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display:none for responsive designs

by Thumoney
2 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I'm using a wordpress theme from a high-end web-design company. It's a responsive design and they use css display:none for hiding elements when the browser size changed (i.e. for ipad/mobile). The elements in question are parts for the navigation (incl. site links) and search forms.

Still I'm a bit worried since using display:none violates Google's webmaster guidelines and could get everybody running this theme into trouble?
#designs #displaynone #responsive
  • Profile picture of the author Jay Moreno
    Plus your mobile browser still downloads them - which in turn increases the amount of bandwidth used to access the page and also impacts on the time it takes for the page to finish loading... Responsive designs may look good but are far from being truly mobile friendly...I prefer to use responsive design for desktops and tablets and use an adaptive design that specifically formats the HTML for mobile users

    HTH

    Jay
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    • Profile picture of the author retsek
      Originally Posted by Jay Moreno View Post

      Responsive designs may look good but are far from being truly mobile friendly...I prefer to use responsive design for desktops and tablets and use an adaptive design that specifically formats the HTML for mobile users

      HTH

      Jay
      Seconded. I also prefer to format pages for mobile, but the OP already has a responsive theme so what's done is done.

      I always try to avoid using things like display:none, and text-indent:-9999. I just moved a couple of sites to using sprites for their css images and it was tough.

      Google has no official guidance on the subject, but employees have commented about it. E.g. http://maileohye.com/html-text-inden...your-rankings/

      So its down to your personal choice. Some big sites still do it, with no apparent adverse effects. Of course, not every one is a big boy and I suspect this is just one of the many things that goes onto the Google balancing scale. Having hidden elements and text alone will probably not bring you down, but rather a combination of factors.
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