Just How Many Links are too many? A key SEO learning from Active Rain University

A year and a half ago, I took a series of Active Rain University courses and they were super helpul.  I took 3 classes during the last week or so of August/beginning of September - right around Labor Day when things were slowing down and I had a bit of extra time and things were more relaxed.  This was 2 months after I started blogging, and for me, that was perfect.  I think if I had taken them too soon, it would have been overwhelming.  I was just at the point where I was starting to know what I was doing, but still had so much to learn.

For those that haven't taken them yet, by all means sign up.  It's amazing how much they can pack into that hour and I learned a ton of tips.

Here's one that really stood out.

Fewer links on a page is better...less is more!

We all know that if you overwhelm a consumer in any way, they are less likely to make a decision. This can be in the form of visual clutter on your page, giving them too many product selections (or showing too many homes) or giving them too many reasons to buy, etc.  So, we all know that instinctively - try to make things simple.  So, using this logic, if you have a few links on the page, customers are more likely to click, and if you have too many, they are less likely to click.

But, what I didn't realize until after I took the class is that google treats things the same way.  No one knows the exact formula, but essentially there is a certain amount of google juice on each page.  And, if you have one outbound link, that link gets the juice.  If you have more liks, the juice gets divided...so the more links, the less juice per link.  And, the first link gets the most juice, followed by the 2nd and then the 3rd, etc.  Makes sense, right?

 

So, what does that mean for us?

1.  In general, having less links on a page or blog post is better.  The less links, the more juice per link.  In Active Rain University, they suggested 2-5 links per post is ideal....and, that includes the links in your footer.

2.  Put your most important link first!  And, I believe it's better if you put that link above the fold (or top part of the page before someone needs to scroll).  I'm not sure if that just makes it more likely for someone to click (esp since some people scan) or if there is a google benefit or both.

 

After I took this course, I took the following actions:

1.  I removed my social media links in my footer...they were taking up valuable link juice and for me/my biz, these links were less important than links to my site/key pages.  (that may be different for you).  I did add them to my side bar, though.

2.  I elminated other less important links in my footer.  I still have 4 which may be too many, but that's what seemed to make the most sense for me.

3.  I've been more choiceful in the number of links I have in most posts.  Yes, of course, I have some posts w/ lots of links and it's called for, but for many, i may only have 1-3 key links.

4.  I make sure my most important link is first and comes early in the post!  If it doesn't flow naturally from the text, I insert a link on the first photo (since that will be what google reads first).

I hope this is helpful, and I do hope you can take some time to attend the Active Rain University classes. They are free and jam packed with useful information.

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