Is 'Target=Blank' Bad For SE Spiders?
 

Hello, recently I've been wondering if opening links in a new window via target="_blank" affects a site's search engine ranking, or if crawlers are able to read & follow the links properly. If anyone knows, I would very much appreciate a reply. :thumbsup

Thanks,
c-lo

Nope, none at all from what I've seen.

Oh, well the reason I ask is that when I use a checker for broken links, all of the links opened in new windows are viewed as redirections...and I'm not sure if it's seen as a form of 'se friendly redirection.'

I appreciate your help, pk.

Anyone else want to try & prove otherwise?

Thanks,
c-lo

its sort of hard to tell , anything is mostly just a guess , but i use

<base target="_blank"> in the header to set all links to new window , then add target="_top" to links i want in the same window , and it doesnt seem to affect rank.. if anything it might make your site rank higher, by giving less value to links in new window

You can use javascript to open a new window and set all your links to rel="external"

That will make your code validate xhtml 1.1 as well.

Hmmm good point Smokey...I didn't really think of that.

I guess it probably won't hurt then...

Thanks guys!
c-lo

Not at all from what I noticed ...

doubt it makes any difference...