Seo style="display: none;" ?

[kynop]

i want to have a funktion which shortens text in categorie view in my shop.

apple is doing this in their product configurator

see the "learn more" button at the right side:

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MC915LL/A

apple is doing this by adding dynamic content but i want it more seo type by leaving the content indexable by google.

i know from a search that this was used in the past years by black had seos to cover keywordstuffing.

i also read an article at google.

i beleive that this is years ago and keywordstuffing is completly no option anymore.

so i beleive that google just would recognise it like the way its meant to be.

but if i would not be sure i would not ask here

what do you think?

[adriandg]

I think it really depends on the purpose.  I make websites everyday, and i use style="display:none;" on almost ever page of them.  I think if it is used for a design purpose it is completely ok, and no i don't think it is keyword stuffing.  Is there a function on the site where a user action unhides this content? or are you trying to hide it always?

[kynop]

yes, we have a button with real text layed on it which says more information or so.

the funny thing is google once sayed clearly dont do this and the text is still available. i remeber that this came out something like 5 years ago.

[sferrino]

If you are doing it as a way of formatting the page and still offering an option or button that allows the user to see the rest of the text, then it is not the same thing that you are thinking of in regards to Google. Google states that you should not hide text on the page to purposely try and trick the search engine.

In E-Commerce situations it is very common to hide part of the text, for instance when you have 4 tabs for "description, features, specification, colors, etc." it is a good idea to use a 'display: none' so that all 3 of the tabs are not shown all the time. This is not considered Black Hat, it is considered good design.

Matt Cutts has said quite a few times, if it is good for the user it is good for Google.

It is when you intentionally hide a block of text on the page with no way for the user to view it that you are using Black Hat technique.

[kynop]

thanx alot!

[adriandg]

exactly, so in this case you are completely safe.