Comments on: Are In-Text Home Page Links User-UNfriendly?

By: Purple Widget

Purple Widget — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 19:10:06 +0000

It can certainly be over done, yes. But wasn’t Wikipedia built on internal linking just like you’re talking about? Like most things we do it’s a balance between aesthetics and functionality.

By: Winooski

Winooski — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 16:03:09 +0000

…while I am writing a post and when occasionally using the word combination “seo blog” I need to link it to the home page…

Ann, nice example of having your cake and eating it, too. By demonstrating the technique in your post, you (theoretically) reap the benefit of increasing SearchEngineJournal.com’s homepage’s relevance for [seo blog].

Is the usability issue you raise obviated by your own use of the technique? I’d say “Yes”, but I tip my hat to you for clever meta-marketing.

By: Planet Buzz Man

Planet Buzz Man — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:53:45 +0000

If the link adds value to the article and the user experience as well as anchor text value why would any issue arise at all for Google or any other search engine… I don’t think Google needs to filter anything, I think webmasters and contentment writers need to smarten up and optimize in a fashion that will benefit all. There is nothing wrong with having a link pointing to your home page if that link is help full to the reader, relevant to the article and ads more relevancy to the overall message of the article. The SEO properties should be secondary but they still can be a factor…

By: Laurel LaFlamme

Laurel LaFlamme — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:27:23 +0000

“Into my work, I really like to use both techniques.” Just do what makes the most sense. Ultimately, ‘just’ getting good Google is not enough to convert.

You can have a number one spot in the SERPs that does not convert to sales (or whatever desired response is for you) because it is not effective for the reader.

People can smell “commission breathe” a mile away. If you tacky up your pages with endless loops of links that don’t make sense, are not effective for the reader, and are only there to anchor your good search engine results…then really, shame on you.

You won’t do so well. I hate spammy sites. I would just as soon move on to anther website that shows they really care about me and my needs than use a #1 site that is, well, misleading.

DO what makes sense. Don’t over do anything. Anything out of balance is too much. Stick to common sense and good webmaster rules when incorporating the best of both worlds.

By: Fábio Ricotta

Fábio Ricotta — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:08:35 +0000

I really like to use links to internal pages. This is what users want, more and more relevant content.

But we know that for SEO this sometimes don’t work if you are trying to rank for a strong keyword.

Into my work, I really like to use both techniques.

By: Cassiano Travareli

Cassiano Travareli — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:04:23 +0000

Very Good Point Ann!

All the time everyone send a link to the index page just to get best positions in SERPS, but it doesn´t help the users. Nowadays, I really believe that this anchor to the index is helping the websites in SERPs, but maybe Google can make filters to try avoid more weight in these links!

Congratulations for the post!