How would you handle network header links?
-
Some companies have a lot of sites covering various topics, for example, http://ninemsn.com.au/. Each category also have dropdown menus where there are more links, taking their pages to well over 100 links.
Should these headers be implemented in javascript? Is there a list of best practices somewhere when dealing with a lot of network sites? I'd prefer to reduce the number of links, but sometimes company policies don't allow this.
Any suggestions or tips would be helpful.
-
Some companies have a lot of sites covering various topics, for example, http://ninemsn.com.au/
The "100 links per page" is a very old rule back from the days when crawling web pages was much less sophisticated then it is now. Search engines have the ability to crawl hundreds of pages.
The example you are using is a site with a DA of 85 and is in the top 1000 most trafficked sites in the world. This site can support the crawling of 100s of links. Unless your site has an exceptionally high DA, you probably want to reduce your links to the minimal amount necessary to ensure a quality user experience. As you examine your links, determine which links are actually used. There are tools such as CrazyEgg that can help you evaluate your site.
Imagine a site with 1000 pages and a link to all 1000 pages from the navigation bar. What you are telling search engines and users is that all 1000 pages are equally important. That probably is not the case. The most important pages and categories should have a link, but the lesser pages would require an additional click.
Should these headers be implemented in javascript?
Search engines can crawl most javascript. The best practice would be to reduce the links as mentioned above. Search engines reward sites which improve the user experience by providing higher rankings. If you offer 200 links and 150 of them are not used, you are bleeding PR and your site will not rank as well overall, which is by design.
I'd prefer to reduce the number of links, but sometimes company policies don't allow this.
Your role as a SEO is to educate the company on the importance of the changes you recommend. If a company refuses to implement your recommendations, then there is not much you can do about it.
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
-
Crawl Report shows Internal links as zero
We have recently updated our website (https://www.payumoney.com/) and created new pages like "https://www.payumoney.com/free-payment-gateway-India.html". we have internally linked all the pages, but when I check the crawl report from MOZ it shows internal links as 0 and these pages have the PA of 1 and not increasing. I am unable to find out the reason why is it happening?
On-Page Optimization | | payu_india0 -
Whether to open a new window for an internal link
I'm aware of the advice to add internal links between pages and so I always add links as and when appropriate. However, my website builder allows me the option to open the link in a new window or in the originator. I invariably choose the former but don't know if this is best practice. Could anyone advise?
On-Page Optimization | | Catherine_Selectaglaze0 -
Internal keyword linking - short or long string
I've seen a couple of people leave comments about keyword linking being too specific. If I"m doing a lot of internal keyword linking and I want to rank well for 'widgets', is it better that most of the links just use the word 'widgets' or should some of the links have more words in them. ie: 'red and blue widgets' - 'buy these widgets online' etc.
On-Page Optimization | | sparrowdog0 -
Best way to nofollow affiliate links?
I don't "nofollow" affiliate links but I have quite a few. Doing them one by one would just be an impossible job. Would it be best to get a plugin that nofollows EVERYTHING? What would google prefer? I need to DOFOLLOW some links because those sites deserve it.
On-Page Optimization | | 2bloggers0 -
PANDA Attack: Too many on page links
Hey guys! I have a bit of a dilemma...one of my sites got hit by Panda 😞 The content itself contains about 10 links, however since the site is a process directory, at the bottom of the page you will find that the visitor can also browse process directory by name or page and then beneath this there are 80 links :s My concern is that if i remove this I will lose internal link juice! HELP! What approach should I take? I was thinking of either reducing the number of links OR hiding it by using Java ORRRR removing the links entirely. Advice anyone? This is a page as an example: http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/csrsc/25349/ All pages are like this!
On-Page Optimization | | OrangeGuys0 -
How do I Avoid Excessive Internal Links on an eCommerce site?
I think I'm getting dinged for this on Term Target because the page is full of products, which have links to their product page, but I'm not sure.
On-Page Optimization | | PageLogic0 -
Does link text "more information" have more weight than a normal link?
Does the anchor text "more information" hold any additional weight than any other anchor text? My suspicion is no, but just wanted to confirm.
On-Page Optimization | | nicole.healthline0 -
# hidden by the header?
Can someone please clarify whether hiding tags behind the image header is an accepted best practice or is frowned upon by Google? I was doing some competitive analysis and noticed some websites were doing it, but it certainly wasn't egregious.
On-Page Optimization | | dignan990