What to do when lazy-loading hides your content from Google

Lazy-loading is a popular technique that delays loading images, videos, and other content until visitors actually need to see it. This makes websites load faster and uses less data, which is great for user experience. However, when lazy-loading isn’t set up correctly, it can accidentally hide your content from Google’s crawler.

The problem happens because Google’s crawler works differently from regular website visitors. If your content only loads when someone scrolls or clicks, Google might never see it. This means important content could be missing from your search results entirely.

Two methods to fix lazy-loading for search engines

Method 1: Use visibility-based loading instead of interaction-based loading

The most common lazy-loading mistake is making content load only when someone scrolls or clicks. Google’s crawler doesn’t perform these actions, so it never sees the hidden content. Instead, make your content load automatically when it becomes visible on the screen.

For images and videos, use the browser’s built-in lazy-loading feature. Add loading="lazy" to your image tags:

<img src="photo.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Description">

For other content, use the IntersectionObserver API to detect when content enters the viewable area:

const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries) => {
  entries.forEach(entry => {
    if (entry.isIntersecting) {
      // Load the content here
      loadContent(entry.target);
    }
  });
});

You can also choose a JavaScript library that automatically loads content when it becomes visible, but make sure it’s specifically designed to work with search engines. If you need to support older browsers, you can use the official IntersectionObserver polyfill from Google Chrome Labs.

Remember not to lazy-load critical content that visitors see immediately when they open your page, like main headlines, opening paragraphs, or important images above the fold. Loading these elements later will make your site feel slow and could hurt your search rankings.

Method 2: Create individual URLs for infinite scroll content

If your site uses infinite scroll where new content loads as people scroll down, you need to give each section its own permanent web address. This allows Google to find and index all your content, not just what appears on the first load.

Give each chunk of content its own unique URL using page numbers:

• yoursite.com/blog?page=1
• yoursite.com/blog?page=2
• yoursite.com/blog?page=3

Make sure the same content appears every time someone visits a specific URL and avoid using relative dates like “yesterday” in your addresses since these change over time.

Connect your pages in sequence by adding “next page” and “previous page” links so Google can discover all the URLs in your paginated set.

When someone scrolls to new content and it becomes the main visible section, update the web address they see using the History API. This lets people bookmark, share, or refresh the current section they’re viewing.

Why these methods work

Google’s crawler visits your website like a very systematic visitor. It doesn’t scroll, click, or interact with your page the way humans do. Instead, it loads the page once and reads whatever content is immediately available.

Traditional lazy-loading often waits for user actions before showing content. Since Google doesn’t perform these actions, it never sees the hidden content. The two methods above solve this by either making content load automatically when visible, or by giving Google direct access to all content through individual URLs.

Test your implementation

After setting up either method, check that it works correctly:

• Use Google’s URL Inspection tool in Search Console
• Look at the rendered HTML to see if your content appears
• Check that image and video URLs show up in the src attributes of your HTML elements
• Test different pages to make sure all content loads properly

Conclusion

Fixing lazy-loading for search engines comes down to two main approaches: making content load based on visibility rather than user interaction, and creating proper URL structures for paginated content.

Always test your implementation using Google’s tools to confirm that all your content appears in the rendered HTML. For more detailed guidance, refer to Google’s official lazy loading documentation. If you’d rather have an experienced team handle this for you, check out our website retainer service.