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Google Confirms a Way to Hide Internal Links via @martinibuster

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Google’s John Mueller answered a question about links in the button element, confirming that Google can’t see them. Some SEOs have been hiding internal links in the button element in order to block PageRank from “unimportant” pages. Mueller’s answer seems to confirm that the tactic for hiding links from Google works.

But just because something can be done, should it?

Screenshot of Google's John MuellerGoogle’s John Mueller discussing links in the button HTML element.Screenshot of Google's John Mueller

PRG Pattern for Hiding Links from Google

PageRank Sculpting, the practice of hiding internal links from Google, is not a tactic that I’ve ever endorsed or recommended.

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However it’s a tactic that many SEOs are interested in.

The concept of the Post/Redirect/Get Pattern (PRG Pattern) for hiding links is the topic raised by the person asking the question and the answer given by John Mueller.

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The phrase “PRG Pattern” is never mentioned, but the concept of PRG Pattern is what they are both discussing.

The PRG pattern, sometimes referred to as “The New Nofollow,” is a way to hide internal links from Google by using a button HTML element.

Reasons to Hide Links with the PRG Pattern

There are legitimate reasons to hide links this way in ecommerce stores. Some stores may generate multiple URLs for the same product page.  By using this method, a store owner can hide those links from Google and prevent them from having to deal with them. There are even Magento extensions that help to create these kinds of links for online stores.

Another reason some SEOs use the tactic is to keep PageRank from flowing to certain pages that don’t contribute to rankings.  Examples of the kinds of pages that some SEOs block are pages about privacy or the terms of service.

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The ultimate goal of this tactic is to maximize the amount of PageRank flowing to the pages that matter.

As I stated earlier however, this is not a tactic that I recommend.

PRG Pattern – The New Nofollow

PageRank is the name given to a value that’s assigned to a link that is passed from one link to another link. The more PageRank a page accrues the more trustworthy and popular Google’s algorithm assumes it to be, which helps in rankings.

The practice of limiting what pages receive PageRank is called PageRank Sculpting. The goal of PageRank sculpting is to hide links from Google so that no PageRank is sent to those pages.

How Does the PRG Pattern Link Sculpting Work?

The PRG Pattern is basically a form button, like a submit button. For example, when a site visitor submits a form the form redirects the visitor to a “Thank you” page that thanks them for submitting the form.

When the person asking the question references a “button tag” what they are talking about is the button HTML element. The button HTML element is associated with forms, like a contact form, for example.

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The PRG Pattern for conserving PageRank works in a similar way to a contact form button. The PRG Pattern “link” is a form button that redirects the site visitor to another internal web page.

To the site visitor the button is just a navigational element that might be labeled with the phrase, “Privacy Policy.

Does Button Element Negatively Affect SEO?

The question asked is if using a button HTML element for internal linking is harmful to SEO.

Here’s the question:

“Does it negatively affect SEO for internal linking if an anchor tag only contains a button tag?

Does Googlebot take the text inside the button tag into account as a signal for internal links?

Or would it be better to use plain text inside of an anchor tag?”

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Google’s John Mueller answers the question, confirming that Google does not click buttons to see where they lead to.

John Mueller’s answer:

“So at least as far as I understand it, by default, a button element on a page is essentially tied to a form element.

And you can use JavaScript to trigger a kind of a navigation to a specific URL, which makes it kind of like a link.

But, essentially, Googlebot won’t click on these buttons to see what happens.

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So we would not see that there’s a link associated to another URL within your website.”

If what John Mueller says in his answer is correct, then it appears that the PRG Pattern for Hiding Links could be used to hide pages from Google so that PageRank does not flow to so-called non-essential pages.

John Mueller continued his answer, suggesting a way to use Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to create the image of a form that contains a link that Google can follow.

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Of course, if the goal of the publisher is to hide links from Google, then that’s not something they would be interested in.

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Mueller continued:

“So in that regard, if you want to use …something that looks like a button for internal navigation then I would use normal HTML links and just style it with CSS to make it look like a button rather than to use button elements in HTML and add JavaScript that kind of makes them act like a link.”

Can PageRank Be Sculpted Using the PRG Pattern?

According to John Mueller, if what he says is correct, then it may be that the PRG Pattern method may be a way to hide links from Google and keep PageRank from flowing to them.

Mueller didn’t indicate that this is something that was “harmful to SEO” either.

The idea of PageRank is about one site voting for another site. That’s a powerful signal.

The distribution of PageRank to internal pages may not be as strong a signal as a link from another site to an important page of another site.  A good site structure is important for helping Google find pages to crawl.

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Although SEOs will tend to focus on squeezing every possible advantage, in my opinion, focusing on promoting a site and creating a good internal linking structure is a far better use of time than PageRank sculpting.

