undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • MozCon
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    Let your business shine with Listings AI
    Moz Local

    Let your business shine with Listings AI

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers

      Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Intermediate & Advanced SEO
  4. HTML5 Nav Tag Issue - Be Aware

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

HTML5 Nav Tag Issue - Be Aware

Intermediate & Advanced SEO
2
10
2.4k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • veezer
    veezer last edited by Mar 2, 2013, 1:51 PM

    In checking my internal links with GWT, it is apparent that links within the nav tag in HTML5 are discounted by Google as "internal links"

    This could have major repercussions for designing your internal link structure for SEO purposes.

    I was surprised to see this result, as I have never seen it discussed.

    Anyone else notice this, or have any alternative views?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • sprynewmedia
      sprynewmedia @veezer last edited by Mar 2, 2013, 4:13 PM Mar 2, 2013, 4:13 PM

      Two weeks is pretty short time for a new site to get accurate reports from GWT.  The back links I found weren't valuable - none with a page authority over 1.

      I would secure at least one high quality link and wait a few more weeks.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • sprynewmedia
        sprynewmedia @sprynewmedia last edited by Mar 2, 2013, 3:52 PM Mar 2, 2013, 3:52 PM

        Appears I broke the site... sorry

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • veezer
          veezer last edited by Mar 2, 2013, 3:50 PM Mar 2, 2013, 3:50 PM

          _Could we see the site?  _

          www.optimalfoods.org/

          How long ago did you post the nav element?

          The nav bar at top of page has been there since the site went live about two weeks ago. My GWT show only 7 internal links to my home page, but there are 15 pages published

          sprynewmedia 1 Reply Last reply Mar 2, 2013, 4:13 PM Reply Quote 0
          • sprynewmedia
            sprynewmedia @sprynewmedia last edited by Mar 2, 2013, 3:50 PM Mar 2, 2013, 3:50 PM

            Here is how one could test this to be sure:

            1. Create site on a throw away domain that includes:
            • home page
            • sub page (containing unique text in title and body)
            • orphaned sub page
            1. Place the nav tag on all pages with links to only the first two pages.
            2. Add some dummy content but don't create any other links.
            3. Link to the orphaned page from a decently trusted and ranked page on another site.
            4. Wait 2-4 weeks.
            5. Search for the unique string and write a YouMOZ post about your findings.
            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • sprynewmedia
              sprynewmedia @veezer last edited by Mar 2, 2013, 3:41 PM Mar 2, 2013, 3:41 PM

              While I have found it does, you could always use a logo link to accomplish this.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • sprynewmedia
                sprynewmedia @veezer last edited by Mar 2, 2013, 3:28 PM Mar 2, 2013, 3:28 PM

                To be sure I understand; you have a site-wide header ,

                <nav>section but you are not seeing the backlinks from all the pages in the GWT internal links report?

                (Incidentally, my experience has shown these links do count.)

                Could we see the site?

                How long ago did you post the nav element?

                </nav>

                sprynewmedia 2 Replies Last reply Mar 2, 2013, 3:52 PM Reply Quote 0
                • veezer
                  veezer last edited by Mar 2, 2013, 3:21 PM Mar 2, 2013, 3:21 PM

                  To be clear, I believe it is good SEO practice to ensure that every page of a website contains a link to the Home Page (and other key landing pages as befits the site).

                  Putting a link to the home page WITHIN a nav tag in HTML5 does not accomplish this goal.

                  sprynewmedia 1 Reply Last reply Mar 2, 2013, 3:41 PM Reply Quote 0
                  • veezer
                    veezer last edited by Mar 2, 2013, 3:17 PM Mar 2, 2013, 3:17 PM

                    "I presume your issue is you have external links inside a

                    <nav>container?"

                    No - that is not my issue. I have 5 "landing pages" (Home and 2nd tier pages) included in the main nav bar include below my site logo on every page.

                    I had assumed (incorrectly) that those pages would be internally linked to every page of the website - but they are NOT (at least as far as the internal links shown on GWT)

                    </nav>

                    sprynewmedia 1 Reply Last reply Mar 2, 2013, 3:28 PM Reply Quote 0
                    • sprynewmedia
                      sprynewmedia last edited by Mar 2, 2013, 2:20 PM Mar 2, 2013, 2:11 PM

                      This seems reasonable and a good way to ensure the link is allocated correctly.

                      I presume your issue is you have external links inside a

                      <nav>container?

                      Follow up: it appears the specifications do suggest the nav element is for internal links - the element is primarily intended for sections that consist of major navigation blocks. External links are generally not considered major navigation, no?

                      http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/sections.html#the-nav-element

                      </nav>

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • 1 / 1
                      1 out of 10
                      • First post
                        1/10
                        Last post

                      Got a burning SEO question?

                      Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                      Start my free trial


                      Browse Questions

                      Explore more categories

                      • Moz Tools

                        Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                      • SEO Tactics

                        Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                      • Community

                        Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                      • Digital Marketing

                        Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                      • Research & Trends

                        Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                      • Support

                        Connect on product support and feature requests.

                      • See all categories

                      Related Questions

                      • seoman10

                        Multiple H2 tags

                        Is it advisable to use only one H2 tag? The template designs for some reason is ended up with multiple H2 tags, I realise if any think it's that each one is that are important and it is all relative. Just trying to assess if it's worth the time and effort to rehash the template. Has anyone done any testing or got any experience? Thanks

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Mar 21, 2017, 8:56 AM | seoman10
                        1
                      • Raymondlee

                        Title tag: Long tail words or keyword dilution?

