Do Navigation links count the main link on the page?

[DoRM]

After reading this article http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/anchor-text it talks about how only one link per page counts if they are going to the same page.  This is what i had learned in the past; however, my understanding was if it was a in the main navigation as a child or grandchild or in the side navigation and then in the main body text, the link in the main body would count/ be held higher than the other options.

[DoRM]

Thanks,  that is what we were thinking but it is good to have other peoples opinions on it too.  It did not make sense they would only count it once if it was the child or grandchild etc.

[Klarke]

I'd say, yes.  nav links and their anchor text would be considered if it's first in the HTML of the document ...even if that nav link is a child or grandchild.

It's really just speculation about what Google counts and I would not worry about it.  Their systems are now smart enough to weigh links that appear in nav and bodycontent appropriately.  Their systems try to mimic what real users want, so just do what's best for users and you'll be rewarded.