JavaScript encoded links on an AngularJS framework...bad idea for Google?

[AU-SEO]

Hi Guys,

I have a site where we're currently deploying code in AngularJS. As part of this, on the page we sometimes have links to 3rd party websites.

We do not want to have followed links on the site to the 3rd party sites as we may be perceived as a link farm since we have more than 1 million pages and a lot of these have external 3rd party links.

My question is, if we've got javascript to fire off the link to the 3rd party, is that enough to prevent Google from seeing that link? We do not have a NOFOLLOW on that currently.

The link anchor text simply says "Visit website" and the link is fired using JavaScript.

Here's a snapshot of the code we're using:

Visit website

Does anyone have any experience with anything like this on their own site or customer site that we can learn from just to ensure that we avoid any chances of being flagged for being a link farm?

Thank you

[KristinaKledzik]

Hi Kavit,

The short answer is no. Google can render some JS - possibly even AngularJS - so never assume that something rendered in JS is invisible to Google. You should assume that Google can see all links visitors can, and really push for a nofollow tag.

I usually check what Google can render by loading Google's cache of the page (go to Google.com and type in "cache:" in front of the exact URL of one of your pages). Look at the text-only version of the cache, and see if Google puts a link there. If they do, it's safe to assume that they can see that link. Another option is to use GSC to Fetch as Google; Google claims this is exactly what they're seeing.

If both the cache and GSC show that Google can't see a link, Google's probably not crawling it. But, Google's always getting better, and could suddenly see the links any day now. If these links are really a concern to you, I'd strongly suggest that you push your dev team to add nofollow tags to these outgoing links.

Best,

Kristina

[AU-SEO]

Hi Kristina,

First of all, thank you for taking the time out to respond.

Very valid rationale you provided. I did have a look at the cache version before I posted on here and it didnt show the link I was looking for, however the GSC screen showed the link highlighted as a link.

That's what got me confused. I guess its safe to assume in that case that it wont be seen by Google considering it's not in the text version of the cached page.

I'll work on getting a NOFOLLOW in there since there's no guarantees with Google when they change stuff around. But, its great to know that it isnt an immediate requirement at the moment...

Thank you again Kristina!

[KristinaKledzik]

Hm, I'd be a little concerned if GSC can see it. Maybe GSC can see that JS turns it into a link, but can't figure out what that link is?

Any way, sounds like your hands are kind of tied until you can get those nofollows! Definitely make a note in your analytics platform when you get them implemented - it'll be interesting to see what effect they have on your rankings.

Good luck!

Kristina