I want to create a mobile version to http://thenamestork.com. After reading a few posts as well as the official google blog, I understand that a valid mobile site, that will get indexed in google mobile search, is made with different markup languages than html4. I also understand there’s a problem with using JS, and my site is JS based (works more like an app than a content-website).
My focus is on smartphones, that CAN handle my site anyway – I thought all I’ll need to do is changing the css layout – but there is no point if it won’t get indexed by google.
So what’s the best way to convert a html4 javacsript site into a valid, search engine friendly mobile version?
Google is actually quite forgiving and will index most sites that use something that looks a bit like HTML, even if it’s nog 100% valid. Just to be on the safe side, though, you could try validating your HTML.
On the other hand, if you load content asynchronously (i.e. through AJAX), Google might not index it. Search engines generally only index the HTML that’s sent to the browser when the page is loaded, without running any JavaScript.