Should I worry about limiting link count on product listing/category pages?

[SimonGreer]

I've noticed that my link count is high (165ish for some) on my category listing pages. I've been scouring my page to see if there's any way that I can reduce the link count without restricting functionality to the end user.

Each product listing on the category page has 5 links currently:

1. A link to the product in the title
2. A link to the product from the image
3. An 'add to compare' link
4. An 'add to cart' link
5. An 'add to wishlist' link

When the customer chooses to show 30 products per page, the link tally goes off the scale. So I have two questions:

Firstly - is it appropriate to keep link count down in this scenario? To elaborate - is it just inevitable that product listing pages will have lots of links, and should I just assume that Google knows this and forget about these warnings.

Secondly - There are two links to the same page (the title and image links to the product page). Does SEOmoz include this in the link count, and more importantly, will Google take heed of these when deciding whether the page is too link-heavy?

[firstconversion]

http://www.seomoz.org/q/too-many-on-page-links-5

http://www.seomoz.org/q/too-many-links-on-your-blog

S

[RyanKent]

Is it just inevitable that product listing pages will have lots of links, and should I just assume that Google knows this and forget about these warnings.

When you offer 165 links on the page, they all receive the same link juice, adjusted for where they appear on the page (i.e. header, footer, navigation) and with the idea the links at the top of the page are probably given more value then links lower on the page. To this end, it has nothing to do with what Google knows, and more with how you view the importance of your pages.

One possible idea. Can the "add to" links be presented in another format to where the links were not counted by Google? Add to cart, add to wishlist,  add to compare don't seem to add any value to search engines. Perhaps they can be presented in a block together and not presented as links. As for the specific method, you can use encoded javascript or other options. I suggest speaking with a programmer on this topic.

Normally I don't endorse methods to hide links but these aren't links in the traditional sense. The user is not going anywhere but instead triggering an action. When a user clicks on a product link, that is a link in the traditional sense they are taken to a new page on your site. When a user clicks on one of the "add to" buttons, the user remains on the same page and an action is performed. If you do go with the javascript method, keep in mind any adjustments necessary for analytics tracking of actions.

There are two links to the same page (the title and image links to the product page). Does SEOmoz include this in the link count, and more importantly, will Google take heed of these when deciding whether the page is too link-heavy?

SEOmoz will count every link regardless of whether it is to the same target or not. No one knows for sure how Google handles the situation. Opinions on this topic vary. Over time I have seen theories going each way. We know for sure Google only associates anchor text with the first link to a target page. The weighting factors involved with multiple links are open to speculation.

[SimonGreer]

Thanks Stephen, I've seen some of the debate, but I'm more curious what sort of strategy is best for ecommerce sites specifically, where many of the links serve as functions rather than content links (as Ryan mentions below). Any pointers?

[SimonGreer]

Thanks for the thorough response Ryan.

I've changed the add-to links to onclick=setLocation(). It seems logical to separate the 'functional' elements of a website from the content elements.

I've read some differing opinions about the use of Javascript instead of HTML, with some people suggesting that Google is just as capable of reading Javascript syntax. Whilst I'm sure that's true, it seems like a pretty rational way of distinguishing between content and function, and I'm curious to know whether Google makes that distinction, and whether it's considered standard best-practice to separate your linking methods in this way...?

[RyanKent]

I'm sorry Simon but you have reached the extent of my knowledge on the topic. Many things can only be answered by a Google employee...who can't answer because of a non-disclosure agreement.

Our sources of Google info are primarily Matt Cutts, official Google announcements and the occasional response shared by a Google employee on their forums.

I would agree with you that Google is quite capable or reading and executing javascript if they want to. I plan to perform a lot of various testing in the future and this sounds like a good candidate. In the mean time, I'd welcome any additional knowledge or experience others can share on this topic.