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Does Location Of Internal Links On A Page Matter For SEO & Google Search?

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Does Location Of Internal Links On A Page Matter For SEO & Google Search?

Google’s John Mueller said the location of internal links, links you place on your website to other parts of that same web site, does not necessarily matter if they are in the body content, footer, header or other sections on the page. The content, the anchor text, of those links helps Google understand what the page is about but the links aren’t really used more than just for crawling your site.

This may be different for external links, where Google may value external links differently based on where those external links are placed. But it seems with internal links, the location is not taken into account that much in terms of the value of that link.

John said this at the 2:51 mark in this video saying that for the internal links “we use it to understand the context better, so things like the anchor text helps us.” He said “another really important part is really just being able to crawl your website” and he said for that it “doesn’t matter where that link is on a page to kind of crawl the rest of the website.”

John then reiterated that “the difference that we take when it comes to different parts of the page and for links it’s usually more to kind of understand the context of pages and to be able to crawl the website and for that we don’t really need to differentiate between different parts of the page.”

Here is how Glenn Gabe summed it up on Twitter:

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Here is the video embed starting with the question:

Here is the transcript of the question:

How about the internal link, if you have an internal link from a respective anchor text or map from the header or within the content or within the footer. Does the placement of the links within the footer, header, body content, does it matter?

Here is the transcript of the answer:

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Not necessarily.

I think for internal links, on the one hand we use it to understand the context better, so things like the anchor text helps us. But another really important part is really just being able to crawl your website. And for that it doesn’t matter where that link is on a page to kind of crawl the rest of the website. Sometimes things are in the footer, sometimes in the headers, sometimes in a shared menu or in a sidebar or within a body of content. All of those kind of linked places are all fine from our point of view.

Usually what we differentiate more with regards to location on a page is the content itself, to try to figure out what is really relevant for this particular page. And for that it it sometimes really makes sense to kind of focus on the the central part of the page, the primary piece of content that changes from page to page and not so much the the headers and the sidebars and the footers or things like that. Because those are a part of the website itself but it’s not the primary reason for this page to exist and the primary reason for us to rank that page.

So that’s kind of the difference that we take when it comes to different parts of the page and for links it’s usually more to kind of understand the context of pages and to be able to crawl the website and for that we don’t really need to differentiate between different parts of the page.

Here are some other articles written here on location of the link on a page, but they are really not specific to internal links versus external links:

Forum discussion at Twitter.

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SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 27, 2024

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.


Google Local Service Ads is asking for more photos. SEOs, please don’t remove the contact us and about us pages. Hotels can remove pricing details from its Google listings. Google Local reviews is testing reactions. Google Analytics real time reporting had issues today. Google help documentation is testing using AI features.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:


  • SEOs, Please Don’t Remove Contact Us & About Us Pages


    Google’s John Mueller asked if it would be alright not to list a contact us and about us page on their website. The reason is, they would only add it if Google wanted it, but not for users. John Mueller responded, “I can think of good reasons for some sites to have these kinds of pages, but, after double-checking, there’s nothing in our search developer documentation that suggests this is needed.”

  • Google Local Service Ads Sends Email Asking You To Upload Photos


    Google is sending some Local Service Ads advertisers emails asking them to upload photos to their profiles. The email says, “Photos are coming to your Local Services Ads. Upload images to your profile to help your business stand out.” But don’t LSAs already contain photos?

  • Google Search Developer Docs Gain AI Generated Help Features


    A week ago Monday, March 18th, I noticed Google’s search developer documentation had generative AI features to help you find the answers to your question. This is in the form of an improved search, summary of the page content, a chat feature and more. I was told this was rolled out on some developer docs earlier in the year.



  • Google Local Reviews Reactions Notice


    In November 2023 we started to see Google allow reactions on local photos and some reviews. Well, it seems to be rolling out more widely now.

  • Google Analytics Real Time Data Lagging Today


    There are countless complaints across the forums and social media that Google Analytics real time data is lagging and not reporting accurately. It seems like those complaints are legit after checking a number of sites.


  • Google Cafe Cleaning & Delivery Robot


    You probably have seen these cleaning and delivery robots in some restaurants and lounges but have you seen them in the Google cafes? Here is one doing its thing at one of the cafes at the GooglePlex in Mountain View, California.



Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

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SEO

PPC

Other Search

Feedback:


Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.



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SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 26, 2024

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.


Google Search Console is testing an Android App. Google is testing places and places sites in the search bar menu. Google spoke about if a business should have a website and a blog. Google added 3D models to product structured data. Google Search does not support AVIF images, yet. Mikhail Parakhin stepped down as the head of Bing Search and Microsoft Advertising.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:


  • Google Search Console Tests Android App


    Google seems to be testing an Android App for Google Search Console. This comes several weeks after I reported that Google has no plans for a mobile app for Google Search Console.


  • Google Tests Places & Places Sites Search Bar Filter Tabs


    Yesterday we reported Google is testing products and products sites in the search bar tab in the European regions. Today, Google is testing places and places sites in the search bar tab in the European regions.

  • Google: Should Small Service Businesses Start A Website & A Blog?


    Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, was asked about if a business should always have a website and if so, should they also have a blog. Sullivan replied that he believes all businesses should have at least a basic website, but when it comes to a blog, that depends on what they have to say on that blog.



  • Google Adds 3D Models Markup To Product Structured Data For Linking


    Google has added new 3D models markup support to the product structured data documentation so that you can connect, associate or link your products to the appropriate 3D model.



  • Google Search Does Not Support AVIF Images Just Yet


    Did you know that Google Search does not support the AVIF image format? At least not yet. Google Search doesn’t list it on its supported image formats and Google Image Search simply won’t index them. But John Mueller of Google said on X, “I’m sure this won’t be necessary long term.”



  • Mikhail Parakhin Steps Down As Head Of Bing Search & Microsoft Advertising


    Mikhail Parakhin, the head of Bing Search and Microsoft Advertising, is stepping down from that role as Parakhin “decided to explore new roles.” We’ve quoted Mikhail Parakhin here countless times over the past couple of years, to hear that he is leaving the role makes me super sad. His transparency and willingness to listen to the community was amazing.



  • St. Patrick’s Day Dancers At Google Ireland


    Here is a video I found on Instagram from the Google Ireland office of dancers performing at the Google office in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. It looks like they call themselves the Golden Beats.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

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Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

Feedback:


Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

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SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: March 25, 2024

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.


Google is begging SEOs to stop trying to show Google things and work on showing their users things. Google is testing the Search Generative Experience in the wild to a subset of US users. Google says publishing more content doesn’t improve site quality. Google is testing products and product sites in the search bar. Google shares how to remove a subdomain of a subdomain in Google Search Console.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:


  • Google Tests SGE AI Overviews In The Wild (Subset Of US Users)


    On Friday, Google began to test SGE-based AI overviews in the real Google search results. That means you may see AI overview snapshot answers in Google search results without being opted into the Google search labs experiment. This is being tested on a small subset of searchers based in the U.S., Google told me.

  • Google Begs SEOs To Stop Showing Google Things; Show Visitors Things Instead


    Google’s Search Liaison responded to a series of posts on Twitter, leading him to beg SEOs to stop trying to “show Google” things, explaining that the process of doing things to your site to rank better in Google is the opposite of the advice Google is giving. Instead, show things to your users/visitors that those people will like.


  • Google: Publishing More Content Doesn’t Improve Quality For Faster Indexing


    A couple of weeks ago, Gary Illyes and Lizzi Sassman of Google had Dave Smart as a guest on the Search Off The Record podcast and they spoke about crawling. In one part, they said again that the quality of your site can impact how fast and how much Google will crawl your website.



  • Google Tests Products & Product Sites Search Bar Filter Tabs


    Google is now testing placing “product sites” as its own search bar filter tab in the search results. Also, Google is testing replacing “Shopping” with “Products” in that search bar.



  • How To Remove A Subdomain Of A Subdomain Via Google Search Console


    Let’s say you have a subdomain of a subdomain, such as sub.sub.domain.tld, how do you remove sub.sub.domain.tld from Google while keeping sub.domain.tld in the Google search results. The answer is to verify the sub.sub.domain.tld property directly in Search Console and remove just that property.



  • Flock Of Geese At Google


    Here is a flock of geese near the new Google Bay View campus in Mountain View, California. I guess the geese are making its way from the GooglePlex to the Bay View campus?

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

Advertisement

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

Feedback:


Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

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