I’m struggling to understand if Googlebot’s (spiders) will search content in a web page that is hidden to the user until they rollover an icon - where it then displays. 

Here’s some background: we’re designing a website for N&G. The main objective of the site is to enable users to get a quote quickly and easily. However, we also require good search engine rankings.

From a design point of view, these seems like contradicting objectives. We’re trying to “create a useful, information-rich website” as per Google’s guidelines - yet we’re also trying to minimise the amount of clutter on the page so that the user is drawn immediately to the quote process.

If you see the wireframe below, our recommendation is for most copy (which contains important keywords) to appear when a user rolls over an icon (e.g. the “Did you know” tag) or when they click on a drop down menu.

From a technical point of view, this copy will be contained within the main content page - which Googlebot will search - and the rollover functionality is contained within the stylesheet - which Googlebot won’t search. Is that correct? On the other hand, the content is hidden and it only appears (using javascript) when you rollover it. What should we do?

I’ve checked Googles guidelines - to me this doesn’t sound like we are deliberately hiding text to deceive Google and it should be ok (especially if we use “no script” tags…what’s that?). SImilarly, we are designing with the user in mind more so that with SEO in mind - another best practice as I understand it.

Please help…anyone?

There’s nothing worse than competitive parents. But, suffice to say, my three year old son Joseph annihilated the other children in the sack race today. What?

Does anyone out there know how to send a customised ringtone (MP3) to the phones of a 60 something group? I can see how users can access a website and download the MP3 themselves, but nothing that is pushed out to users’ mobile.

I recently visited my best friend Aegir. He lives in Canada now, working as a Steiner teacher in Whistler (Canada’s most popular ski resort and home to the 2010 Winter Olympics). Apparently, the mayor of Whistler sent shockwaves rippling throughout his community and far beyond recently by proclaiming that Whistler should prepare itself for a life without snow. Now that’s some statement - and especially hard to imagine when you’re surrounded by snow capped mountains (see pic below).

His message has clearly been taken very seriously too - with the Whistler Olympics being heralded as the greenest Olympics ever. But what struck me - as I was sitting on a two hour bus ride from Vancouver to Whistler - was how the whole road, perhaps some 100 plus miles, was being transformed into a Dual Carriageway on both sides with a single track train line laying untouched next to it. It just shows how in North America, as in Europe, that the car is king.

Anyway, when I arrived I was really keen to understand from Aegir what the locals attitude to global warming and travel has been. Particularly as their livelihoods depend on the snow and all the tourists who visit. After my trip, I kinda left it there. Hoping that one day I could explore this in more depth sometime and thinking about how I could visit Aegir in the future without flying!!

So I had a really interesting meeting with Jim and George from Knowle West Media Centre last Thursday - about a virtual travel project for Young Schumacher (as in E.F, not Michael). The project was initially about using digital media to narrate a virtual project on travel - all narrated by young people in South Bristol. But after our discussion we started to explore whether the narration could come from many different groups of young people from around the world - in areas like Canada, Japan, Cornwall even - where attitudes to travel will be very different to that of an urban space in Bristol. I hope this is the start of something really inspiring.

I feel like I’m getting to an age where I should be called Bob. ‘Good ol Bob, people will say - he’s your man. My clients will see Bob (me) as someone who has experience and qualities far beyond his predecessor - Rob. Yes, good ol Bob. He’ll always have something interesting to say. You’ll probably want to check out his blog on a daily basis - even though Bob is probably too busy to update it everyday. Maybe Bob’s wife (Kath!) will see to it that people aren’t let down. After all, Bob is forever reliable and trustworthy.