Hiding Links Under A Tab As Good As Anything Else And More Attractive?

[94501]

I'm working with a site that finds standard linking to spread authority to interior pages ugly. Here's what they don't like:

• footers

• tag clouds

• sidebar lists of links

• text heavy paragraphs with links

• a gallery of images with alt text/links

So, I'm looking for other ways to link from their homepage to these less prominent pages inside the site. Here are my two questions:

1. Would something like this work, with the links under the "Specs" tab (p.s., this is just a random example and not my client):

http://www.goincase.com/products/detail/CL57925/

2. Any other ideas for spreading the authority via links from their homepage and other pages on the site to less powerful pages?

Thanks! Best...Mike

[94501]

Hey, thanks Sheldon!

[Doc_Sheldon]

In my opinion, there's nothing greyhat about those tabs, Mike. The mouseover makes it quite obvious that it's a navigation link, and in reality, you're not even taking the user to another page. I wouldn't hesitate to use it myself.

[94501]

Thanks Ryan!

I think it's a technique that could lend itself to borderline grey hatness, just because it doesn't really seem geared to the user and you could really bury a ton of links. In this particular example, the links don't appear as links until you roll over them. Maybe just a design goof. Thanks!

[RyanKent]

The links are clearly visible in HTML so Google will pick up on them. The links are accessible to visitors. It is basically a different form of a drop down menu. You click the menu button, then the page changes not terribly unlike a frame.

My gut feeling is this is grey hat SEO, but I can't place my finger on where it crosses the line. A webmaster can say "hey, the links are clear and available to anyone who wants to see or use them." and they would be right.

What makes it grey to me is clearly most visitors would never see those links.

Overall, I would be ok with using that technique, but I would give preference to the image idea I shared if that was a reasonable option.

I would be interested to hear feedback from others on the topic.

[94501]

I'm probably not explaining it very well. Sorry.

You go here: http://www.goincase.com/products/detail/CL57925/

You click on the "Specs" tab. You get a new tab which breaks down info by "Compatability, Color, Styles & Sku". Under "Styles" there's a line that reads:

"black, CMJ, convertible, ipad, iPad2, iPad 2, snap, snap case"

Those links.

[RyanKent]

I must be missing something. I do not see any line for Styles.

I did a CTRL+F for Specs and their is only one instance of Specs on the page. I did a search for "styles" and that term is not found on this page.

Here is a link to a screenshot of what I see: http://www.terapvp.com/data/external/specs.jpg

[94501]

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for the message. I only say "hiding" in the sense of making text links less prominent design-wise. So, instead of having columns of text links, to do something more attractive, maybe with images or tabs or something.

On the example under the "Specs" tab, there's a line for "Styles." Those terms are links to other pages.

Do you think those links under "Styles" get picked up by a Google bot and valued as well as any other kind of link?

Thanks! Best...Mike

[RyanKent]

Hi Mike.

Would something like this work, with the links under the "Specs" tab?

I am not clear on what you mean when you refer to links under the Specs tab. I do see the Specs tab on the site you mentioned. I see it in a navigation bar: About, Features, Specs, Reviews. That is a perfectly acceptable way to offer a link. There is nothing hidden about it. Am I missing something?

Any other ideas for spreading the authority via links from their homepage?

The only idea that comes to mind to "hide" links is you can link images to the links. If you have a site similar to the one you mentioned, you can have a line of thumbnail images of various products with each image being a link to a different page within your site.

The moment you say "hiding" alarms go off in my head. As long as the link is clearly visible and usable to visitors, then there is no problem with it. You certainly do not have to call attention to the link, but if you actually hide it, you've crossed the black hat line.