(Entry was posted by Devin Peterso on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 01/14/2014).

Do search engines count text that isn`t displayed on the page when the page loads?

Do search engines count text (equally) that isn`t displayed on the page until a user clicks on a particular tab to view it? If a majority of text is hidden until a user clicks the `more info` button, will this negatively affect my rankings? I am referring specifically to product pages where lots of text isn`t always ideal when trying to push conversions, but at the same time it`s beneficial to have descriptive text for search purposes.?

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YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

Devin Peterson: Do search engines count text (equally) that isn't displayed on the page until a user clicks on a particular tab to view it? If a majority of ;text is hidden until a user clicks the 'more info' button, will this negatively affect my rankings? I am referring specifically to product pages where lots of text isn't always ideal when trying to push conversions, but at the same time it's beneficial to have descriptive text for search purposes.
Dave Elliott: Depends how it is coded. Bots read code, so if the text appears in the page source code, it will be read. A hidden div for example will be read.

If however, something else is physically loaded to display the text, there may be indexing problems.
Tony McCreath: In the past I have read articles about how search engines may prefer to send people to pages that show the relevant content on first viewing. It makes sense for a good user experience.

So, content hidden in tabs or lower down on the page may be devalued.
Foxtail Marketing: +Tony McCreath ;is right, not only do you want to avoid hidden text, Google will consider it cloaking. ;So, avoid doing it. ;And as +Dave Elliott ;mentioned, if it's shown in the source code, the bots will read it. ;So, just follow that advice. ;Good luck!
Devin Peterson: +Foxtail Marketing ;It is not cloaking by any means, but I do see what you're saying.
W.E. Jonk: From the expert panel in this weeks SEO Questions hangout on air on 00:18:00 into the YouTube video: https://dumbseoquestions.com/q/do_search_engines_count_text_that_isnt_displayed_on_the_page_when_the_page_loads