Linking Strategy

[Jakpot]

Is it best to have links on each of your pages to all your other pages OR have a site map with the map's url on all the pages?

Best in terms of maximizing the pages places in Google SERPs.

Could someone please explain the pros and cons.
Thanks

[Mel]

HI Jakpot

kind of a loaded question.

Links can do a few things for you:

They can increase your PageRank, which will slightly increase your ranking.

They can serve as anchor text links which will give you a bigger increase in ranking.

They can serve as the signposts which help Googlebot find your pages to spider them and of course this is a prerequisite to any ranking.

They guide your viewers so that they can find all the information you want them to.

BUT my analysis of the recent Google update seems to indicate that Google may now be discounting internal links insofar as ranking is concerned.

I recommend always having a sitemap with a text link from the home page to make sure that all your pages can be found no more than 2 clicks away from the home page, no matter whatever internal linking stragegy you may decide upon.

If increasing your TPR (with the small attendant ranking boost) is important to you then a well thought out and logical internal linking strategy can help, but the details of how best to do this vary from site to site.

Personally I link to every page from every other page, not for reasons of ranking, but so my visitors (and the spiders) can find their way to any page on my site from any other page.