Search Engine Optimization

Textarea texts and HTML comments

[anshul]

Do search engines index content provided in a form textarea. For example, I may be writing a programming code and put many programming examples commented (<!-- -->) in a textarea.

[anshul]

I've one other question:

Is using underscore(_) in Web page name or directory name worse than using minus(-)?

Please reply my this and previous query. Thanks.

[stapel]

Yes, search engines do appear to index content in text areas. (I have one just, and it is in Google.) I don't know how "commenting out" the text will affect this, however.

I wouldn't think underscores would be "worse" than hyphens, and I use underscores without any trouble.

Eliz.

[trillianjedi]

Is using underscore(_) in Web page name or directory name worse than using minus(-)?

The major engines will index a "-" as a space, but ignore an underscore.

So if you're trying to put keywords into URL's, you definitely want to use the dash and not an underscore, eg:-

/shiny-widgets.html (to an SE "shiny widgets")

and not

/shiny_widgets.html (to an SE "shinywidgets")

If you're not concerned with keywords being visible in the URL by SE's, then it makes no difference.

TJ

[anshul]

The major engines will index a "-" as a space, but ignore an underscore.

I undertood.Thanks.

I wanna know if Google, MSN, DMOZ, Yahoo! differentiate b/w _ and -

Most of other search engines take (most times, totally rely on) their results like Alexa(Google), AltaVista(Yahoo!), AlltheWeb(?), HotBot(?) ..

Next, I think, its wrong to consider words separated bt underscore as a single string. This is the error in their algorithm and may be, in recent future, non-major engines and directories will correct this.

I use underscores without any trouble.

Well, ease of using _ is more than -