9 replies to this topic

[SERPico]

I would like to create an image link, so instead of having a textual link in my site wide navigation menu i want to have it show as an image, so visitors can easily find their way around and i can create an optimal anchor link to the page it links out to.

This image link should not receive any weight, any recognition by Google or other engines, so that the link inside the content will have more effect, since it's the only link linking to that page, has a descriptive anchor text and is to be found inside textual content as opposed to a site wide navigation menu.

At the same time the visitor the visitor can still enjoy a user friendly navigation.

How could i achieve this?

Nofollow would only apply to Google right?

Thanks!

[Jill]

I believe nofollow is your only option. No wait, you could make the link be javascript, or even worse, like a java applet or something truly SE unfriendly.

That said, I think you're making way too much ado about nothing. Where'd you get the idea that links within the text content are given more weight than those within the main navigation? That's certainly a new one!

[SERPico]

I believe nofollow is your only option. No wait, you could make the link be javascript, or even worse, like a java applet or something truly SE unfriendly.

That said, I think you're making way too much ado about nothing. Where'd you get the idea that links within the text content are given more weight than those within the main navigation? That's certainly a new one!

Hi Jill,

Here is an article by Ann Smarty on SearchEngineJournal.com where she has done a small write up on the subject, it's something i've read about it on other places as well.

One other thing that caught my attention is that only one anchor link Google comes across will count, or as Matt puts it in the comments section:

Your question is short, but the answer is more complex. Typically if the anchortext on the two links is identical, we would probably drop one of those links.

The combination of these two events, a site wide navigation link having less weight then a in-text/content link and having two identical anchor links will probably cause Google to drop one anchor link in it's calculations, and this would be as i understand the first one it comes across in the source code got me questioning myself.

Because home page anchor links to your inner pages are quite important and i want to obtain the most value out of them, so it makes one wonder how to approach this situation.

[Jill]

There's so much to disagree with on all of those links you've posted that I don't even know where to begin.

Suffice it to say that I am of the opposite mind and my own SEO work on hundreds of sites tells me completely different things. I can't say as I have any scientific evidence to back me up, but the bits and pieces of tests I've done seem to show the opposite.

At any rate, have fun testing it for yourself. I'd be surprised if you notice a difference in your search engine traffic, but please keep us informed if you do (or do not for that matter!).

[SERPico]

Morning Jill

I'm going to give it a shot leaving it out the site wide navigation menu and keep it in the body of the page.
That way i know the right anchor link will be counted.

I'll let you know how things work out.

[Jill]

Great! It will definitely be interesting to see how it goes.

[harpsound]

I have come across a client with a navbar that looks like this.
It certainly looks like what you want
Nothing parses it and the nav works well.

S


<td width="155" height="355" valign="top"><map name="Map">
<area shape="rect" coords="29,27,127,54" href="about.html">
<area shape="rect" coords="27,61,127,88" href="history.html">
<area shape="rect" coords="28,94,129,123" href="ourprograms.html">
<area shape="rect" coords="27,130,127,156" href="events.html">

<area shape="rect" coords="27,163,128,193" href="pictures.html">
<area shape="rect" coords="30,199,129,228" href="newsletter.html">
<area shape="rect" coords="29,234,129,260" href="giving.html">
<area shape="rect" coords="31,268,129,294" href="contact.html">
</map> <img src="images/newnav-about.gif" width="155" height="355" border="0" usemap="#Map">
</td>

[Jill]

That type of image map is perfectly spiderable harpsound. They've been around forever. I had one like it on one of my very first websites!

[harpsound]

That type of image map is perfectly spiderable harpsound. They've been around forever. I had one like it on one of my very first websites!

You are right!

When I did my due diligence 2 months ago on this 2 year old site none of the pages were cached in G except a single page with an inbound link.
I assumed that situ had been static for quite a while.

It now appears they must have just had their first incoming link when I was sniffing around.
The whole site is now cached - spooky!
Talk about an underperforming site....

The site had numerous problems and the owner is looking for cash to start the rebuild project.
Great graphics using the above map navbar however.

Thanks Jill
S

[Jill]

Well they certainly don't have to worry about that menu. It's as spiderable as any can be.