Lots of links on homepage to internal pages with keyword rich anchor text - problem?
-
Hi, All!
We have a new potential client, that when looking at his site with a tool, we noticed that the previous SEO company they worked with filled the homepage copy with lots of keyword-rich anchor text links pointing to different pages on the site - many links going to the same page, just with different keywords. These links are not indistinguishable in format from the other text, which is why we only noticed it with a tool.
I certainly wouldn't recommend doing that to start with, but once all these links are there, would you recommend taking them down? Is there any conceivable chance it could help the site? Is there a significant reason to think it will harm the site? Or will it just be pretty neutral?
In all that's been written (much by SEOMoz) about only the first link's anchor text counting, do subsequent links work like a no-follow in the sense that they are a waste of the link-juice of the page, or is it as if they aren't there at all? (And is "only the first link counts" still the most widely held theory, or have there been new developments since?)
Thanks, All!
-
I have been doing this a long time now and have never come across anyone who endorses this as a technique. To me if it smells even slightly of desperation or 'grey hat' then I steer well clear.
You can rest assured that Google will get what the page and site are about without having all of these multiple links to the same pages being thrown at them - in the same way they say not to keyword stuff because they don't need to keep being told
Regards,
Andy
-
Thanks, Andy. Can you explain why exactly you wouldn't endorse it and you would recommend removing the links? That's my feeling also, but I wanted some definitive reasoning before I do anything.
Thanks,
Aviva
-
I am assuming that they are looking at SEO because they need some help getting ranked in the SERP's, and what they have already have done is certainly not a practice I would endorse. My thoughts on this would be to remove all those links that take you through to the same page but with different anchor text. It is OK to have a few other links in the copy that take you through to other pages as, if nothing else, this can help with Google crawling the site and visitors whilst they are browsing through.
Regards,
Andy
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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.
Related Questions
-
Change SEO focus from homepage to other page on the domain
Hi, we are (were) ranking top 5 with gietvloer-wand.nl by focussing the homepage for a certain keyword. We're trying to change to focus from the homepage to /gietvloeren with more content / information. How to go about this? how to tell Google that /gietvloeren is more relevant / important then than the homepage? Or any experiences how long it will take for Google to see that the page has more information than the homepage? It's a test and any experiences you can share would be great. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | Heers0 -
How defined does the anchor text need to be for a domain url?
Ok, I'm looking to clean up my domain with irrelevant Anchor text linking to specific URL's. Whether, it's my root domain or a particular product URL. I'm finding a wide variety of terms (anchor text) pointing to my homepage, category and finally my product pages. Example, the Anchor text "Paragon Print Systems" is pointing to my homepage "barcodefactory.com" does this hurt my homepage enough to either have the link/anchor text removed from linking to my homepage? thanks much!, Warren
On-Page Optimization | | Warren.W0 -
Can I use Same Keyword for Multi pages Title Tags?
Hello All, I am working on client website and currently they are targeting One Keywords for multi pages. As I have search with Allintitle: Search query and Google display around 37 pages of website which carry same keyword in "Title Tags". I have told to client to change the "Title Tags" but they want that keyword for all relevant pages. So I want to know is that harm in Search Engine Ranking? Note: They have not done the link building activities for multi pages with same Keyword, they are using only in "Title Tags" only
On-Page Optimization | | jemindesai0 -
Jquery in top of page vs text on bottom page
Is it the best way to use jquery sliders on the top of your page to still get all your text above the fold and score in search engines? for example: http://www.wolf-howl.com/wp-conte... is much better to score high ranks in search engines than http://www.wolf-howl.com/wp-conte... ?? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | HMK-NL0 -
Why a page with an On Page A grade has a less good rank than a page with a F grade?
Why a page with an On Page A grade is ranked 17 in Google when the home page with a F grade is ranked 9 ? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | Amadeus_eBC0 -
Page Shaping - No Follow Links
It's my understanding that adding a nofollow tag to pages that aren't of significance to users can help with page shaping and directing google to the most important links on my home page. I have 4 links on my home page that I'm considering adding a nofollow tag to: Privacy Policy, Legal Policy, Anti-Trust Policy, and Help-Desk Because these links are in the footer on every page I think they're probably sucking up some useful link juice. It's doubtful that anyone would actually search for our privacy policy or legal policy to find our site. I'd rather the juice to spread to other pages of use. What do you guys recommend?
On-Page Optimization | | inhouseninja0 -
Brand keyword is on every page
Suppose a website is devoted to a selling a modest number of products that are sold under one brand name. For example, the site might have product pages for Chevy Camaro, Chevy Suburban, and Chevy Volt, and many other pages related to Chevy. Chevy is in the domain name and on virtually every page. Competitors are also selling Chevy's and you want to rank well on the keyword "Chevy". One SEO rule is limit a keyword to one optimized page, and if it appears on other pages, minimize the use of the keyword on other pages, and pass links to the optimized page. However, it can be really challenging to write prose without using the brand name, particularly if the brand name is of the form "brand training method" or "brand learning center". The other pages can't say "training method" or "learning center". They need to say "brand training method", etc. What are the tactics to rank for a brand name when it appears on virtually every page? Best,
On-Page Optimization | | ChristopherGlaeser
Christopher0 -
Can my amount of internal linking seem spammy ?
Ecommerce site. I am optimizing for each producer of products on a separate page. Atm my provider does lack some functions(i cant put in H1 , title and can put text only product pictures) on the product pages - like here http://www.epleskrinet.no/smafolk/M_23 . The are updating within 1-2 months to allow me do this. This has led to actually some of the products themself ranking higher that the producer page. what Ive been doing is to put anchor text and link back to the producer page for all 9 products on this page. Is that a problem or should i just do it like this ? thanks
On-Page Optimization | | danlae0