Backlink or Breadcrumb Navigation?

[paulsdunford]

Hi

I have no idea if the term 'backlink display' is the right one, but I have been told that if a web page displays a link back to the page from which a user linked to it, then it not only helps navigate backwards, but also helps SEO.

i.e. if I linked from page 'index' to page 'economy', there would be a display on the screen that looks like:

index, economy - maybe with a 'home' symbol to the left of it.


Can you let me know a) if it really helps SEO and b) whether it can be done in BlueVoda

Thanks

Paul

ExpertTuning

www.experttuning.co.uk

[Vasili]

Re: Backlink or Breadcrumb Navigation?

...
What you are actually referring to are "breadcrumb" navigational links, which is nothing more than a simple text-link 'addition' to the Main menu navigation. They are truly more a convenience for page visitors than they are a contributing aspect to any SEO development: once a page of a website itself is cached, the whole site is then indexed in relation to the structure (as mirrored by the sitemap.xml file that every site should have), and links become more a 'device' than an 'aspect' of a page. There is, however, a mitigating factor where breadcrumbs do in fact contribute to site relevance, and that is when the Main navigation is purely dynamic (scripted, or Flash especially) and not "followed" by the Search Engines, this leading to where the hard-linking of the text-link based breadcrumbs thus establishes an obvious direct relational relevance. Understand?

Examples of breadcrumb styles can be seen on this page to clarify (in grey, top-right of actual page Content), and another 'expanded' breadcrumb style can be seen on this page (left of page, "Categories") as the Main Menu on both is a scripted BV "Sliding Menu" and on multiple category pages for visitor convenience as well as supporting the XML sitemap, breadcrumbs furnish the hard-link associations also. Another perfect example of Breadcrumb Navigation can be seen at the top of this very forum:
" Forum > BlueVoda Website Builder Forums > Adding Elements To Your Website > Backlink or Breadcrumb Navigation? "

It is generally used with multiple pages within a single site category, however, and not worthy to apply to small sites or sites that such deeper topical development does not merit such duplicative association (SEO-wise or in addition to a properly updated XML sitemap).
*Note that on my second BV website example the breadcrumb navigation is actually below the 'bookmark' navigation ("Advertisers"), which has even more to do with building page relevance than breadcrumbs, as you can link bookmarks as Key Phrases similar to the H-Tags that have been applied to the page's Content.


Unless you really are confusing terms and concepts: "Backlinks" are when hyperlinks are placed on another separate website that solely direct one-way traffic "back" to your site, usually to a specific page or bookmarked section of Content (often the links are actual bookmark URLs, such as this one from the site mentioned as my second example above that when clicked will take you one-way to the very section of that Page Content emphasized as relevant: www.theluxurymall.com/tampa/fashion.html#COCO-BRAZIL ).

For example ... you have an article about you, your site, or a common topic to your site placed on another website with linked keywords that are linked back to your site specifically featuring that Keyword topic ... usually to a page where that topic is the focus of Content development --- all tightly relevant. For instance, as part of my building essential Net Relevance upon my well-constructed Site Relevance (the result of fully optimized pages and strict build compliance), I could write an article about the newest Luxury fashions coming from Coco Brazil and submit/place that article on Huffington Post and include a backlink in the text of the article like this (which has 2 backlinks): "Some of the more brilliantly outstanding couture fashions especially created for the Luxury consumer are seen in the new Spring line from Coco Brazil, which has been long known for her crisp versatility and attention to detail which is now featured at The Luxury Mall."

THIS is the Net Relevancy aspect of using backlinks, which do in fact help to contribute to SEO valuations if used selectively and very strategically with regard to complimentary SERP (in simple terms, making sure the sites you are linking from back to your site have Page Rank that is at least the same if not a number or two greater than yours). The increasing importance on Net Relevancy upon a compliant Site Relevancy build as an essential aspect is reflected on how Social Media has influenced the manner in which values are attributed with greater elevation of "Community Backlinks" (or interactive valuation) that are typically created via Facebook 'Likes' and Google+ 'recommendations' by visitors, not just by 'friends' or converted customers! This will simply continue to be the case, as the explosion of sites alone dictates a cleaner filtering method to determine (and value) only the best sites that merit our attention.


Similar to backlinks are "reciprocal links," where reciprocal links are merely one-way links to websites in a sharing manner, usually seen as banners or other graphical links placed prominently on a site in order to "share" SEO benefit by building site-to-site relevancy. Personally, I am not too keen on reciprocal links, as I am neither desperate for traffic and I cannot control the other site's content, nor can I monitor direct benefit with respect to PR elevation. To me, a reciprocal link is just another 'outbound link' that can easily score against my site's overall relevancy and SE values, as outbound links do not attribute any relevance metrics whatsoever and are just another manner in which to curtail visitor conversions by inviting them to leave my site. Outbound links should represent no more than 2% of all functional links of each page, and ideally no more than 4 total per 20-page site, and 10 total per 50-page site to steer clear of SE flags.


*Using reciprocal or backlinks from sites with less than PR4 is a defeatist strategy, and will actually count against you. AND ... make sure they are not country-specific domains, but global domains ('.com' is global, '.co.uk' is local, and contributes nothing to real SERP), even though it appears to assist in the local hub ranking or narrower local Search Results. Google for a free online tool to determine the PR (Page Rank) of a website before linking to it or allowing any association to be made!

[paulsdunford]

Re: Backlink or Breadcrumb Navigation?

Thank you for the reply to the thread (and the e-mail). I will add the breadcrumb navigation links next time I revise the site.
It certainly was breadcrumbs I was referring to. As always, your help and guidance is appreciated. I'm sure it must be frustrating at times, but I also know you have helped dozens or hundreds like me create sites we can be proud of.

Best regards,
Paul

www.experttuning.co.uk