Many webmasters want to make JavaScript links instead of HTML links because they believe this will “conserve PR”. This is an unresolved argument among search engine optimization specialists.

A normal HTML link looks like this:

<a href=”http://www.byteguide.com”>ByteGuide</a>

And works like this:

ByteGuide

A JavaScript link looks like this:

<a href=”javascript:var handle=window.open(‘http://www.byteguide.com’)”>ByteGuide</a>

And works like this:

ByteGuide

An Alternative to JavaScript Links

An alternative to JavaScript links is to create PHP-scripted links. To create PHP-scripted links, try the Via toy from SEO-Toys.

PHP is a server-side technology, and does not rely upon client-side browser support. Many users disable JavaScript in their browsers, or use browsers which do not support Javascript.