jQuery web design was launched in 2006 and in the last few years, it has become a popular choice for web developers. This is because of its ability to stylize elements on web pages and turn a static HTML into a more dynamic user interface. jQuery was launched to simplify the web development process and make programming much easier for developers. The best thing about jQuery is its lightweight and the fact that it complies with all industry standards inclusive of CSS3. jQuery also allows developers to create plugins that enable the creation of concepts associated with simulation and low-level interface. With jQuery, you will get a dynamic and powerful website.
Despite its ability to include flashy tricks and different effects on web design, a few factors of using jQuery may have detrimental effects on your search engine optimization efforts. The search engine spiders are responsible for marking your web content and then presenting it to the search engines. Therefore, when the spiders cannot access information that remains within the jQuery, it will not crawl your web pages and the pages will never appear on the SERPs to viewers. Here are a few tips to ensure that your page has an excellent user interface and your search engine rankings also stay high.
Always offer a non-JavaScript version of all relevant content
This may look like a slight contradiction. However, if your relevant SEO content is unavailable when the script is disabled, then the search engine spiders will not find it and index your website. For instance, when you are loading your significant content using AJAX, then it is useful for you to have a link that directs to a static version of your content on the page too as it will enhance your SEO efforts. This will ensure that all your relevant content is indexed by the search engines.
Streamlining your (x) HTML
Most jQuery-based features usually involve lots of additional HTML tags that are used for UI but are irrelevant to the search engine spiders. You can ensure that you slim down your HTML in two ways:
1. Dynamically adding elements after your page load
The principle behind this is that HTML that enables JavaScript-free users and the search engines just contains basic content. As a result, you can add the code needed for the working of the UI dynamically after the page is already loaded or only when it is necessary or needed.
2. Optimizing your structure to eliminate unnecessary code
An even better solution than adding code dynamically is eliminating it, especially if it is not needed. Divitis is one of the major causes of excess code. Make sure you check through your code and determine whether you need the wrapper div or if you can target your content in a different manner using clever CSS. If you want to take measures to ensure that you improve the speed of your site, then you should consider loading only the necessary div tags that are required for the page loading event. This way, you will only display whatever the user currently needs to see and have the remaining division elements load just when they are required. Check out Beanstalk Web Solutions, for the best SEO and web design services.
Avoid using useless or blank links
In most cases, the trigger or button used for jQuery events is an anchor tag containing a href that points nowhere or still contains a JavaScript call. There are times when it is okay to use anchor tags as your trigger, for example, when the jQuery script provides an alternative on the page option to a page where the link is pointed. However, you should always consider whether it is worth using such links or not to ensure your SEO efforts are not affected.
Keep script to your external files
You should be cautious and keep jQuery out of the HTML page. You should keep your JQuery scripts in an external JavaScript file that is referenced in order to avoid confusion. This may be an old trick but it is still relevant and helpful in boosting your SEO strategies. In the past, you were required to drop blocks of JavaScript in the mark up elsewhere in your code to ensure that it is only executed when an element is written in the DOM. However, when you use the ready () function of jQuery, you can easily keep the code in external files and it will only execute after the required elements have already loaded.
Avoid creating HTML to fit your website’s jQuery
If you want your pages to be easily accessible to your end-users, then you should always code your JavaScript to fit into your HTML and not the other way round. Developing your pages in this way is one of the essential principles of progressive enhancement that provides SEO benefits and accessibility benefits to your website and web pages. For instance, if you need tabbed content on the page, your basic page must have the content of all your tabs one after the other and then you can use jQuery to assign event Handlers and CSS classes on page load. This will help to collapse the content that you want to hide and if the page will be loaded without JavaScript, then all your content will still be visible.
There are a few areas where the influence of jQuery or other JavaScript can make your SEO efforts ineffective. Some of these areas include the search engine bot’s ability to crawl your website’s content or “crawl ability” and the ability of the search engine bot to obtain information regarding the website’s content or “obtainability”. If the search engines are obstructed from crawling JavaScript, then your web pages will not rank in the search engine results pages (SERPs). The aforementioned tips will enable you to avoid these common mistakes and will help to boost the SEO of your website. It is crucial that you also arrange your scripts in order of priority and ensure that the experience of the end-user is not hampered in any way or at any point. With attention to detail and a little patience, your jQuery website will be yielding the desired SEO results.
For all of your SEO needs, contact Beanstalk Web Solutions.