The next trick up the link cheat’s sleeve is his – or her – use of javascript. As many of you know, javascript menus are usually a negative in your on-site SEO efforts.
While Google might have made inroads in following/using these menus, the others usually cannot. And even Google is not 100% yet.
Your friendly link partner takes this knowledge and uses it to his advantage.
Here’s an example of what javascript links look like:
javascript:void window.open(‘http://www.example.com’, ‘Win1’, ‘toolbar=yes, directories=yes, location=yes, status=yes, menubar=yes, resizable=yes, scrollbars=yes, width=600, height=400’)
Yes, it’s a link. No, the search engines won’t catalog it. Again, Google might, since there is an URL there. But that is no guarantee.
If someone gives you a link like this, chances are they did it on purpose. Now, if you find that they’ve given you an External javascript link, you’ve definitely been taken.
The external javascript link will look similar to the above, but without all the designations of width, height, toolbars, etc. An external javascript link won’t be cataloged even by Google on their best days.
Don’t bother contacting your partner, just yank their link from your site. You might get an email full of mock surprise and indignation from them, but that’s all. Don’t waste your time.
We’re now finished with Part 4 – a sad statement on how many ways people have come up with to cheat others. Part 5 is coming up as we try to help you in your search engine ranking quest.