Audit page links to find missing, empty, or unusable href values and navigation handled only by JavaScript. Guide fixes using real URLs and appropriate HTML elements so search engines can discover linked pages.
Use when auditing a page's link elements for crawlability, reviewing JavaScript-heavy SPAs where navigation may not use `<a href>` tags, or checking that dynamically generated links have valid href values.
invalid-links checks whether search engines can follow a page’s links to discover other pages and fixes problematic HTML. It groups issues by type and reports a count for each: missing or empty href attributes, values beginning with javascript:, and fragment links whose destination does not exist on the page. Elements that navigate through JavaScript click handlers alone are also included in the review.
Use it for SEO reviews of pages that rely heavily on JavaScript or generate links dynamically. It helps examine elements that look clickable but do not give search engines a destination they can follow. The review also distinguishes elements used for navigation from elements that only perform an action.
button elements.”mailto: and tel: are valid links, but they are treated separately from links used to discover pages. When using #, specify a destination that actually exists within the page.
This overview was written by AI (OpenAI Codex) from the public SKILL.md. Check the original below for the exact behavior.
AI rated this skill on four points using only the contents of its SKILL.md. Stars and popularity are not taken into account.
The total counts each point as A = 25, B = 15, C = 5. Rated by AI (OpenAI Codex) as of Oct 23, 2026. Treat it as a guide and read the original before installing.
Review the instructions the agent will receive before you install.
Google can only follow links declared as valid <a href> elements with crawlable URL values. Invalid links — empty hrefs, JavaScript voids, or non-URL content — prevent PageRank from flowing to linked pages and stop Googlebot from discovering those destinations.
<a> tags (empty href, JavaScript voids, non-URL values) are not crawlable — Googlebot cannot follow them<a href='...'> elements with valid absolute or relative URLs to pass PageRank and be followedhref) is invisible to search engine crawlersParse all <a> elements on the page. Flag links where href: (1) is empty (href='' or href='#' with no meaningful target). (2) starts with javascript: (e.g., href='javascript:void(0)'). (3) starts with mailto: or tel: — these are valid but not crawlable for page discovery. (4) contains only a fragment identifier that references an anchor not present on the page. (5) is absent entirely (<a> without any href attribute). Report the count per type.
href='javascript:void(0)' or href='#' as navigation triggers:
<a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="openModal()">View Details</a><a href="/products/details" onclick="openModal(event)">View Details</a><a> elements without href (used as button-like elements):
<button> elementshref='': either add the correct URL or remove the <a> wrapperhref='#' anchors: use meaningful fragment IDs that reference actual page sections (href='#features' where id='features' exists)Google's documentation states that crawlable links must be <a> tags with an href attribute containing a valid URL. Links with javascript: hrefs, empty hrefs, or no href attribute are not followed by crawlers. This means pages only reachable through invalid links are not discovered by Googlebot, and any intended PageRank flow is blocked.
Query all <a> elements in the rendered DOM. For each, extract the href attribute. Flag: absent href, empty string, '#' only, values starting with javascript:, values starting with void. Separately flag <div>, <span>, or <button> elements with onclick navigation handlers that lack a corresponding <a href> — these are not crawlable.
For full implementation details, code examples, and framework-specific guidance,
see references/rule.md.
Rule page: https://frontendchecklist.io/rules/seo/invalid-links
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