Footer Links For SEO: Best Practices

The truth is that linking is an important part of SEO. But when it comes to footer links, you need to be strategic about the type of links you place. When it comes to footer links, SEO is an overlooked area. The footer of a website serves various purposes, and it has a direct impact on the website’s performance and ranking in organic search results. Internal links in footer SEO have to be used in a wise manner for optimum results.

What are footer links?

The footer links appear on every page of your website as they are automatically placed at the bottom of every page. Most footer links are internal links to other pages of your site, but in some cases, you may link out to other websites from the footer. In the past, Google used internal links in footer SEO to better understand the various pages of your website. Though footer links are not only about Google,

This also helps visitors locate the information that they are searching for quickly. It also indicates you would need to consider which footer links will provide the best experience for your site visitors.

The reasons why footer links matter

Internal links in footer SEO are important. In a natural way, it enables users to navigate your website. Footer optimization is considered as site-wide links or referred to as boilerplate links. These are the types of links that appear on nearly every page of a website. Normally, they are header links, footer links, or the ones that appear on both sides of the website.

Google wants to understand whether footer optimization is only for SEO purposes. Even if they exist, it would help the end users in the navigation process. Links are deemed positive items by Google if they are used to aid users in navigating your website, in which case Google will crawl those links. If the links are strictly for SEO purposes, Google will not consider them to be negative.

The footer link types

The footer of a website serves a purpose. Generally, it is fine to include the following internal links in the footer:

• Business contact information
• CTA
• Sitemap
• Opt-in-form
• Privacy policy
• Testimonies
• Copyright information
• Locations
• Categories
• Terms of Use

The things you need to be aware of about footer links

What are the links that you put in an SEO footer? Below are a few guidelines for using SEO footer links in practice.

Google may devalue external footer links

Since the beginning of web design, footers have existed. This means search engines like Bing or Google are efficient in identifying website footers and what is incorporated into them. After considerable testing, web design companies and SEO generally agree that Google may devalue the external footer links.

The only time you will be using external footer links for SEO is when they are connected to other businesses or linked out to social profiles. This will enable you to stay on the right side of Google and bring considerable benefit to the site’s users.

Footer links obtain low CTRs

Footer links SEO does not get a lot of clicks. Most people scroll to the footer when they are not able to find anything substantial. Think of it as the last resort for finding specific pages on your site. This means that footer links are known to have low click-through rates.

It is important, as cramming your footer full of links is not an efficient way to drive traffic to various pages on your website. The truth is that people are not going to use them often.

Footer links may take your pages beyond a healthy link total

If there are too many links on a page, it can lower the page quality. The problem is that the footer will appear on every page of your website. So, if you add a lot of links in the footer, you will be adding all those links to every page of your website. This could put a healthy page link total in the eyes of Google.

When assessing page quality, Google uses the number of links as a factor. If there are tones of links but not enough content, Google will classify the page as spam.

It can take a lot of time to organize the links in the footer

The construction of a sturdy foundation requires time. It is not worth the time for the majority of website owners. The truth is that spending a considerable amount of time organizing your footer links is not worth it. You are not getting enough benefits for the time that you put in. It is better to adopt a simple approach when it comes to footer optimization.

The best practices for using footers intelligently

By now, you are aware of the various footer types and which ones to avoid. The key is to achieve optimum SEO value from your footer links. Below are a few examples of your website footer.

Amazon

Amazon is a popular website, and they have millions of pages along with listings for almost any product that you can think of. The number of links they could add to their footer is simply overwhelming. Every footer link is placed under the heading to quickly help the users find what they need. Examples are

• Get to Know Us, which includes links to the important company pages
• Let us help you. Links for customer service and support

Its straightforward footer link structure makes it simple to obtain the information you need.

Apple

Apple has around 50 products and services on offer. Still, it does not include the variations of products or the services that they offer. Apple goes on to include links to each product and service group. This can enable people to find the right kind of products while increasing sales. Though Apple uses a lot of links in the footer, the SEO footer layout is simple. It enhances the user experience by helping customers find the correct pages quickly.

WebFx

The website does not match the bandwidth of Apple or Amazon. They have gone on to create a footer that is efficient and easy to understand. All the important pages are listed under four headings.

• Services: the services that are on offer
• Knowledge base: Improving your SEO knowledge and digital marketing
• Company: Each department of WebFx
• Resources: Important pages about WebFx

For SEO purposes,  optimization of the footer takes place by using a good keyword. For describing the important pages, a rich anchor text is used.

This is all about it! By now, you know how to create a footer with the right links. The key to a good footer is only placing links that help visitors find what they are looking for quickly and easily.

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