By Shad Super in Questions —

What Practices Make JavaScript Links SEO-friendly?

Summary

Making JavaScript links SEO-friendly involves ensuring that search engines can easily crawl and index the content associated with those links. This includes using appropriate HTML elements, ensuring accessibility, implementing server-side rendering (SSR) or static site generation (SSG), and clearly marking internal and external links. The following guide covers best practices and techniques to achieve SEO-friendly JavaScript links.

Use Anchor Tags (<a>)

Always use the standard HTML <a> tag for creating links. This ensures that search engines recognize the elements as navigational links. A well-structured link looks like:

<a href="https://example.com/page" target="_blank">Go to Page</a>

Using JavaScript to dynamically create links can be SEO-friendly if it results in properly formed <a> tags.

Ensure Accessibility and Usability

Include Descriptive Anchor Text

Anchor text should be descriptive and include relevant keywords. This helps both search engines and users understand the context of the link.

<a href="https://example.com/seo-tips" target="_blank">Learn SEO Tips</a>

Include ARIA Roles

For accessibility, complement JavaScript-enhanced navigation with appropriate ARIA roles:

<a href="https://example.com/page" role="button">Click Here</a>

Server-Side Rendering (SSR) or Static Site Generation (SSG)

While single-page applications (SPAs) rely heavily on JavaScript, they can hinder SEO if content renders client-side. Implementing SSR or SSG can ensure search engines crawl and index content effectively.

Server-Side Rendering (SSR)

SSR renders page content on the server and sends fully assembled HTML to the browser, improving search engine visibility.

const express = require('express');
const app = express();
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
  const html = '...'; // Rendered HTML content
  res.send(html);
});

Frameworks like Next.js support SSR.

Static Site Generation (SSG)

SSG pre-renders pages at build time, combining the benefits of SSR with the performance of static hosting.

export async function getStaticProps() {
  const data = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data');
  return { props: { data } };
}
export default function HomePage({ data }) {
  return <div>...</div>;
}

Tools like Gatsby facilitate SSG.

Use Search Engine-Friendly URLs

Ensure URLs are static, descriptive, and human-readable:

https://example.com/seo-tips

To comply with search engine guidelines, add rel="nofollow" to links that are paid or should not pass link equity:

<a href="https://example.com/paid" rel="nofollow">Paid Link</a>

Refer to [Google's No-Follow Guidelines] for more information.

Clearly marking internal (within your site) and external links helps search engines understand and navigate your site structure effectively:

<a href="https://example.com/internal" rel="internal">Internal Link</a>
<a href="https://external.com" rel="external" target="_blank">External Link</a>

Use Event Listeners Creatively

When using event listeners to modify link behaviors, ensure the basic functionality is preserved for SEO purposes:

<a href="https://example.com/page" id="link">Click Here</a>
<script>
document.getElementById('link').addEventListener('click', function(event) {
  event.preventDefault();
  // Custom JS actions
});
</script>

Progressive Enhancement

Implement progressive enhancement, which ensures core functionality in HTML and augments additional features with JavaScript:

<a href="https://example.com/page">Click Here</a>
<script>
document.querySelector('a').addEventListener('click', (e) => {
  // Additional features
});
</script>

Conclusion

Ensuring JavaScript links are SEO-friendly involves using proper HTML markup, enhancing accessibility, applying SSR or SSG, making links crawlable, and following best practices for JavaScript usage. These strategies help search engines understand and index your content effectively.

References