Google ignoring layers - a very huge disadvantage

Google ignores JS and DHTML contents

[haryanto]

I read somewhere that google bot does not follow links that are located on a layer or technically known as a <DIV> tag . Is this true? If it is then it will be very bad news because more and more sites are using the power of layers.
I mean take a look at the microsoft style dropdown menu. It is using the DHTML layer.

Comment please!!

[Nick_W]

Google has no problem with <div>'s at all. After all, for layout it's the correct way to organize and position section/divisions of a page.

The 'no indexing' occors when layers are written dynamically using JS and the source of the text is outside of the page itself. Google doesn't do JS.

For hidden divs, as long as the text is in the html then google will index it.

Nick

[haryanto]

Hey thanks nick, You replied just in time before I was about to tear apart my website template to replace it with a non <DIV> one.

Thanks!

[nvision]

Nick, by saying "Google doesn't do JS" do you mean JS within a page controlling rollovers for button navigation too? Or were you referring just to external JS?

[jesserud]

nvision: if I can see your link in Internet Explorer or Netscape with javascript disabled, Google can see it. It's ok (at least for Google) if you use javascript to make your link images change when you hover over the link, or to make the link only appear when you hover over a menu title. What Google cares about is that the link is a "real link" and not part of a <script> block. Note that rollovers and dhtml menus tend to be inaccessible with the keyboard and harder to use than lists of links, which you should keep in mind when deciding whether to use them.

[nvision]

Cool, thanks for the help!

[mack]

It read my DHTML ok on one of my sites, Although i wish it hadn't It was a drop in word by word type efect but i spaced the leters to make id drop in letter by letter for th epage title at the top of the text. it showed in in the serps liek this

p a g e t i t l e

Not good at all