| For quite some time I have puzzled over why my testing of the impact of link order on a web page as an SEO factor resulted in inconsistent results. My hypothesis was that link order on a page impacted the link juice passed by a hyperlink. Occasionally, I would think I had found proof that link order was an SEO factor, but then would be unable to validate the results with follow on tests.
I think I may have finally stumbled upon an answer to why it often seems that link order is an SEO factor. The reason link order seems to be an SEO factor may be because it is closely related to two factors that most likely do have an impact on the weight the search engine algorithms give to a link: 1) click rates; and 2) page segmentation.
Click Rates
As a search engine algorithm analyzes the signals on a page to determine the subject of a website and specific web page, the ratio of clicks to other page on the site potentially provides valuable information about the link and the web page. As an example, the home page of Koffler Sales offers a particularly graphic example of how link order impacts click rates and signals the importance of links. As shown below, the first link in the main content section of the site generates the most clicks (13%, and the order of the other links correlates to click thru rates with some of the links on the second row of images only getting 10% as many clicks).
 Link Order - Impact on Click Thru's
Thus, utilizing click rates as a signal to determine the weight passed by links would correctly assign the most weight to the Stair Treads page. Assuming that the search engines are indeed using click rates as a link weighting factor, it would explain why link order would appear to be an SEO factor. Link order and link prominence have a huge impact on click rates, as most visitors scan the web page from top left to bottom right.
Although I cannot close the circle with indisputable proof that click ratio of a link is an SEO factor, support for this conclusion is provided by viewing sitelinks on Google (the links shown below some sites in search result snippets). Sitelinks frequently include links to "careers" pages and other types of pages that attract high click ratios despite only a limited number of inlinks. The high frequency of clicks on "careers" pages by job seekers seems the likely reason that these types of pages with only a limited number of inlinks often show up as sitelinks. It does not require too great a leap of logic to jump to a conclusion that high click ratios are a factor in both selection as a sitelink and in the weight passed on by a link.
 Sitelink including "Careers" page
Page Segmentation
Page segmentation is a second factor that is related to link order that impacts SEO. Page segmentation assigns differing weight to links based on the section of a page they appear in. The search engine algorithms recognize sections of a web page, such as the header, footer, navigation bars and main content section. While it is generally recognized that footer links do not pass as much authority as links in the main content section of a web page, additional segmenting of the main content section may also be at play.
A Google patent filed in 2004 (and granted this year) indicates that links in “different semantically distinct regions may be assigned different weights.” Microsoft also has filed a number of patent applications for identifying blocks in web page to improve search results.
Thus, while link order in and of itself is not an SEO factor, link position based on page segment is an SEO factor.
What Does Google Say About Link Order?
In a Google Webmaster Help video, Matt Cutts states that "in general I would not worry about link order or first link on a page. Google will parse a page to find the links that are relevant". However, he modifies that statement by also indicating that "I would not make the link I care about the most the 1,001 link". Thus, while this statement by Google's chief spam cop is open to a bit of interpretation, it does seem to put the kibosh on speculation that link order is a factor in the Google search algorithm.
Conclusion
The prominence of a link on a web page may have an impact on the weight the hyper link passes on to the web pages to which it links. More testing is required to either prove or disprove this hypothesis. However, until more quantitative information is available in regard to this theory it may be appropriate to place links that are most important from an SEO standpoint in prominent click attracting positions on web pages. As long as doing so does not negatively impact the usability of the web page, you are unlikely to do harm and may produce a link authority boost. |
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How would Google know on site link CTR unless you used GA?
Google toolbar and possibly Google chrome are just two of the methods Goolge may be utilizing to collect click through data.
If Google were indeed using Google Analytics data to determine in-site link popularity so that it could help determine the relevancy of the linked-to pages for the anchor text, that would be a significant invasion of privacy, and a huge red flag for the FTC.
I'd think the same goes for use of the Google Chrome browser. I haven't read either one's terms of service, so, for all I know, this may be stated somewhere in there, but I'd think this type of monitoring of user behavior outside of Google domains, for the purpose of informing the Google Search ranking algorithm, would be a vast lawsuit waiting to happen.
Google has repestedly stated that they are not utilizing Google Analytics data to monitor websites, so I agree with you on that point. Also, I should retract my quickly typed in comment indicating "possibly Chrome", as I am not aware of evidence indicating that Chrome allows for click thru tracking. However, the Google Toolbar almost certainly provides a treasure trove of data. Also, Google may have some sort of panel that they track, such as the click activity of in-house users.
it's not analytyics they're using…like Winooski said, it's the chrome browser, and the google toolbar. they know your clicks..they know your scrolls too.. if your link in on the bottom of the page…and if only 2% of the people scroll down to the bottom of the page, then, my guess, is that the link is worth about 2%… if the link were above the fold in that case, it's probably worth much more.
Nice article Randy.
It would make sense if Google deliberately looked for pages like "about us" and "careers" and put them prominently in sitelinks. I agree with Winooski btw.
I wanted to point out the same issue as Jaan. How would Google know what links are being clicked on a website beyond Google's own sites? The biggest sites like CNN and BBC won't be using GA, so Google will be missing out on important and authoritative data.
And Winooski supports this point beautifully. I too, didn't read the T&Cs, so don't know whether Google stated that it did so but as Winooski said, it would be a huge deal monitoring user behaviour beyond Google's site. Beware, Big Brother is watching you.
Interesting data, Randy. I'm finding this a whole lot harder to disentangle these days. It seems pretty clear that Google is getting better at visually parsing pages (bots may even be rendering pages, IMO). At the same time, they're segmenting, like you said – treating navigation links differently than contextual links, footer links, etc. Source code order seems to matter less and less (and I think too many people have tried to manipulate that).
The order or links should not matter especially when the important links are placed in the main navigation/menu.
However if you do place them only in the footer / bottom of the page content then it does seem to have some kind of an effect in terms of importance/link juice transferred.