'SEO Footers'

[LoganRay]

We have an internal debate going on right now about the use of a link list of SEO pages in the footer.

My stance is that they serve no purpose to people (heatmaps consistently show near zero activity), therefore they shouldn't be used. I believe that if something on a website is user-facing, then it should also beneficial to a user - not solely there for bots. There are much better ways to get bots to those pages, and for those people who didn't enter through an SEO page, internal linking where appropriate will be much more effective at getting them there.

However, I have some opposition to this theory and wanted to get some community feedback on the topic.

Anyone have thoughts, experience, or data to share on this subject?

[GlobeRunner]

You're exactly correct--if a link or a list of links is buried in the site's footer then they're really not useful to visitors. No one really clicks on those links. I recommend only having links like "terms of service", "privacy policy", etc. links there.

If you want proof that no one clicks on those links, then check out Google Analytics and see the "in page analytics" to see where people are clicking on your page. You will see that no one clicks on footer links, especially link lists.

I would remove any link lists that you have in your site's footer.

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[GastonRiera]

Hi Logan,

I'd like to state 2 ideas:

1- On one hand when it comes to the usability and making the more user friendy the site, links in the footer will be a waste of time.

2- On the other hand, it's commonly used by companies. I believe that they feel those links as "good practice" in a profesional web site.

A third point would be in a SEO perspective. In my opinion, they have no value. The internal linking should come in other ways, more like a "spider net".

Hope it's understandable.
GR.

[LoganRay]

Thanks for your feedback.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one dealing with this debate! Would you mind sharing any data you collect on your test once you have enough to be conclusive?

[LoganRay]

Thanks for your feedback.

I totally agree with all 3 of your points, especially the comment regarding better ways to tackle internal linking.

[LoganRay]

Thanks for your feedback.

I've done the research to prove that people don't use them, but still unable to convince my opponents of the lack of true SEO value in terms of authority, PR, page discovery, etc.

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[LoganRay]

Of course, no problem! Maybe a comparison of before and after MozBar PA for a couple of the top performing SEO pages? Not sure if that's the best KPI for this test, but it's a rather difficult thing to measure...just throwing out some ideas on how I intend to measure when I'm able to run a similar test.

[DonnaDuncan]

What exactly is the opposition? It would be easier to respond if we knew exactly what their objection is. Seems like you have some data already (heatmap) to support your case.

[LoganRay]

The objection is that those links pass more authority/PR. Therefore the hesitation to remove them is that SEO pages will lose authority. I know this isn't true, but am having a hard time getting others to come to the light side.

[DonnaDuncan]

Understandably. Google has been less than clear on the topic.

I read an article by Marie Haynes Consulting (last updated April 2014) that clearly presents a historical timeline of statements made by our own Cyrus Shepard and John Mueller (Google) on this topic. I suggest you and your team read it a decide what you want to do after that. There is no clear "you should do this" answer because Google hasn't been clear, I don't think any of us have clear evidence what works / doesn't work, just about every scenario is going to be different, and any penalty that gets applied is going to be a manual one, so that translates into inconsistency as well.

Here's the full article - https://www.mariehaynes.com/footer-links-and-penalties/. I think you'll find it helpful.

[LoganRay]

Thanks for that article, not quite the type of links I'm addressing here, but definitely some applicable nuggets of information there.

[DonnaDuncan]

I guess the other thing to consider is if those same links are replicated elsewhere on the page, they will only pass equity once.

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[LoganRay]

Thanks so much for reporting back! Nonetheless, the responses here helped strengthen my case that on-site elements like this should not exists solely for bots, so I'm making headway!