Does Google Read Javascript?
-
I would like to include a list of links in a select type box which I would like google to follow. In order to do this, I will be styling it with the help of javascript, and in turn change the select box into a ul and the options into li's. The li's would each contain a link, but if javascript is disabled it will fallback to a normal css styled select box.
My question is would google follow the links made by the javascript? Or would the bot just recognize the select box as a select box and not links.
Thanks for any help!
-
Some additional notes...
Traditionally, Google hasn't followed javascript, but they are getting much better at using it for link discovery.
Just a few weeks ago Matt Cutts made a video in which he recommended making your javascript more readable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8yTn_HLDaJs
And some evidence in the wild about Google becoming more script friendly:
http://www.webpronews.com/is-googlebot-getting-more-human-like-2012-05
That said, it's still by far better for SEO purposes to ensure that your links are HTML based. Although Google may still discover javascript links, it's unknown what link attributes like anchor text and PageRank pass through them. Best practices, for now, still say to use regular HTML links.
-
Matt says that Google can read some javascript...
Danny Sullivan speculates that they will be able to see those links:
http://searchengineland.com/google-can-now-execute-ajax-javascript-for-indexing-99518
But in my opinion, if you want your links to be seen without a doubt, don't put them in java.
-
I would assume you're talking about using a JS method to create links in the DOM. The answer here is no, Googlebot will not recognize them. Google has improved their ability to read some JS (like if you use an embedded JS link Googlebot can understand that) but it does not interpret or execute JS that I know of.
If you go this route, I would suggest enumerating your links in a noscript block.
-
Google doesn't follow javascript so if you want the links followed on that page you'll need to somehow include them in your code.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google indexing is slowing down?
I have up to 20 million unique pages, and so far I've only submitted about 30k of them on my sitemap. We had a few load related errors during googles initial visits, and it thought some were duplicates, but we fixed all that. We haven't gotten a crawl related error for 2 weeks now. Google appears to be indexing fewer and fewer urls every time it visits. Any ideas why? I am not sure how to get all our pages indexed if its going to operate like this... love some help thanks! HnJaXSM.png
Technical SEO | | RyanTheMoz0 -
Google Analytics Annotation
Is there a way to add annotations to the GA visitors graph? There is a YouTube tutorial on how to do this but the comments suggest is has not be rolled out yet in the US and I can't get it to work. Best,
Technical SEO | | ChristopherGlaeser
Christopher0 -
Google authorship syntax, plus no follow
I have seen two forms of rel=author syntax. Are they both valid? (1) (2) Second, does 'no follow' take away authorship? Is there any point in doing rel=author for a link that is rel=no follow? Like this:
Technical SEO | | scanlin0 -
Influencing Google Instant Preview
Hello there! I have been looking at how our articles are shown in Google Instant Previews. While the description in the SERPs picks up the first paragraph from the article from the main table/div body, the Instant Preview highlights a text ad in the top right of the side column. According to Google https://sites.google.com/site/webmasterhelpforum/en/faq-instant-previews Q: How can I influence the text highlighted in the preview image?
Technical SEO | | CleverPhD
A: The highlighted text is automatically chosen based on the user's search query. Only text that is visible on the page can be selected for highlighting. Google is highlighting the same block of text from an ad space over and over again. "Download our Free Guide ...." vs the first paragraph in the article. Any ideas folks?0 -
Can Google read onClick links?
Can Google read and pass link juice in a link like this? <a <span="">href</a><a <span="">="#Link123" onClick="window.open('http://www.mycompany.com/example','Link123')">src="../../img/example.gif"/></a> Thanks!
Technical SEO | | jorgediaz0 -
Help with google adsense
Hi i wonder if anyone can help me with google adsense. I am having trouble making money with google adsense. I have been altering my pages to try and get better results with google adsense but nothing works. my traffic at the moment is about 3000 visitors a day but this should be doubled to around 6000 a day within the next two months. here is the layout of a typical page and i would be grateful for any advice on how to alter it to make money with google adsense http://www.in2town.co.uk/showbiz-gossip/rihanna-news/rihanna-shocks-fans-over-her-sexy-body-claims
Technical SEO | | ClaireH-1848860 -
My site cannot be found by google at all
I don't know why but our company site can not be found by google at all. I have submitted to google webmaster, have social media point to, etc, Is there any reason for this? url for our website is www.bistosamerica.com Thank you
Technical SEO | | BistosAmerica0