Google Explains Link Obfuscation

Google Search Advocate John Mueller has responded to a discussion about whether changing internal links on a webpage could improve SEO by influencing which anchor text Google uses.

The conversation centred on the long-debated idea of “first link priority” – the belief that when a page links to the same destination more than once, Google only considers the anchor text of the first link.

The SEO Question

The discussion began on Reddit, where a website owner explained that their homepage links to the same services page twice.

The first link appears as a prominent “Services” button near the top of the page, while a second link appears later within an FAQ section using more descriptive anchor text.

To encourage Google to recognise the second link instead, the website owner planned to remove the first button as a traditional HTML link. Although visitors would still be able to click it using JavaScript, it would no longer be coded as a standard hyperlink.

They asked whether this approach would improve how Google interpreted the page.

Mueller Says the Impact Is Likely Minimal

Mueller suggested the proposed change was unlikely to have any noticeable effect on search performance.

He explained that Google has extensive experience processing different website structures and would not expect such a modification to produce visible ranking improvements.

Rather than replacing links with buttons or relying on JavaScript, he recommended keeping proper HTML links intact and, if necessary, adjusting the order of links within the page’s source code while using CSS to maintain the same visual layout for visitors.

This approach avoids creating unnecessary technical issues while allowing developers to experiment with link placement.

The Debate Around First Link Priority

The theory of first link priority has circulated within the SEO community for many years. It suggests that if multiple links point to the same destination, Google only considers the anchor text of the first link it encounters.

However, Google has never officially confirmed that this behaviour exists.

Previous comments from Mueller have also indicated that even if certain patterns appear to work today, they should not be treated as permanent ranking signals because Google’s systems continue to evolve.

Why Proper Links Still Matter

Google’s documentation continues to recommend using standard HTML anchor tags with an href attribute for internal navigation.

Although Google can process JavaScript, it does not reliably treat every clickable element as a crawlable link. Buttons or other elements that rely solely on scripts may not pass the same signals as conventional hyperlinks.

For this reason, replacing links with JavaScript-powered buttons is generally not considered best practice.

What Website Owners Should Take Away

Internal linking remains an important part of SEO, but Mueller’s comments suggest that website owners should avoid overcomplicating their navigation in an attempt to influence Google’s interpretation of anchor text.

Instead of removing links or creating workarounds, maintaining clean HTML, using proper anchor tags and organising page structure logically remains the recommended approach. While debates around first link priority continue, Google has not confirmed that changing the order of duplicate links alone will deliver any meaningful SEO benefit.