How Do I Make The Logo The “Second Link”?

Author: Gab Goldenberg

Reading the post Common SEO Mistakes: CSS Image Replacement, I found myself criticized for making the logo here an H1 tag, as well as for making it the first link.  

First, I recognize my mistake on the H1 point.

That was done years ago when I didn’t appreciate fully the distinction between sites and pages, and wanted to rank for SEO on the homepage. The H1 is acceptable for that purpose, but it’s a sitewide element – other pages are also getting “SEO ROI” as an H1.

 Oops! Thanks Boston SEO !

Second, the first link question needs some context for newer SEOs. Various studies have been done (eg by my friend Branko, the SEO Scientist) on whether all links on a page pass value or just the first.

Some say only the first does, others say all do, and maybe there’s a possibility the first passes mroe value. So best to make the logo the second link, after a more anchor-text optimized link.

Well, I don’t recall the studies in depth, but I think the context was external  – not internal – links. Also, the testing by Branko says all links pass value. Third, I can spend time on more productive things.

If I couldn’t spend my time better and did believe that internal links, specifically the first one, pass more value, then the solution is simple: Use CSS to position the logo in its place, but have the code for the logo appear below the first properly anchor-optimized link on the page.

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Comments

  1. Did Branko say that both links passed value? I thought he found that only the first link passed anchor text value, not the second. That's for cases where one page has 2 or more links to the same page - in that case, Google only uses the anchor text from the first link. That's what I've found in tests myself, only the first link will count - but it's always worth testing more rigorously, using different setups (testing external links, internal links, links that say "Home", image links etc).

    Comment by Dave - May 13, 2010 @ 7:32am
  2. Dave, my understanding is that Branko said both links pass value. He may have meant ranking, not anchor text value, so I`ll reread and follow up. Interesting to hear about your tests - would love to read (and link) to any post where you detail what you found and how you tested.

    Comment by Gabriel Goldenberg - May 14, 2010 @ 11:44am
  3. I'm the Boston SEO you refer to, and wanted to add that SEO Moz has also done testing. Although SEO Scientist was first, SEO Moz did tests on internal linking. They came to the same conclusion, which you can read here: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/results-of-google-experimentation-only-the-first-anchor-text-counts

    Comment by SEO X - May 16, 2010 @ 9:07am

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