Home Page Content - In a Div?

[RezStream8]

Is putting content in a div so it doesn't muck up the look of the home page create a problem in doing well organically? Example - http://www.callawaygardens.com. We have lots of clients that want no text on the home page and we are trying to figure out how to do this while still ranking well organically. What are your thoughts? Can we get in trouble? Are there negative impacts with SEO doing it like this?

Thank you!

[KaneJamison]

Are you looking to hide the divs or place them behind content like an image or flash? If so, I would only include text that shows up in the image or flash, otherwise it's going to look pretty deceptive.

[RezStream8]

Hi Kane:

This is not our client but give you the idea of what we will do. http://www.callawaygardens.com/.

Additional thoughts?

Thank you!

Katie

[KaneJamison]

Hi Katie, I think you're referring to the "More +" button on the bottom left of the site? I think that's an OK implementation, but it would be a lot better if it was more obvious. Aside from the fact that the site takes forever to load (which is a much bigger issue), having to figure out to click that little button to get that big section of content isn't ideal - from a user experience standpoint I'd much prefer to see that content displayed normally and just require guests to scroll down to see it. But, the client wants what the client wants I suppose. Companies have been penalized for hiding content on a page - though the examples are malicious and obviously link-driven, unlike the content on the site you linked. SInce none of the content that is hidden is especially spammy, and they're not trying to squeeze in a bunch of keyword-rich links, I don't think it'd be an SEO issue. The text of that section is about 700 lines deep in the source code, however, which isn't ideal. If you can find a way to move that higher in the code I would do so. Take a look at this company's portfolio: http://www.whitestonemarketing.com/design.html They do a good job of integrating large photography for hospitality sites without making the site visitor have to click 'more' buttons. I much prefer the user experience on a site like http://www.victorianfarmhouse.com/ than on the one you linked.