The question of where to place links on a page has long been a tricky one for SEO. It seems like every new spot that search engine optimization experts uncover is quickly cut out by the search engines. This is the exact scenario concerned when it comes to footer links.

Footer links were briefly a very popular area for links as part of SEO. They were an easy way to boost internal links, and, being at the bottom of the page, didn’t interfere with an internet user’s enjoyment of a web page. Unfortunately, their popularity among the SEO fraternity was precisely what caused their value to plummet.

Why would footer links go out of fashion?

The search engines are fairly quick to devalue any aspect of a web page that seems obviously manipulated. While the search engines are fairly tolerant of SEO, they favour organic website optimization. In other words, they only like things that look completely natural.

Footer links don’t fall into this category. Once SEO companies began using footer links as part of a standard linking procedure, the links began to get a little too obvious. Footer links went from reflections of the understated header links, to a seeming site directory, reproduced in full at the bottom of every page. When it boiled down to it, footer links diminished in value because they were being overused.

These days, a smart SEO company will use more subtlelink building strategies to strengthen the structure of a site. What the journey of footer links teaches us, though, is the value of subtlety in SEO.