Breaking News: Google indexes JavaScript as if it were HTML

5/26/2015

While migrating yourself and DNN to the next level, every developer has to learn new skills. Will it be JavaScript or MVC? We're (2sic/2sxc) strong believers in JS since it works in DNN-old and new - and also Umbraco, PHP etc. Now JavaScript got another huge boost - because Google indexes JS output!

Summary of the Things that Google Indexes

Basically this is a summary of the tests Adam Audette did early May 2015. Hi did various tests and found out that Google really indexes just about anything you can think of - including JavaScript which requires a mouse-over or mouse-move.

Dynamically inserted content (HTML DOM-Changes) in JavaScript is indexed
Dynamically inserted Links by JS are indexed and followed
Dynamically inserted images are indexed
rel="nofollow" is respected - even on links added by JavaScript
JavaScript redirects are treated just like HTTP redirects
Meta-data inserted by JavaScript is treated just like it had been in the HTML
Drop-Down-Links are followed
JavaScript which executes in certain cases only (like on-mouse-over etc.) is also parsed and followed
Note that if you research more, you'll also discover that Google indexes JSON and JSON-LD!

Go JavaScript-MVC on the Client!

This has very important consequences. Basically it means you can create elegant JavaScript based solutions with AngularJS, ember or knockoutJS and Google will index them. This is very important, because generating HTML on the Server always has many issues, is clunky and much too slow (compared to AJAX). We're all trying to move away from ASP.net WebForms because it was a clunky way to abstract HTTP/HTML on the Server - but I'm afraid the current move to MVC-on-the-server is only a bit better. So as we move forward, we must decide how much HTML-Rendering we still do on the Server (with Razor, Tokens etc.) and how much to do on the client.

With Google treating JavaScript HTML-changes the same way as the server-side version, it finally levels the field for JavaScript. We're strong believers in this - and I hope I can convince you too.

With love from Switzerland,
Daniel

Daniel Mettler grew up in the jungles of Indonesia and is founder and CEO of 2sic internet solutions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, an 20-head web specialist with over 800 DNN projects since 1999. He is also chief architect of 2sxc (see github), an open source module for creating attractive content and DNN Apps.