                        Hi all, I am a newbie to SEO. Lately, I have been struggling to optimize my title tag. Ones say that we should have long tail words in title tags because long tail words improve click through rate and generate quality leads. On the other hand, ones say that putting other words in the title tag will dilute the main keyword that my page ranks for. Do keywords really dilute each other in the title tags? I am really confused. Let me give this an example: Web Design Services | Company Name Web Design Services with Conversion Focused | Company Name Which one would you prefer and why? Thank you.  😄 Best, Raymond

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Jan 6, 2017, 12:32 AM | Raymondlee
                        0
                      • moon-boots

                        How to add Canonical Tags on Opencart Products

                        Does anyone know how to add canonical tags to product pages in Opencart? Is this possible to do in htaccess? If so, how specifically should it be written in? Please do not post any links to other pages which reference generic canonical information as I've read them all and none help. I'm looking for an Opencart specific answer, or a way to do it in htaccess.

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Oct 4, 2016, 9:12 AM | moon-boots
                        0
                      • GalcoIndustrial

                        Lowercase VS. Uppercase Canonical tags?

                        Hi MOZ, I was hoping that someone could help shed some light on an issue I'm having with URL structure and the canonical tag. The company I work for is a distributor of electrical products and our E-commerce site is structured so that our URL's (specifically, our product detail page URL's) include a portion (the part #) that is all uppercase (e.g: buy/OEL-Worldwide-Industries/AFW-PG-10-10). The issue is that we have just recently included a canonical tag in all of our product detail pages and the programmer that worked on this project has every canonical tag in lowercase instead of uppercase.  Now, in GWT, I'm seeing over 20,000-25,000 "duplicate title tags" or "duplicate descriptions". Is this an issue?  Could this issue be resolved by simply changing the canonical tag to reflect the uppercase URL's?  I'm not too well versed in canonical tags and would love a little insight. Thanks!

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Jan 7, 2014, 11:33 AM | GalcoIndustrial
                        0
                      • McTaggart

                        Exact match Title and H1 tags, and over optimization

                        Hi Mozzers - was just wondering whether matching H1 and Title tags are still OK, or whether there's an over optimization risk if they exact match?

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | May 19, 2017, 4:48 PM | McTaggart
                        0
                      • RuchirP

                        Is white text on a white background an issue when...?

                        Hi guys, This question was loosely answered here (http://www.seomoz.org/q/will-google-index-a-site-with-white-text-will-it-give-it-bad-ratings), but I wanted to elaborate on the concern. The issue I have is this, http://www.searchenginexperts.com.au/preview/white-text-white-background-issue Of the four div elements on the page, which; is best practice for SEO? and which of them would not be penalized by google on the grounds of hidden text? The reason I ask is that I have a site that is currently implementing the first div styling, but if you either remove the image OR uncheck the repeat-x (in inspect element) the text is left as white on white. I have added the transparent image on green to prove that having a background colour to back up the tiled image is not always going to work. What can be done in this scenario? Thanks in advance, Dan (From my managers account)

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Jan 7, 2013, 12:31 PM | RuchirP
                        0
                      • monster99

                        How to Disallow Tag Pages With Robot.txt

                        Hi i have a site which i'm dealing with that has tag pages for instant - http://www.domain.com/news/?tag=choice How can i exclude these tag pages (about 20+ being crawled and indexed by the search engines with robot.txt Also sometimes they're created dynamically so i want something which automatically excludes tage pages from being crawled and indexed. Any suggestions? Cheers, Mark

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Nov 1, 2012, 11:24 PM | monster99
                        0
                      • jorgediaz

                        Canonical Tag and Affiliate Links

                        Hi! I am not very familiar with the canonical tag. The thing is that we are getting traffic and links from affiliates. The affiliates links add something like this to the code of our URL: www.mydomain.com/category/product-page?afl=XXXXXX At this moment we have almost 2,000 pages indexed with that code at the end of the URL. So they are all duplicated. My other concern is that I don't know if those affilate links are giving us some link juice or not. I mean, if an original product page has 30 links and the affiliates copies have 15 more... are all those links being counted together by Google? Or are we losing all the juice from the affiliates? Can I fix all this with the canonical tag? Thanks!

                        Intermediate & Advanced SEO | May 17, 2011, 5:37 PM | jorgediaz
                        0

                      Get started with Moz Pro!

                      Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                      Start my free trial
                      Products
                      • Moz Pro
                      • Moz Local
                      • Moz API
                      • Moz Data
                      • STAT
                      • Product Updates
                      Moz Solutions
                      • SMB Solutions
                      • Agency Solutions
                      • Enterprise Solutions
                      Free SEO Tools
                      • Domain Authority Checker
                      • Link Explorer
                      • Keyword Explorer
                      • Competitive Research
                      • Brand Authority Checker
                      • Local Citation Checker
                      • MozBar Extension
                      • MozCast
                      Resources
                      • Blog
                      • SEO Learning Center
                      • Help Hub
                      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                      • How-to Guides
                      • Moz Academy
                      • API Docs
                      About Moz
                      • About
                      • Team
                      • Careers
                      • Contact
                      Why Moz
                      • Case Studies
                      • Testimonials
                      Get Involved
                      • Become an Affiliate
                      • MozCon
                      • Webinars
                      • Practical Marketer Series
                      • MozPod
                      Connect with us

                      Contact the Help team

                      Join our newsletter
                      Moz logo
                      © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                      • Accessibility
                      • Terms of Use
                      • Privacy

                      Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.