 2, 2017, 1:24 PM

      Hi

      It's actually worked for us on certain pages, I don't like to just throw content under a tab on the page, but for now it's helping whilst we work on the design of the pages.

      I think they need improvement from a UX perspective still but for now it's helping.

      Thanks!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Odments
        Odments @BeckyKey last edited by May 2, 2017, 11:51 AM May 2, 2017, 11:51 AM

        Hi,

        How did the test go overall.  Did you add any more pages into the test?

        Would love to get more insight into this theory.

        Thanks 🙂

        BeckyKey 1 Reply Last reply May 2, 2017, 1:24 PM Reply Quote 0
        • topic:timeago_earlier,2 months
        • BeckyKey
          BeckyKey @PMSEO365 last edited by Feb 23, 2017, 7:39 AM Feb 23, 2017, 7:39 AM

          Hi

          Thanks for your input 🙂

          I hadn't seen that article! I have a competitor doing it who seem to rank really well, despite the fact they don't have great backlinks, the only thing I can see they're doing is tabbed content. So I've tried it for a few pages and it seems to be helping.

          Do you think think interaction with the tabbed content could affect how Google ranks the page? So if no one clicks on the tab, it may be ignored?

          Would love to know everyone's thoughts on the mobile/desktop question you raised too

          Thanks!

          Odments 1 Reply Last reply May 2, 2017, 11:51 AM Reply Quote 0
          • PMSEO365
            PMSEO365 last edited by Feb 23, 2017, 7:39 AM Feb 22, 2017, 4:12 PM

            Hey guys!

            So I manage a site called ProjectManager.com and we're currently redesigning our homepage. The design we're going with has a big section with content hidden behind tabs and I was initially concerned about this content being "discounted" as John Mueller said back in 2014 (http://youtu.be/tFSI4cpJX-I?t=10m55s).

            I then came across the below post in SE journal that cites a tweet by Gary Ilyes saying in response to mobile content hidden for ux being discounted "no, in the mobile-first world content hidden for ux should have full weight". My question to the group would be, do you think desktop tabbed content is still discounted whereas mobile tabbed content has full weight? I actually just tweeted at Gary with the same question so will post again if I hear back.

            https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-says-now-ok-put-content-behind-tabs/178020/

            Also think it would be cool to update this thread with the most updated info as this page is ranking 3rd for the query "google content behind tabs".

            Appreciate the help!

            BeckyKey 1 Reply Last reply Feb 23, 2017, 7:39 AM Reply Quote 2
            • topic:timeago_earlier,12 months
            • OlegKorneitchouk
              OlegKorneitchouk @BeckyKey last edited by Feb 29, 2016, 2:14 PM Feb 29, 2016, 2:14 PM

              amazon, zappos, walmart, microsoft store - many ecommerce sites don't use tabs.

              A common workaround seems to be to have "tabbed navigation" but instead of toggling visibility, it scrolls down to the corresponding section.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • BeckyKey
                BeckyKey @Gyorgy.B last edited by Feb 26, 2016, 8:56 AM Feb 26, 2016, 8:56 AM

                Hi,

                Yes I agree, does anyone have any examples of great product pages which don't use tabs?

                A lot of sites do use the tabs to make it easier for customers

                OlegKorneitchouk 1 Reply Last reply Feb 29, 2016, 2:14 PM Reply Quote 0
                • Gyorgy.B
                  Gyorgy.B last edited by Feb 25, 2016, 8:27 PM Feb 25, 2016, 8:27 PM

                  Your link goes to a login page. I think you meant this: http://www.seochat.com/c/a/search-engine-optimization-help/hidden-text-in-websites/

                  Google is most likely smart enough to know these tricks, so I wouldn't waste time by implementing various CSS layer tricks. Try to follow the webmaster guidelines as much as possible.

                  BeckyKey 1 Reply Last reply Feb 26, 2016, 8:56 AM Reply Quote 1
                  • BeckyKey
                    BeckyKey @Gyorgy.B last edited by Feb 25, 2016, 12:34 PM Feb 25, 2016, 12:34 PM

                    Hi

                    To add to this, I have been presented with a work around to this:

                    Hidden Text in Websites - SEO Chat instead of having hidden div's to use the z-index and absolute positioning css features to workaround this problem mostly because menus are used a lot in that way, so, search engines apparently still index these words.

                    "Another way to hide text from the user is to put text in the  Back or Front layer instead of the immediately visible layer. The third dimension of viewable screen is the Z-index. The first two dimensions are (X) and (Y), which indicate “left to right” and “up to down” respectively. The Z-index indicates “back to front” for layers of Web pages. Using the Z-index, Web designers can hide text in the previous layer.

                    These methods are also used in creating of menus or navigation bars in websites, so search engines index them.

                    Is this seen as a spammy work around?

