Search Engine Optimization comprises many tasks, some more mundane than others, and some more valuable than others. Most tasks performed by a legitimate SEO firm will likely help a website gain search engine rankings. One task that was less important, or so it seemed in the past, was the "clean up" of internal navigation. It is now generally accepted that the use of text links within internal navigation schemes not only helps to lead visitors to more information about a site and its pages, but also helps the search engines in weighing the value of certain pages to a particular topic or search.
A very informative thread at WebMasterWorld Forums from last month detailed a case study that showed the Administrator who started the thread that simply changing navigation links from images to text had a profound effect on rankings for some highly competitive terms. "Tedster" provides the topic, "The Power of Text Navigation," which spurred some great discussion about navigational text links – including anchor text links within content - and also some warnings about overdoing it. He summarizes his study:
Lesson for me -- don't let the issue slide when it comes to using text in main navigation.
Join the discussion or just read the thread to gain some insight at WebMasterWorld Forums.
