Is creating cookies a SEO sin?

Some sins cant be avoided but still want to know

[AjiNIMC]

Hi,

Is creating cookies a SEO sin? I can't survive without creating the cookie as I am using phpbb and some other scripts which needs the cookies to track few things. I still want to know.

Assuming that Site X and Site Y are same in front of Google (and other search engines) with all respect.

Only Difference
Site X creates cookie.
Site Y doesn't create any cookie.

Is Site Y better than Site X for Google?

AjiNIMC

[Adam_Lasnik]

Hey AjiNIMC,

If cookies are required for your users to be able to reach certain pages, our Googlebot is going to have a hard time crawling/indexing those pages; it doesn't access cookies.

But there are certainly lots of valid uses for cookies that make your visitors' experience better (remembering their login info, their preferences, etc.). Just make sure that you're not requiring cookies for page accesses unless you don't care whether those pages are indexed.

[jatar_k]

as Adam_Lasnik mentioned

>> Is Site Y better than Site X for Google?

only if the cookie is required, if the content can still be viewed with out the cookie then that's fine

if it is specifically for tracking then the number of users that don't accept them should be part of your metrics

[webdude]

Only use cookies when absolutely neccessary - ie. if a shopping basket, only during the order process. Leave all other pages wide open. Avoid any ID type post args too...

[AjiNIMC]

The cookies are not needed for viewing the content. It is required to keep some information about user's visits and is used while signing up.

Hoping google will not have a problem.

Thanks for the answers,

AjiNIMC