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • topic:timeago_earlier,13 days
                    • BeckyKey
                      BeckyKey @Gyorgy.B last edited by Feb 12, 2016, 1:43 PM Feb 12, 2016, 1:43 PM

                      Brilliant thank you for your comments 🙂

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • Gyorgy.B
                        Gyorgy.B last edited by Feb 25, 2016, 7:14 AM Feb 11, 2016, 8:28 PM

                        According to the updated Google webmaster guidelines (Jan 2016), tabbed or not immediately visible content will have even less value than previously.

                        "Make your site's important content visible by default. Google is able to crawl HTML content hidden inside navigational elements such as tabs or expanding sections, however we consider this content less accessible to users, and believe that you should make your most important information visible in the default page view."

                        Summary of changes here: https://www.seroundtable.com/changes-in-the-google-webmaster-guidelines-21551.html

                        BeckyKey 2 Replies Last reply Feb 25, 2016, 12:34 PM Reply Quote 3
                        • Emerson.Scherer
                          Emerson.Scherer last edited by Feb 11, 2016, 8:18 PM Feb 11, 2016, 8:18 PM

                          +1 to Oleg's response. Google is absolutely moving towards ignoring content that is not immediately visible.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • OlegKorneitchouk
                            OlegKorneitchouk last edited by Feb 11, 2016, 3:36 PM Feb 11, 2016, 3:36 PM

                            General consensus is that it is still usually indexed/ranked but the value is diminished (and they may be going in the direction of completely ignoring it). See this post: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-hidden-tab-content-seo-19489.html

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
                            • 1 / 1
                            1 out of 13
                            • First post
                              1/13
                              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

                            • ThorUK

                              Google Cache

                              So, when I gain a link I always check to see if the page that is linking is in the Google cache. I've noticed recently that more and more pages are actually not showing up in Google's cache, yet still appear in search results. I did read an article from someone whoo works at Google a few weeks back that there is sometimes an error with the cache and occasionally the cache will not display. This week, my own website isn't showing up in the cache yet I'm still ranking in SERP's. I'm not worried about it, mostly whitehat, but has there been any indication that Google are phasing out the ability to check cache's of websites?

                              Algorithm Updates | Sep 12, 2018, 5:30 AM | ThorUK
                              0
                            • vtmoz

                              Does Google ignores page title suffix?

                              Hi all, It's a common practice giving the "brand name" or "brand name & primary keyword" as suffix on EVERY page title. Well then it's just we are giving "primary keyword" across all pages and we expect "homepage" to rank better for that "primary keyword". Still Google ranks the pages accordingly? How Google handles it? The default suffix with primary keyword across all pages will be ignored or devalued by Google for ranking certain pages? Or by the ranking of website improves for "primary keyword" just because it has been added to all page titles?

                              Algorithm Updates | Apr 6, 2017, 9:17 AM | vtmoz
                              0
                            • fenixbazaar

                              Very strange, inconsistent and unpredictable Google ranking

                              I have been searching through these forums and haven't come across someone that faces the same issue I am. The folks on the Google forums are certain this is an algorithm issue, but I just can't see the logic in that because this appears to be an issue fairly unique to me. I'll take you through what I've gone through. Sorry for it being long. Website URL: https://fenixbazaar.com 1. In early February, I made the switch to https with some small hiccups. Overall however the move was smooth, had redirects all in place, sitemap, indexing was all fine. 2. One night, my organic traffic dropped by almost 100%. All of my top-ranking articles completely disappeared from rank. Top keyword searches were no longer yielding my best performing articles on the front page of results, nor on the last page of results. My pages were still being indexed, but keyword searches weren't delivering my pages in results. I went from 70-100 active users to 0. 3. The next morning, everything was fine. Traffic back up. Top keywords yielding results for my site on the front page. All was back to normal. Traffic shot up. Only problem was the same issue happened that night, and again for the next three nights. Up and down. 4. I had a developer and SEO guy look into my backend to make sure everything was okay. He said there were some redirection issues but nothing that would cause such a significant drop. No errors in Search Console. No warnings. 5. Eventually, the issue stopped and my traffic improved back to where it was. Then everything went great: the site was accepted into Google News, I installed AMP pages perfectly and my traffic boomed for almost 2 weeks. 6. At this point numerous issues with my host provider, price increases, and incredibly outdated cpanel forced me to change hosts. I did without any issues, although I lost a number of articles albeit low-traffic ones in the move. These now deliver 404s and are no longer indexed in the sitemap. 7. After the move there were a number of AMP errors, which I resolved and now I sit at 0 errors. Perfect...or so it seems. 8. Last week I applied for hsts preload and am awaiting submission. My site was in working order and appeared set to get submitted. I applied after I changed hosts. 9. The past 5 days or so has seen good traffic, fantastic traffic to my AMP pages, great Google News tracking, linking from high-authority sites. Good performance all round. 10. I wake up this morning to find 0 active people on my site. I do a Google search and notice my site isn't even the first result whenever I do an actual search for my name. The site doesn't even rank for its own name! My site is still indexed but search results do not yield results for my actual sites. Check Search Console and realised the sitemap had been "processed" yesterday with most pages indexed, which is weird because it was submitted and processed about a week earlier. I resubmitted the sitemap and it appears to have been processed and approved immediately. No changes to search results. 11. All top-ranking content that previously placed in carousal or "Top Stories" in Google News have gone. Top-ranking keywords no longer bring back results with my site: I went through the top 10 ranking keywords for my site, my pages don't appear anywhere in the results, going as far back as page 20 (last page). The pages are still indexed when I check, but simply don't appear in search results. It's happening all over again! Is this an issue any of you have heard of before? Where a site is still being indexed, but has been completely removed from search results, only to return within a few hours? Up and down? I suspect it may be a technical issue, first with the move to https, and now with changing hosts. The fact the sitemap says processed yesterday, suggests maybe it updated and removed the 404s (there were maybe 10), and now Google is attempting to reindexed? Could this be viable? The reason I am skeptical of it being an algorithm issue is because within a matter of hours my articles are ranking again for certain keywords. And this issue has only happened after a change to the site has been applied. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated 🙂

