Empty <a>tag (no href or name attribute specificed) potential effect on link juice</a>

[Dameian]

I have a client that insists on using the ProPhoto WordPress theme. This theme has an interesting habit of putting empty anchor tags in the site nav in order to nest css dropdowns. By empty I mean totally empty. For example:

<a>Navigation Link</a>

Since the anchor does not specify a destiation, do you think it would have any effect on link juice one way or the other? This wouldn't count as an additional link on the page would it?

My inclination and personal practice is not to risk quirky things like this, but I'd like a second opinion before I suggest changes to the client's site.

Thanks!

[StalkerB]

I've been having a think about this one and while I'm not sure, I'm going to say I don't think it wouldn't have an effect on link juice passing. As in if there were 4 links and an empty anchor the juice would be divided by 4 and not 5.

Current W3 anchor use - http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/links.html#h-12.1.3 - allows for various parameters in the <a>tag, however I'm willing to bet (not a huge sum of money though) that the href itself triggers the link part of a link (and am I right saying even js links need href="#" or similar to trigger?).</a>

<a>Plus I think older versions of HTML allowed things other than links within anchors (though I may be making that up) so if the engines have grown around those older versions it makes sense they look for something other than the 'a' in the tag to work.

I can't think of a good way to test though, maybe somebody can clarify my thinking or tell me if I'm wrong.

I agree with you though that it's not wise to put quirky elements like this on a page, especially if there's a lot of dropdowns. How do the navigation links work if there's no href?</a>

[Dameian]

Thanks for the feedback Barry. it is much appreciated. I tend to agree that the href would be a far more probable trigger for determining what is actually a link than the <a>itself.</a>

<a>I just want to make sure I give the best possible advice to my client, but I am starting to lean toward this being something of a non-issue the more I think about it.</a>

<a>To answer your question regarding how the nav works: In this case the :hover css pseudo-class on the empty</a> <a>tag causes the nested sub-menu with actual links to become visible. The empty</a> <a>is nothing but a trigger for the sub-menu.</a>

<a>Cheers!

Dameian</a>

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[Dameian]

I know! I searched far and wide and found no discussion on this at all which was both surprising and frustrating. The lack of information is what led me to post the question because surely someone has encountered this at somepoint, right!?

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[katemorris]

I've been thinking about this one too. And my inital reaction is that it doesn't count. Another thread at Google backs me up, http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=7778313784ba6db5&hl=en

I'd go with that it doesn't, not unless the href is present.