Is Googlebot seeing text in my 'Read More' bar and could they even be penalising me for it?

[CarlDarby]

Hi guys.

Our web developers have put a read more bar that contains the on page SEO text for our webpage.  By default, the read more bar is not expanded and you cannot see the text within.  If you click 'Read More', the box expands and the text is shown on the page.

I was wondering if googlebot is seeing this text at all - it's really important that it does because it contains all the on-page SEO text.  I also wondered if this type of approach is still considered 'white hat'?  If it's not, could google be penalising us for it?

Thanks,

[David_ODonnell]

1. Can googlebot see the text?

Login in to Google Webmaster Tools, go to Health > Fetch as Google This will show you exactly what they can see.

2. Could you be penalised for it?

If it's just keyword spam, yes. Make sure the content isn't there just for bots, but is useful for visitors and you should be fine,

[Resultify]

Hi Carl

To answer your question I would need to have a look at the site. If the content hidden behind the read more button is in the HTML and then hidden until Read more is clicked its probably gonna get indexed. To be sure you can hide it in the CSS instead of in the HTML. If the text is added from inside the javascript and injected into the DOM its probably not going to get indexed.

You can also use this free tool to see the page as Google sees it:

http://www.seobrowser.com/ (Use the simple version its free)

Your second questions concerning if you would be penalised for it depends on just what is behind that Read more button? If its information that is valid to the user and a natural part of the site you should have no problem.

Hope this helps you on the way'

Have a great day

Fredrik

[RobertFisher]

Good answer David.

[CarlDarby]

Thanks for the reply.  It's not just keyword spam but correctly written content so I think it's all ok.

[CarlDarby]

Thanks for your input Frederik.

I've used the website you mention and it look absolutely fine.