Citation

Watch Google’s John Mueller say Google can’t see links in button HTML elements

The segment begins at the 42:.03 minute mark. [embedded content]

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Facebook Faces Yet Another Outage: Platform Encounters Technical Issues Again

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Facebook Problem Again

Uppdated: It seems that today’s issues with Facebook haven’t affected as many users as the last time. A smaller group of people appears to be impacted this time around, which is a relief compared to the larger incident before. Nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for those affected, and hopefully, the issues will be resolved soon by the Facebook team.

Facebook had another problem today (March 20, 2024). According to Downdetector, a website that shows when other websites are not working, many people had trouble using Facebook.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has had issues. Just a little while ago, there was another problem that stopped people from using the site. Today, when people tried to use Facebook, it didn’t work like it should. People couldn’t see their friends’ posts, and sometimes the website wouldn’t even load.

Downdetector, which watches out for problems on websites, showed that lots of people were having trouble with Facebook. People from all over the world said they couldn’t use the site, and they were not happy about it.

When websites like Facebook have problems, it affects a lot of people. It’s not just about not being able to see posts or chat with friends. It can also impact businesses that use Facebook to reach customers.

Since Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram, the problems with Facebook also meant that people had trouble using these apps. It made the situation even more frustrating for many users, who rely on these apps to stay connected with others.

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During this recent problem, one thing is obvious: the internet is always changing, and even big websites like Facebook can have problems. While people wait for Facebook to fix the issue, it shows us how easily things online can go wrong. It’s a good reminder that we should have backup plans for staying connected online, just in case something like this happens again.

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We asked ChatGPT what will be Google (GOOG) stock price for 2030

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We asked ChatGPT what will be Google (GOOG) stock price for 2030

Investors who have invested in Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) stock have reaped significant benefits from the company’s robust financial performance over the last five years. Google’s dominance in the online advertising market has been a key driver of the company’s consistent revenue growth and impressive profit margins.

In addition, Google has expanded its operations into related fields such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence. These areas show great promise as future growth drivers, making them increasingly attractive to investors. Notably, Alphabet’s stock price has been rising due to investor interest in the company’s recent initiatives in the fast-developing field of artificial intelligence (AI), adding generative AI features to Gmail and Google Docs.

However, when it comes to predicting the future pricing of a corporation like Google, there are many factors to consider. With this in mind, Finbold turned to the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT to suggest a likely pricing range for GOOG stock by 2030. Although the tool was unable to give a definitive price range, it did note the following:

“Over the long term, Google has a track record of strong financial performance and has shown an ability to adapt to changing market conditions. As such, it’s reasonable to expect that Google’s stock price may continue to appreciate over time.”

GOOG stock price prediction

While attempting to estimate the price range of future transactions, it is essential to consider a variety of measures in addition to the AI chat tool, which includes deep learning algorithms and stock market experts.

Finbold collected forecasts provided by CoinPriceForecast, a finance prediction tool that utilizes machine self-learning technology, to anticipate Google stock price by the end of 2030 to compare with ChatGPT’s projection.

According to the most recent long-term estimate, which Finbold obtained on March 20, the price of Google will rise beyond $200 in 2030 and touch $247 by the end of the year, which would indicate a 141% gain from today to the end of the year.

2030 GOOG price prediction: Source: CoinPriceForecast

Google has been assigned a recommendation of ‘strong buy’ by the majority of analysts working on Wall Street for a more near-term time frame. Significantly, 36 analysts of the 48 have recommended a “strong buy,” while seven people have advocated a “buy.” The remaining five analysts had given a ‘hold’ rating.

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1679313229 737 We asked ChatGPT what will be Google GOOG stock price
Wall Street GOOG 12-month price prediction: Source: TradingView

The average price projection for Alphabet stock over the last three months has been $125.32; this objective represents a 22.31% upside from its current price. It’s interesting to note that the maximum price forecast for the next year is $160, representing a gain of 56.16% from the stock’s current price of $102.46.

While the outlook for Google stock may be positive, it’s important to keep in mind that some potential challenges and risks could impact its performance, including competition from ChatGPT itself, which could affect Google’s price.


Disclaimer: The content on this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative. When investing, your capital is at risk.

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This Apple Watch app brings ChatGPT to your wrist — here’s why you want it

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Apple Watch Series 8

ChatGPT feels like it is everywhere at the moment; the AI-powered tool is rapidly starting to feel like internet connected home devices where you are left wondering if your flower pot really needed Bluetooth. However, after hearing about a new Apple Watch app that brings ChatGPT to your favorite wrist computer, I’m actually convinced this one is worth checking out.

The new app is called watchGPT and as I tipped off already, it gives you access to ChatGPT from your Apple Watch. Now the $10,000 question (or more accurately the $3.99 question, as that is the one-time cost of the app) is why having ChatGPT on your wrist is remotely necessary, so let’s dive into what exactly the app can do.

What can watchGPT do?

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