Infinite Scrolling & "Long Scrolling" same or different??

[ACNINTERACTIVE]

Can anyone please confirm for me the difference if any, between site design that incorporates Long Scrolling and Infinite Scroll?

I was told (by an unnamed source) these were different designs and that "long scrolling" is better for SEO . However, in all my research I am unable to prove there is any difference between the two. I understand Infinite scroll may include Ajax, but does that mean Long Scrolling does not?

If anyone has any references or can supply any further education here, I'd appreciate it!

Thanks!

[dot-B-dot-B]

Am I correct in assuming that by "long scrolling" you mean just putting all of the content on one page?

When you are doing infinite scroll you are in essence creating multiple pages and the infinite scroll makes them appear to be one.  Disable javascript in your browser and make sure all of the links to those pages are working.  If they are not working you have a big problem.

I can see what your "source" is arguing for, i.e. the content on the other pages won't support the SEO for the main page in the same way that they would if they were part fo the page/   However you can adapt your strategy to make multiple pages support your SEO efforts.  Having pages that take forever to load because they are overloaded with content isn't good for SEO either so from a UX perspective I like infinite scroll.

Here is a good read:

http://www.adamsherk.com/seo/seo-tips-for-infinite-scrolling/

Good luck!

[ACNINTERACTIVE]

Hey Joel,

Thanks for that answer!  Yes, long scrolling i.e. all content on one page, vs infinite which is what Adam mentions in his post. I did read that post, and completely understood it, but I haven't seen anything on the actual topic of "long scroll vs infinite" and therefore I was unaware there was any difference.

Thanks for clearing that up, I have a more clearer understanding - great answer !

[dot-B-dot-B]

Cool - yeah that was a good question.  Again I think how you proceed depends on exactly what your strategy is.   And if you really don't have a ton of content to justify the infinite scroll then I can see that advantages of getting it all one page - but if it is cumbersome for the user then that is where infinite scroll is so helpful.