                              Algorithm Updates | Feb 28, 2017, 8:39 AM | fenixbazaar
                              0
                            • InternetRep

                              Celebrity Profile On The Side of Google For High Profile Person

                              Hello! When I google "Justin Timberlake"  I see web search results and a sidebar.  See image below: http://screencast.com/t/qwYeiFZQRzT How does one get their results to display like this? Is this something that Google creates automatically or is it something the celebrity initiates/creates on their behalf.  Does the celebrity have any options to choose from as to what displays on this sidebar? What is this called? I look forward to your response. qwYeiFZQRzT

                              Algorithm Updates | Sep 29, 2015, 1:30 PM | InternetRep
                              0
                            • AppleSauceRules

                              Where can I find a breakdown of google search volume by specific industry/vertical? For example, what % of people searching in google are looking for housing? Cars? Restaurants?

                              I"m looking for specific breakdowns of search volume in google by: #1 Vertical (Shopping/restaurants/Services etc). For example, how many people are searching in google for information pertaining to restaurants per month? Search volume for all of 2012, 2013, 2014? #2 More granular categories within verticals, people searching for: books,apartment rentals,cellphones) Is there a breakdown of google search somewhere online that gives this type of information? Thank you MOZ community, really appreciate it!

                              Algorithm Updates | Jan 15, 2015, 12:38 PM | AppleSauceRules
                              0
                            • SorinaDascalu

                              Is it possible that Google may have erroneous indexing dates?

                              I am consulting someone for a problem related to copied content. Both sites in question are WordPress (self hosted) sites. The "good" site publishes a post. The "bad" site copies the post (without even removing all internal links to the "good" site) a few days after. On both websites it is obvious the publishing date of the posts, and it is clear that the "bad" site publishes the posts days later. The content thief doesn't even bother to fake the publishing date. The owner of the "good" site wants to have all the proofs needed before acting against the content thief. So I suggested him to also check in Google the dates the various pages were indexed using Search Tools -> Custom Range in order to have the indexing date displayed next to the search results. For all of the copied pages the indexing dates also prove the "bad" site published the content days after the "good" site, but there are 2 exceptions for the very 2 first posts copied. First post:
                              On the "good" website it was published on 30 January 2013
                              On the "bad" website it was published on 26 February 2013
                              In Google search both show up indexed on 30 January 2013! Second post:
                              On the "good" website it was published on 20 March 2013
                              On the "bad" website it was published on 10 May 2013
                              In Google search both show up indexed on 20 March 2013! Is it possible to be an error in the date shown in Google search results? I also asked for help on Google Webmaster forums but there the discussion shifted to "who copied the content" and "file a DMCA complain". So I want to be sure my question is better understood here.
                              It is not about who published the content first or how to take down the copied content, I am just asking if anybody else noticed this strange thing with Google indexing dates. How is it possible for Google search results to display an indexing date previous to the date the article copy was published and exactly the same date that the original article was published and indexed?

                              Algorithm Updates | Nov 15, 2013, 10:01 AM | SorinaDascalu
                              0
                            • projectassistant

                              Does a KML file have to be indexed by Google?

                              I'm currently using the Yoast Local SEO plugin for WordPress to generate my KML file which is linked to from the GeoSitemap.  Check it out http://www.holycitycatering.com/sitemap_index.xml. A competitor of mine just told me that this isn't correct and that the link to the KML should be a downloadable file that's indexed in Google.  This is the opposite of what Yoast is saying...  "He's wrong. 🙂  And the KML isn't a file, it's being rendered. You wouldn't want it to be indexed anyway, you just want Google to find the information in there. What is the best way to create a KML?  Should it be indexed?

                              Algorithm Updates | Aug 21, 2013, 4:04 PM | projectassistant
                              1
                            • frankfans117

                              Why google index ip address instead of the domain name?

                              I have a website ,now google index ip address of it instead of the domain name,I have used 301 redirected to the domain name,but how to change the index IP to its domain name? And why google index the IP address?

                              Algorithm Updates | Jun 20, 2011, 6:40 AM | frankfans117
                              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.