Can obfuscated Javascript be used for too many links on a page?

[TrevorJones]

Hi mozzers

Just looking for opinions/answers on if it is ever appropriate to use obfuscated Javascript on links when a page has many links but they need to be there for usability?

It seems grey/black hat to me as it shows users something different to Google (alarm bells are sounding already!) BUT if the page has many links it's losing juice which could be saved.......

Any thoughts appreciated, thanks.

[dohertyjf]

Hey Trevor -

A couple of things here. First, I would never recommend that someone use obfuscated Javascript on links in order to make it so that the crawlers cannot see them.

Also, I think the "too many links on a page" guideline is not one to follow too strictly. It's not an "error" in the Moz Pro Campaigns because it is a guideline. Depending on your site, you can have many more than 100 links on a page and be fine. Or, you can use other ways (iframes, nav behind Javascript) to have these links available to the crawlers.

Just remember (as I am sure you do) that these links will not pass any link juice and you will need to use other ways to get your pages indexed and to have a good crawler-friendly architecture.

Just my two cents. I don't think you'd be cloaking, but it's starting to get a bit iffy. I'd steer clear.

[TrevorJones]

Hi John

Thank you for your reply. It's kind of what I was thinking - if it feels grey or iffy....it probably is!

The reasoning was that it is a custom system with a list of car manufacturers, with outbound links to their websites. That's 34 external links on every page.

The client didn't develop the system so I'm trying to work with it and optimise as best I can, without needing them to incur development costs.

Thanks again for your reply.

Trevor