Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Thanks much for your helpful response.

I further wonder:

1. One finds that on many blogs there is a blog roll but in the same sidebar there can also be single text links in some section like "what's hot" or "recommended" that appear only on the home page. On your view, these latter links are technically more potent, right? (Assuming everything is high quality and non-spammy.)

2. I have seen it recommended that if you are in a sitewide footer link, it's better if only the home page link were followed, but the same footer link on all other pages were made nofollow. Any truth to that?

I would appreciate substantiated, technical opinions, not mere intuitions about what might "make sense," please.

I don't see why an Auto Auction blog roll link on a car blog necessarily "sort of looks spammy," or why there would necessarily be no way to determine the link's topical relevance. Indeed, I think diversification would certainly benefit from at least a few such blog roll links, especially if they appear on authoritative and relevant blogs.

But this doesn't answer any of my questions.

I have one big question about the potential SEO value -- and possibly also dangers? -- of "followed" external sitewide links.

Examples of these would be:

• a link to your site from another site's footer
• a blogroll link
• a link to your site from another site's global navigation

Aside from the link's position in the HTML file (the higher the better, presumably), are these links essentially the same from an SEO point of view or different (and how)?

There used to be an influential view out there that the link juice value of a sitewide link was the same as that of a single link (presumably from the linking site's home page), even though a sitewide link may in fact result a huge number individual links. Is this true or false? What is the math here?

Should one worry about having "too many" sitewide links, in the sense that this may raise red flags by way of the algo?

I talked to someone a few months ago (before the recent algo updates) who believed that he had got a minus 10 penalty or whatever it was for getting too many sitewide links

We offer website design and development as well as SEO, and we put a keyworded link to ourselves in the footer. I think this is a fairly common practice. Is this a good or bad idea SEO-wise?

One opinion is that for external sitewide footer links, you should best have a dofollow link on the home page, but nofollow it on all other pages. What is your opinion about that?

Is there anything else that is distinct, interesting or important about sitewide links' SEO value and pitfalls?

Thank you!

I have one big question about the potential SEO value -- and possibly also dangers? -- of "followed" external sitewide links.

Examples of these would be:

• a link to your site from another site's footer
• a blogroll link
• a link to your site from another site's global navigation

Aside from the link's position in the HTML file (the higher the better, presumably), are these links essentially the same from an SEO point of view or different (and how)?

There used to be an influential view out there that the link juice value of a sitewide link was the same as that of a single link (presumably from the linking site's home page), even though a sitewide link may in fact result a huge number individual links. Is this true or false? What is the math here?

Should one worry about having "too many" sitewide links, in the sense that this may raise red flags by way of the algo?

I talked to someone a few months ago (before the recent algo updates) who believed that he had got a minus 10 penalty or whatever it was for getting too many sitewide links

We offer website design and development as well as SEO, and we put a keyworded link to ourselves in the footer. I think this is a fairly common practice. Is this a good or bad idea SEO-wise?

One opinion is that for external sitewide footer links, you should best have a dofollow link on the home page, but nofollow it on all other pages. What is your opinion about that?

Is there anything else that is distinct, interesting or important about sitewide links' SEO value and pitfalls?

Thank you!

I would appreciate substantiated, technical opinions, not mere intuitions about what might "make sense," please.

I don't see why an Auto Auction blog roll link on a car blog necessarily "sort of looks spammy," or why there would necessarily be no way to determine the link's topical relevance. Indeed, I think diversification would certainly benefit from at least a few such blog roll links, especially if they appear on authoritative and relevant blogs.

But this doesn't answer any of my questions.