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Then we have Linking for Human visitor
Since only so much time can be spent on one page, a sticky site is going to need more than just some “super glue” on the home page, picture it as a book if you like, a one page book won’t keep your busy for too long.
A Sticky web site need valuable and interesting content on multiple pages, plus – of cause - an easy way to get from one page to another.
That’s where links come in. It is links that guide humans from one page to the next and entice them to “stick around”. The best content in the world will not create a sticky site if the visitor can not easily find what they want.
The more compelling the content and the more easily that content can be found, the longer humans will tend to stick.
Being “sticky” really only requires the presence of these two features:
Pages that humans like.
Links between those pages so humans can easily find more of what they are looking for.
Now, here’s the thing about links. Humans really hate to be “tricked.” Linking is what guides and leads us through reviewing content so the link text you use needs to tell the human what information the link will lead to.
Links need to “tell the truth” about what they lead to. Links that aren’t clear don’t get clicked at all and (worse) links that actually lie create the opposite of a sticky site: visitors that tell you to stick it!
So, and how does this apply to the search spiders?
Search engines try to view and rank content in the same way humans would because, of course, that’s who the search result are for! It’s no secret that humans regard the page title and headlines within the page as indicators of what the page is about, and search engines do the same for that very reason.
SEO is keywords in Domain – Title – H2 and H2 headings – and in your copy.
That’s what help your buyer find the way around, and it’s what helps you get good ranking and positions.
In general, search engines try to use programs that make the same choices humans would reach by sheer intuition. Intuition is still well beyond what today’s computers are capable of, so search engines must do their best to “fake it” with mathematical algorithms.
“Gold Coast WebWiz – Web Design - Linking”
We are brought up with books, and turning to next page is a subconscious reflex. It must be as easy to move on to the next page on your web site, a visitor forced to search for a link to continuation is lost. - A lost visitor quickly finds his way to the exit button and is gone.
Design your Linking for Human visitor
Since only so much time can be spent on one page, a sticky site is going to need more than just some “super glue” on the home page, picture it as a book if you like, a one page book won’t keep your busy for too long.
A Sticky web site need valuable and interesting content on multiple pages, plus – of cause - an easy way to get from one page to another.
That’s where links come in. It is links that guide humans from one page to the next and entice them to “stick around”. The best content in the world will not create a sticky site if the visitor can not easily find what they want.
The more compelling the content and the more easily that content can be found, the longer humans will tend to stick.
Being “sticky” really only requires the presence of these two features:
- Pages that humans like.
- Links between those pages so humans can easily find more of what they are looking for.
Now, here’s the thing about links. Humans really hate to be “tricked.” Linking is what guides and leads us through reviewing content so the link text you use needs to tell the human what information the link will lead to.
Links need to “tell the truth” about what they lead to. Links that aren’t clear don’t get clicked at all and (worse) links that actually lie create the opposite of a sticky site: visitors that tell you to stick it!
And Links – Humans v Search Robots.
What humans expect of links is that the link text clearly describes the content that the link points to. This is such a strong intuition for us that we feel defrauded when it’s not true. Likewise for broken links: doesn’t it really get “up your nose” when you wait for ever just to see “Page Cannot be displayed”. Twice on the same site and no sticky glue in the world can keep you there.
The same goes for search engines. This intuitive notion of how humans use links is mirrored in what search engines do with them. Search engines treat the links pointing at a page as a primary authority for what the target page is about. So much so in fact that pages often rank for searches where the search phrases appears absolutely nowhere on the page. They rank solely based on the power of the incoming links!
If Googlebot throws a link error on one of your pages, then it’s out of further crawling and appearance in search listings.