Do javascript pseudo-links dilute link juice ?

[Strelok]

Hi,

On our ecommerce, we use multiple pseudo-links for the layered navigation (to filter by color, site, etc), so that google doesn't crawl every combination of filters.

I know this kind of links don't pass link juice and don't get crawled (provided you hide the target urls in your javascript). But, as there is an "onclick" property, I'm afraid that google could understand that these are links, and treat them the same way as nofollowed links (not following them but diluting link juice anyway).

Do you know if this is the case ?

Thanks,

[David-Kley]

No, you should not have any issues with dilluting the source URL, and not pass link juice to the other pages.

Here is a short list of ways I've used the span link.

1. For links that only run JavaScript when they are clicked. They don't load a new page into the browser.

   The same thing can be done with href="javascript:..." within an A tag. With the span link, however, any JavaScript that affects the A tags on a page will not affect the span link.

2. For links that only run JavaScript when a mouse hovers over it. They're not supposed to load a new page when the link is clicked.

   The span link in this case is so much more elegant. An A tag must have an href attribute and, if the link is used only for an onmouseover, the href must be constructed to do nothing when the link is clicked.

3. Hide from spiders that another web page is being linked to.

   Perhaps you wish to link to another website for the convenience of your visitors. Yet, the other website is not in the same category as yours and you don't want certain search engines to think your site is similar to that other.

   Or, you simply don't want to provide link juice to the other site.

Source: http://www.willmaster.com/library/web-development/linking-without-an-a-tag.php

[Strelok]

Hi,

It is not set to nofollow, since it is a section (not a <a>). My question was if Google would handle a link the same way as a</a> <a href="" rel="nofollow">, i.e. not pass link juice to the target url, but still dilute link juice from the source url ?</a>

<a href="" rel="nofollow">Thanks</a>

[David-Kley]

Since the onclick event is a Javascript issue it's to all intents and purposes ignored by the search engines. What counts is whether or not your link appears in the href attribute, and whether or not the link is nofollowed. You stated that it is already set to no-follow, so you should be ok.