: Backlinks within noscript tags I know that search engines index the content between noscript tags, but I was wondering if it is an acceptable method (as far as Google etc are concerned) to

@Shanna517

I don't see how this is a 'win-win'. You say it cheapens the design if it includes a link to the designer, but then you're including a link anyway and just putting it inside of a noscript tag.

How does the client win by you secretly displaying a self-promotional ad to users with JavaScript disabled? How does the search user or search engine win by you gaming the system by putting invisible backlinks to yourself on client websites?

The only difference between inserting a backlink in a noscript tag and hiding backlinks using CSS is that with noscript it'll actually be seen by a small percentage of users. In both cases, you're basically spamdexing, which is no better than keyword stuffing.

Compare that with unsurreptitiously putting a tasteful credit to yourself (preferably with an appropriate nofollow since this isn't an organically generated external backlink) in the footer, where the client has agreed to this and knows exactly how it will look to their end users. It's not deceptive to the client or search engines, and since you know everyone will see it, you'll take more care to make it look nice.

If you want your self-link to be less prominently displayed, then give it a more demure/toned down look that blends in with the design. Maybe make it smaller, or leave out any text and just put a faint silhouette of your logo in the corner. Alternatively, you could ask the client to include you on a links/partners page if they have one, or just give you a shoutout on their blog or twitter.

But use noscript for what it was designed for—to display alternate content to users who can't process JS.

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@Pope3001725

If you're doing this to serve only to search engines then this is essentially just another form of cloaking and is a violation of the search engines' terms of service and would result in your site being removed from their indexes.

You should only be using <noscript> to offer alternate content to users who do not support JavaScript. So if you have some JavaScript that you want to place on your customers' sites, and it contains a link back to you, then you can use <noscript> as an alternative for users who do not support JavaScript.

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