Thomas,
I'm taking this from Danny Sullivan's site http://searchenginewatch.com/ .
Unfortunately the in depth explanation is in the subscribers section
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/subscribers/more/javascript.html which you
won't be able to access unless you are a subscriber and have a password.
I've included some of the relevant article here.
"In general, search engines tend to weight the text that appears at the top
of your pages more heavily than that which comes further down. Think of it
like reading a newspaper article. The first paragraph of the article tells
you all the main points. Similarly, search engines may analyze your opening
text to try and understand what your page is about.
Consequently, using JavaScript at the top of your documents may impact your
relevancy. Some search engines may index your code first, then your HTML
copy next. That means they may put the biggest priority on scripting code,
rather than your nice opening paragraphs that contain the important terms
you hope to be found for.
Here's an example. I searched for "document.write" at AltaVista, which is a
fairly typical piece of JavaScript code. My goal was to find any pages that
AltaVista may have indexed that contained this text. The number three site
was for the Black Entertainment Network, with a listing like this:
MSBET Home
n'); } if ( ShockMode ) { document.write(''); document.write(' ');
document.write(' '); document.write(' '); document.write('');
document.write('');...
URL: www.betnetworks.com/
As you can see, AltaVista clearly picked up some of the JavaScript from this
page. Obviously, using a meta description tag would have solved the bad
listing for the page, but that wouldn't have kept the JavaScript from still
being indexed and possibly degrading relevancy."
Best wishes,
jennifer
> -----Original Message-----
> From: thomas hofmann [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 2:42 PM
> To: Jennifer Rigby; [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Re: question about the position of html meta tags
>
>
> Jennifer,
>
> I don't quite understand why it would be better to place a
> meta tag above or
> below
> javascript in a html document. To my knowledge most search
> engines extract
> meta
> tags "as is" and store them in a separate "field" in an index
> database.
>
> In addition, unless your indexer understands javascript in
> some form or
> another it
> should ignore JavaScript altogether. If the indexer doesn't understand
> javascript but
> indexes the content in those sections anyway I would be
> rather sceptical of
> the
> returned search results.
>
> And lastly, as far as the web browser is concerned javascript
> can appear in
> anywhere
> in the HTML document.
>
> Regards,
> Thomas Hofmann
> [technical director - e-learning]
> cwo australia
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jennifer Rigby" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 7:36 PM
> Subject: Re: question about the position of html meta tags
>
>
> > Putting html meta tags above javascript is said to be
> better from the
> point
> > of view of having your site indexed by search engines.
> >
> > Best wishes,
> >
> > Jennifer
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Karl Ove Hufthammer [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > > Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 6:54 PM
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: Re: question about the position of html meta tags
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Jinguang Mu" <[log in to unmask]>
> > > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > > Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 5:25 PM
> > > Subject: question about the position of html meta tags
> > >
> > >
> > > > I have seen both examples of putting html meta tags either
> > > before Java
> > > > Script, or after Java Script,
> > > > within <head>... </head>.
> > > > I don't know Java Script, but wonder whether the position
> > > of meta tags
> > > > before or after Java Script
> > > > makes any difference, or it depends.
> > >
> > > You can put meta elements anywhere you want, as long as
> > > they're in 'head'.
> > >
> > > And you don't have to use JavaScript in your Web pages, of course.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Karl Ove Hufthammer
> > >
> >
> >
> > This e-mail, and any attachment, is confidential. If you
> have received
> > it in error, please delete it from your system, do not use
> or disclose
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> contents of
> > this message may contain personal views which are not the
> views of the
> > BBC, unless specifically stated.
> >
>
This e-mail, and any attachment, is confidential. If you have received
it in error, please delete it from your system, do not use or disclose
the information in any way, and notify me immediately. The contents of
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BBC, unless specifically stated.
