Still Javascript menus?

Why are there big sites with js menus if google doesn't read them?

[Hucasys]

All the research I have done on the issue of googlebot reading js menus shows it doesn't. So urls linked from js menus would not be indexed or followed by googlebot. I am not using js menus, but I am constantly seeing sites that still use them. So the question is, are those sites not interested in google, are they just unaware or what.....?

If a client wants to use js menus, it is hard to argument against them because of googlebot not reading them, when he sees so many sites using them.

Thanks ;)

[AWildman]

I still use js menus. There are a few factors here.

1. Some js menus use hidden divs with links in those divs. Therefore technically, googlebot can still read them.

2. There may be links to internal pages at the bottom of the pages or in includes thereby offsetting any negative affect of having links in an external js file.

3. Some bosses just don't care or know about seo and see flashy pretty ms menus as something they MUST have.

[Safir]

like that 3rd one! Very true though LOL ;-)!

[hannamyluv]

God, it took me 2 years to get them to drop the js menu on our site. The thing was huge but they had paid big bucks for the pretty thing and weren't about to get rid of it since they had paid for it.

[XtendScott]

Google is following "some" js menus. I have tested DW MX jscript menus and google has cached them. It might be that DW is widely used and G is attempting to follow this widely used menu script.

DW's script makes it pretty easy to see the URL in the script

function mmLoadMenus() {
if (window.mm_menu_0012204316_0) return;
window.mm_menu_0012204316_0 = new Menu("root",37,14,"Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif",8,"#000000","#ffffff","#3399ff","#66cc99","left","middle",3,0,1000,-5,7,true,true,false,0,true,true);
mm_menu_0012204316_0.addMenuItem("page 1","location='http://www.website.com/page1.htm'");
mm_menu_0012204316_0.addMenuItem("page 2","location='http://www.website.com/page2.htm'");
mm_menu_0012204316_0.addMenuItem("page 3","location='/page3.htm'");
mm_menu_0012204316_0.hideOnMouseOut=true;
mm_menu_0012204316_0.menuBorder=1;
mm_menu_0012204316_0.menuLiteBgColor='#cccccc';
mm_menu_0012204316_0.menuBorderBgColor='#3366ff';
mm_menu_0012204316_0.bgColor='#555555';

mm_menu_0012204316_0.writeMenus();
} // mmLoadMenus()

I have seen sites based wholey on DW's menu and within the last 6 months have backlinks within the site and PR.

Does that mean I would rely on it for All SE's. Not me personally but I see it is currently working.

[balinor]

I used to use JavaScript menus quite a bit, and from what I have found, basic JS menus that are contained within the page itself seem to be indexed by Google just fine. If they aren't, there are plenty of workarounds for this (i.e. a site map, links along the bottom of the page, etc). Where JS seems to run into trouble with Google are with the larger menus that are generated 'on the fly' from a separate .js file, but I have even seen these spidered as well.

The 'standard' menus generated by Dreamweaver seem to work fine, at least from my experience. Granted, now that I can do a lot of the same things with CSS, that is the way I'm going to go.

[Farix]

The main problem with the CSS approch is that Mozilla is the only browser to support it -- maybe the very latest version of Opera, but I haven't tested it.

[balinor]

That's what I thought till I saw this link on the Web Standards Project site:

[xs4all.nl...]

[txbakers]

Why are there big sites with js menus if google doesn't read them?

Because not everyone in the world is obsessed with Google.

I don't rely on search engines for my business. I treat them as gravy. If someone finds me there, that's extra business I didn't count on. But I do my own marketing outside of the whims of a spider.