Does Changing the Meta Title on Infinite Scrolling Web Pages Affect SEO?

They're using JS (ReactJS in this case, but the type of JS framework is less important) to change document.title and the URL on scroll.

As far as the value, unfortunately I can't really say one way or the other as I haven't tested it to that degree.
 
JasonSc said:
I ran across this today. The title changes as you scroll down the screen. It looks like it appends the H1 to the over all title tag. The slug also changes.
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In the content the code looks for the h1 tags (they are using h1 everywhere) that have the class "list-slide__title". It gets all the elements and most importantly their position on the page.

Then it uses javascript/jquery and monitors the browser's scroll using ".scrollTop();".

Once it passes a scrollTop position that's higher than the last h1 element, it switches the title of the page using "document.title" and sets the new title to the new corresponding h1 element using "document.title = newTitle;".

There is no effect on SEO since the manipulation is handled by the user's browser. Since Google doesn't "scroll around" the page, the title will stay the same.

I created a quick version of it that changes the title: jQuery: Title Change to Header Text on Scroll - DevSeries
 
CCarter said:
There is no effect on SEO since the manipulation is handled by the user's browser. Since Google doesn't "scroll around" the page, the title will stay the same.
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I agree Google doesn't scroll. But, if you looked at the cached version Google only shows the current character in the cache.

Main Page Cache only shows up to the character 1
First Character Cache
Second Character Cache

I'm not disputing that is has no SEO value, but it does make me wonder why anyone would do this because I'm having a hard time seeing how it enhances the users' experience.

Regardless, thank you for looking at this and the example/code you created.
 
They are basically mashing 25 separate (in the eyes of google, fb, twitter) pages into 1.
Each page is rendered serverside, then pulls in the rest of the content client side, eg:

view-source:http://uk.complex.com/pop-culture/2013/05/most-underrated-simpsons-characters/don-brodka

The most obvious benefit is they get 25 pages indexed, each targeting their own keywords, with their own opengraph tags etc.

Great you say, but why bother mashing them up client side? Because the combined article is considerably more shareable - its essentially a 'skyscraper' or listicle, a format proven to have high viral potential.

Its a neat idea that im glad you posted.
 
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