Content Rotator script

Can anyone recommend a content rotator script that will fit into a html page ? Also has anyone any experience of using such a script ? are they positive, neutral or detrimental on the seo front ?

Thanks - Glenn

Hi Glenn,

It really depends what you use it for. If you're rotating the whole page on every hit, then I'd recommend against it. If you're rotating small parts of the page, then it might be OK. Are you doing it for SEO or for your visitors?

The only way to do it within a standard HTML file is to use Javascript, which eliminates the SEO benefit (since the content might not be read.) However, if you can have .htm(l) files parsed by the server as if they were php files, then you'd be able to embed php code which would perform the rotation.

I can't think of one off hand (I've always done it custom). Take a look at the array_rand php function.

Thanks Darren,

Finally got back to this little project. I just want to rotate small parts of a page mainly for the readers (Page is getting big and I dont want too much info on) but I would like search engines to read the rotated content too. I managed to source a rotator script off the net pretty cheap, but am now cheased off to learn that it uses java script so the bots cant read the content.

So I am back on with my search to find an seo friendly content rotator. Sadly I dont understand php to any great degree so it will have to be an already existing script.

array_rand will definately work, I got this off the php manual:




just replace the elements in $input with your text ( the array function works with large strings as well, and HTML characters I believe), this code takes two random elements, change ($input, 2) to ($input, 1) to get only one element, and remove an instance of the echo.

Read more here: http://us2.php.net/array_rand

I'm rotating content using JS, but that's obviously only meant for humans. What it does is change the order of a row of links, so that every link gets to be first in the row now and again. Bots don't see it tho, so it doesn't work if your intention is about "fresh content" (whatever that may accomplish)

Hi Dzine,

Like you my main aim was to rotate some content for people. At the moment the page in question is rather full. The page is a list of links and info about articles elsewhere on the site under the same category (is this called a gateway page ??). Rather than fill the page with another dozen small excerpts and links I thought I would rotate the less important excerpts, but I would like the search engines to see it too - it would be an opportunity missed no matter how little value it has.

Would this allow me to rotate several pieces of code similar to this ?

<h2><a href="http://mysite">Keyword here</a></h2>
<p>
<img src="../images/200quint.jpg" alt="Keyword fishing - Article about buying a keyword and kitting it out for sea fishing. Includes information on keyword fishing tackle and fishfinders, gps etc." align="right" border="1" height="153" hspace="6" width="200">This
excellent article was written by one of our fishing forum members quint.
Everything you could want to know about keyword is here including
: Which keyword to buy for sea fishing, what equipment like gps and
fish finders to buy, what safety equipment you will need, what tackle you
may wish to consider buying, where to fish, what to fish for including
cod, pollock and bass. All the information you will require is right
here in this one article. <a href="mysite">Please click here to read this wonderful example.</a></p><p>
&nbsp;</p><hr>

A safer way would probably be to have several external "include files", rotating between them. With the above code, you'd need to check carefully that there were no accidental non-escaped quotes. Using a double quote would cause the script to break (and that's in your HTML).

So - create multiple .htm(l) pages, each with a variant of the code you have below.. and then go like this:


I haven't tested this, but it should work... you can add/edit "file1.html", "file2.html", "file3.html". This assumes the files are in the same directory as the executing php. Let me know if it works.

Yes just make sure you escape the quotes. In other words, simply add a \ before each quotation mark within the HTML Like this:

Ok it turns out I ordered the wrong rotator and they do a php one and they swapped it for me. I've installed it and it works well. Very cheap at £5 thats USA $10 from

http://www.mooonbaby.com/scripts/phpabsoluterotators.html/