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I am pretty new to web development, and changed my company website to a single page site last year that utilizes a ton of js so that the user can complete many tasks simultaneously without having to leave the front page. While my users really seem to like the new layout, I did not realize the effect this would have on my SEO, and I dropped out of google searches completely.

So, on this new version of my site, I am detecting whether or not the user has js enabled. If the user links to www.myAddress.com/howItWorks.php, for example, and has js disabled, like the google bot, they will be able to use view the content. If they have js enabled, though, I want to redirect to my main page, www.MyAddress.com, which remains a single-page layout. Essentially, I want only google (and the few with js disabled) to see the old layout, while everyone else uses the newer stuff.

I heard meta redirects are horrible to use with SEO and that some search engines ignore sites that use them because they are a common tool for spammers.

  • If I use a meta redirect after detecting that the user has js enabled, will it hurt my SEO?
  • Is there something else I should use?
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  • Google 'seo javascript redirects' and read the health warnings on this kind of thing. Anything which tries to show different content to Google than your normal visitors is considered black hat SEO and could hurt your rankings even more. Commented Oct 8, 2012 at 22:03
  • @james I am looking around, and it looks like the hazards are 1. duplicate data, and 2. completely different data. What if I am explicit and say both "hide __ AND show ___ with js enabled" and also " hide___ AND show ___ with js disabled" Then I'll only be sending google only one set of data Commented Oct 8, 2012 at 22:09
  • I don't think I follow what you mean here, but I'd just reiterate that Google as a company penalise sites that try to 'fool' the search bot by serving different content to 'normal' visitors than to Google. As to how they detect this I wouldn't know, but I'd imagine it's not hard for company with their resources. Instead of putting effort into this I'd just recommend you build a website using well established good practice and put your SEO effort into creating valuable and engaging content rather than lots of JavaScript. Commented Oct 8, 2012 at 22:12
  • @james right, the biggest thing is that by using one single page instead of a traditional layout, I've saved multiple hours each day in phone calls, that's why i'm so hesitant to go with a traditional multiple page layout...my users now can see everything at once, and know what all steps are, and what order to do them in. Perhaps most important is that they can complete action simultaneously...so they can request supplies while they are in the middle of signing up for an appointment. Commented Oct 8, 2012 at 22:15
  • This sounds more like a web application of some sort then? I'd distinguish between the page for existing customers - people you've already converted, and pages for attracting new customers. These are two different things. Perhaps don't even get Google to index the interactive page. It's hard to know without knowing the business and the kind of information you have available to put on the web. Commented Oct 8, 2012 at 22:20

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Is there something else I should use?

Yes, absolutely.

Build the website using the principles of progressive enhancement. Use unobtrusive JavaScript to help achieve this. Use pushState and friends to provide stateful URIs for dynamically changed content that map onto real URIs that will work without JavaScript.

Don't try to maintain two completely separate versions of the site.

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unobtrusive js seems like it will completely negate the one-page design that the users like so much, though. Are you just not supposed to do single-page websites? My customer service calls went down a HUGE amount...like multiple hours every day because of the new design...they just now know where everything is and what order to do it in without clicking around...Also, i'm not really maintaining two different versions, they are reading the same variables, so I'm still just editing one single file in the end and both versions change automatically
"unobtrusive js seems like it will completely negate the one-page design" — It wouldn't.
also, would push state cause problems when handling actions simultaneously? so if someone was signing up for an appointment, and in the middle of the appointment, they wanted to request supplies, wouldn't it get rid of the partial information for the appointment sign up because it mimics the user pushing the "back" (or another) button?
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I wouldn't recommend using javascript to try to present a different view of your content to Google than to normal users as you could find this negatively impacts your SEO performance even further.

If part of this site is highly interactive and mainly for existing customers I'd prevent Google from indexing this page, and build a separate set of pages using the kind of content you want to attract new customers with. Build these pages using good SEO practice and with a bit of effort you should be able to restore your SEO rankings.

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