SEO-friendly footer links. How to optimize your site’s navigation?

What is website navigation?

Website navigation is often neglected and not taken into consideration during the design process of a website. It is important because it is vital that your visitors know where they are on your site. The more content you have, the more important it becomes that they can find their way back home or move forward with confidence on their journey through your website. Website navigation refers to the site’s interface through which a visitor moves around on the site.

Why is it important?

Navigation is critical for any website that wants to keep visitors engaged and provide quick access to pages that contain content of interest. A poor navigation structure can turn visitors away, so it is important for site owners to consider how users navigate their sites. One of the easiest ways to improve the navigation experience is by using footer links on your site.

Does Google take it into account when assessing the quality of websites?

Yes, Google does take navigation into account when assessing a website. Research has found that websites with good content and navigation earn a higher page rank than sites without these features. If you want your site to rank higher, making sure your site navigation is the best it can be can be a big help.

What is footer link?

Footer links are hyperlinks that appear at the bottom of a webpage or in a section of a webpage designated for footers. The term can also be used more generally to refer to any hyperlink that appears at the end of a webpage, but footers are especially common because they can be placed prominently at the bottom and have additional space available for navigation menus, banners, and branding.

Footer links types

Here are the most commonly used examples of footer links:

• Business contact information;
• CTA;
• Opt-in form;
• Sitemap;
• Privacy Policy;
• Testimonials;
• Copyright information;
• Terms of use;
• Categories;
• Locations.

SEO. Why should you care about footer links?

Footers are important for usability and UX because they serve as a back button for users. They also tell visitors what content is available to them in case they missed a menu item or drop down menu. It’s not just about the content; it’s about giving your site visitors the information they need, where they need it, and when they need it.

Continuing with that, footer links can be an invaluable asset for SEO purposes. There are many ways that these navigation links can help you rank higher on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc., but one of the most powerful ways is by providing direct access to canonical URLs. A canonical URL points directly to a web page from another source (like an RSS feed) and serves as an easy way to consolidate everything related to that specific piece of content under one unique URL.

Anchor text

The footer is the last thing that a visitor sees before leaving your site, and it should be used as an opportunity to create a clickable link or call-to-action with keyword rich anchor text. Not only does this strategy help provide additional context on what they can find in the site’s navigation, but it also increases their chance of staying with you longer by connecting back to pages that might be relevant to them.

Where should they be?

A footer is a page typically found at the bottom of a webpage. For example, in many WordPress templates, you’ll find a footer under the content of the page and above the powered by section. The content may be copyright information or legal disclaimers. Whatever its contents, it usually contains links that connect with other sections of your site.

How many footer links you should have?

Some blog posts suggest that you should have at least six footers, which means that your main navigation should be limited to five items. We would recommend four or five footers per page, with each corresponding with a key page on your site. That way, if someone is reading your blog post and scrolls down, they will see the anchor links as they navigate back up through the content.

What pages you should link to?

You want links in your footer menu that you will want visitors to take. For example, when you are working on a blog post, links at the bottom of your page should provide related content. You can also include links for terms and conditions and copyright information if you think it is necessary. You might also include a link for email subscriptions or ways for people to follow you on social media networks, especially if those networks are relevant to your site’s theme.

Last words

Footer links are a great opportunity for sites to promote their other content and create new pages with links back up the hierarchy. Because footers are not as commonly looked at as headers, footers also have another purpose of unifying all the previous pages you’ve visited on your site. Give people access to more information they didn’t know they needed through footer links!