Are links on the page like this detrimental?

[infinart]

Hello, on www.ditalia.com.au are the links at the bottom of the page under: Latest Blog Posts, Most Popular Blogs, Fabric & Lace, Wedding Dresses..., useful or detrimental to SEO?

[jacksghost]

Hi, I took a look at the links and, in general, I do not think they would hurt your site because they all seem to be internal links that are related to your website so that is good.  With that said, it is a lot of links.  I might suggest limiting each section to 5 links or maybe moving Fabrics & Lace, Dressmaking & Couture, etc to another page.

I did notice 2 other things to look at though.  The URL in these links may be flagged as spam.  For ex, look at this URL: http://www.ditalia.com.au/wedding-dress-wedding-dresses-and-bridal-gowns-designed-and-made/vintage-wedding-dresses.  A search engine may take this as spamming the URL with keyword "wedding dress".

Also, I noticed a small glitch and is a little difficult to explain.  The white "d'Italia" logo in the top-middle of the page seems to be interfering with these links a little bit.  As you scroll down the page, if any of the links are near the same height as this logo, the logo seems to block the link.  For ex, put the link "Hot to Cut & Tear & Cut" right below the logo and try to click on it.  You can't.  You can't click on the "The Difference Between Dressmaking & Couture" link either in the other column to the left.

Hope that helps.

[customerparadigm.com]

Carl -

I think the links on the bottom of the page are pushing it a little bit. With the top navigation, all of the other content, the links at the bottom of the page might be ignored.

My biggest issue is that the shield stays fixed at the top, but when I scroll down on an interior page, the text goes behind it. If only part of a link is behind the shield, the entire link is not clickable. At least not on a Mac / Safari, which is what some of the cool dress shopping users will be using (IMHO, not the best user experience.)

The blog posts don't appear to be like links, so many end users might not actually click on them, too. (Underlined or something might help.) I'm also not a huge fan of the "read 5419 times" … as it strikes me like the old-school hit counter. Perhaps it's just distracting me away from the topics, though.

When I do drill down, the page doesn't appear all that engaging. For example, on a post like this: How to Measure Fabric Length for a Pair of Pants
(http://www.ditalia.com.au/component/k2/article/how-to-measure-fabric-length-for-a-pair-of-pants)

There's not a ton of content, and it's a bit hard to read. This page might benefit from a diagram or drawing, as well as line breaks.

Sorry if my feedback is leaning more negative on the layout… it seems busy to me. If your target audience are brides-to-be who want wedding dresses and information, I'd try for a user experience that calms them. To me, the links at the bottom of the page have the opportunity to overwhelm them…
Hope this helps,
-- Jeff

[infinart]

Thank you. I am trying to work out a solution to shortening the url's. I have Joomla 3 and I need to find an extension to help with it.

[infinart]

Thanks Jeff,

Yes I noticed that issue with "invisible shield" over the top there.  I have tried to solve it but had not luck. I will have to hire the developer to solve it.

I will lesson the links at the bottom and improve the look of the blog over time.

Any other suggestions you, or anyone, have I'll be happy to hear.

[CustomButtonCo.com]

Footer links should not be overused in fact limit them to only a couple. You want to design and create experiences for the user don't focus so much on google and ranking.  If it is of value to have that link for a user then it will not hurt you.  Rand has a great article on this http://moz.com/blog/footer-link-optimization-for-search-engines-user-experience

[infinart]

Thanks. That was a good read. I will make adjustments to that area soon.