Interesting overview and explanation of visual cues in link power from DailySEOTip. Excerpted: Full article is here. Interesting bit about WordPress and other CMS systems. The "predictability" of most CMS layouts is almost certainly one of the reasons why so many of them, WP in particular, seem to get a lot of love from the search engines. Frank
I always thought they were more powerful because people simply read the content... When was the last time you actually bothered to read the navbar here on DP? How long did it take you to know the header changed (a few weeks back)? When was the last time you scrolled down below the 'quick reply' feature? People read content... it has nothing to do with layout beyond that. The search engines know that the ONLY thing on the site people are looking for is the content, so a link within said content by rights should and does hold a lot more weight then the places no one bothers to look. Its why Adsense wants us to change our ad layouts all the time... it makes people notice something is different. The only thing that is more noticeable then content is blatant change.
that is interesting. They have been getting better at identifying 'furniture' over the last few years - their initial efforts were ludicrous - there was a time not so far back, when you'd get javascript 'snippets' in Google SERPS. Doesn't seem to happen that much anymore.
posted by Qryztufre: It goes a little deeper than that -- have a look at the MS research paper linked in the article; see also the concept of heat maps, also here. Frank
In content links are not only the best, they make the most sense. If you are talking about a service or product and want to endorse it, or reference it via anchor backlink you will most likely do so within the post, vs at the beginning or end. SE's algorithm writers know this, and makes sense for them to weigh it more heavily.
I think the link in the content and comment is better than other place because people will focus on the content when they reading it and also they reading the comments too. That's why it's good more than other spot.
I always assumed the links in content were better because they are typically surrounded by relevant keywords, title tags, h1 tags, etc. Anytime you have a link among this kind of content it will make ti more valuable to the SE.
No, it really does not go any deeper. Heat maps are generated based on where people are bothering to look. Where are they bothering to look? AT THE CONTENT. Look at the hotest spots on the heat maps... they conform to exactly where the content is.
I also notice that. Links within an article show more as backlinks compare to those links that was place in blogroll.
Correctly said buddies. Content links are much better than simple Links. Again , if the content article is unique and have satisfactory quality, link value is even more.
posted by Qryztufre: In other words, you did not read the linked research. In other words, did not click on that second link either. Frank
I did see that second link... random clicks on the page? Yeah, lets all put our ads there *rolls eyes* I blame these touchier then they should be mouse pads on brand new laptops. So yeah, if you wanna earn cash based on clicks in the middle of the pages where there is NOTHING but blank space, then be my guest...
LMAO, why do you want to fight about it? I was referring to the sample heatmaps on the CrazyEgg site, not the Confetti thing they do, which looks interesting but which I have not looked at closely enough to understand (like yourself, it seems to me that they are tracking random click activity, which doesn't make much sense does it? That suggests to me that I have simply not taken the time to understand what is going on, so I don't bother opening my mouth about it.) Frank