Yesterday we covered some SEO theories around blocking JavaScript & CSS triggering Panda 4.0 issues. I didn’t honestly believe there was a relation, based on the example provided and very few other sites reporting the same effects but now we have a response from a Googler.
Well, maybe the response is a bit Google-like and cloudy.
One webmaster posted the theory on Google Webmaster Help and John Mueller responded to the specific case at hand, not necessarily Panda 4 and how it related to blocking CSS & JavaScript. But he did respond to the question about being hit by Panda and blocking content via external files.
John Mueller of Google wrote:
So is John saying that if you block content, then it may impact the Panda algorithm? Is he saying that? Or is he saying that the content that is blocked, Google can’t see anyway and it has no impact on Panda? Or maybe it may or may not have an impact on Panda because Panda is about content and maybe layout?
See how this can get confusing. What is your take?
Forum discussion at Google Webmaster Help.
Update: John responded again basically implying it is not Panda. He wrote:
He then aims to answer the specific question at hand head on:
He goes on in more detail, so check out the thread.
Image credit to BigStockPhoto for Panda Java Mug
