Internal links best practices

[jrae]

In looking at the inbound links to a client’s Home page, I see that the link from each page of the website back to the Home page is an image, and the ALT text is “Home.” I have a few questions about this, and would appreciate help understanding best practices:

--Does it matter that the link back to the Home page is an image (presumably the client’s logo)?

-- If we keep the image link, wouldn’t it be better to use “client’s company name” as ALT text rather than “Home”?

--Should I recommend using an HTML link back to the Home page, and using the company name as anchor text?

(I don't think it's relevant, but the site is built in Drupal.)

Thanks!

[jrae]

Thank you for the info, Nick. The link is the logo in the header, so mousing over it brings up "Home." Most sites don't bother with the ALT tag, but since it is being used, we might as well make it a bit more informative with the company name. The company name isn't well branded, so little things like this can only help.

[Nick_Ker]

Where on the page is this link? If it is the logo in the header, use the company name as the alt.  If it is a text link in the footer or somewhere that is site wide, company name is probably best.

If it is in a navigation menu, it really depends on how that menu is set up, but there isn't really anything wrong with "Home".  A lot of people don't bother putting a Home link in the menu since the header logo usually goes to the home page. But a lot of users don't know they can click on the logo to go home, so think about what type of readers will be visiting the site and whether or not they will be able to find their way around.

Home page navigational links don't make a huge difference regarding ranking most of the time, unless you have stuffed keywords into the alt tag or used the same keyword repeatedly instead of Home or the company name. Home, company name or simply the logo with the company name as the alt are all kind of interchangeable.