Forum Moderators: open
Have 10 links linking to index pages that link to about 50 pages is the right way to go.
Craig
[added] Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number (fewer than 100). This was taken from the Google webmaster info page :) I knew I had read it on their site somewhere. [/added]
An important point made often here is to think in terms of the user. If someone is confronted with 500 links right off the bat, it might seem overwhelming. I'd say chop them up into categories for sure.
I'd do 10 main category links from the root pages.
root/category-one/
root/category-two/
Then I'd have an index page for each category with 50 links from the index page into the category content. (Does it really have to have 50 links? Break the content down even further?)
root/category-one/index.htm
root/category-one/page-one.htm
root/category-one/page-two.htm
You may want to sit down and draw this out on paper. Put your root level pages at the top and then start mapping them to the sub-categories.
Make sure you leave room for growth. This is a long term strategy and one that I've found helps the visitor to navigate their way around the site. It also helps the spider based SEs. ;)
The 100 link limit that Craig referred to is geared that way; anything more starts to look spammy.
My view on this? 100 links is way too many. As a user, a page with 100 links on it serves me no purpose, none whatsoever. I wouldn't spend the time clicking through to see what was there. Pages need to be more categorized and user friendly. They need to be more focused, targeted.
Think about it for a moment. How long would it take someone to figure what those 100 links were? Even if you had 15-20 word descriptions, that's a lot of information to throw at someone on one page.
I'd have said more like 20 max, but the 100 was compared to 500.
Would it be better to have 500 links on the index page, in 26 alphabetical groups, perhaps with an on-page index, or to have 26 pages of directories? Which would pass higher page rank? Which would be easier to navigate? Frankly, I don't see how it matters either way, for either page rank or for the user. You could chop the page rank up into 500 pieces right on the index page, or you could chop it up in 26 pieces first, then chop it again to get the same effect as if you had left all the links on the index page. The user can wait for the whole index page of 500 links to load, then have the whole lot to scan, or they could bounce around among the 26 directory pages which would load faster but would require a lot of back button and reload operations. So I'd say it doesn't matter which way you do it.
I wouldnt have 100 links on a page myself, to many for the website user to sort through IMO.
Craig
What's wrong with having hundreds of links on the index page, but broken up into categories, like A-Z alphabetical categories if appropriate?
Hmmm, good question. I guess it depends on your perspective and that of the visiting audience. In most instances, I believe people are at your site for a particular reason. They are looking for something. I think a page with an excessive amount of links and lots of categories can be somewhat overwhelming for most, including myself.
From my perspective, if I'm looking for a particular blue widget, I don't think a page with information on every widget is going to appeal to me. If I land on a page and I can quickly see a topical category for blue widgets, then you've won me over. If the page I land on then gives me further topical categories all relative to blue widgets, then I'm hooked. I really hope I'm going to find that special blue widget when I click that third time.
I personally am not a fond believer of loading a page with hundreds of links if I don't have to. The more links you have, the less focus there is.
I've always been a firm believer in the Chain of Command theory. The most important pages at the top (root level) and then secondary pages below that (category level) and then work the chain from there.
If I put all of my links on the home page, I think I'd scare a good percentage of my visitors away. If I give them a taste of what is to come, on topic links that take them into targeted categories for what they are looking for, I've won them over.
Don't get me wrong, certain design environments, or industries, may warrant a home page with an excess number of links. In my personal opinion, I don't think it works for the average surfer. For example, the WebmasterWorld home page has 177 links. Those links are categorized so that the user can easily find where they want to go. But, what user are we talking about here? The Webmaster in most cases. He or she is going to know how to navigate a page with 177 links.
I guess audience will play an important factor in how you categorize and display links on your pages. My feeling is that home pages should be extremely targeted for the audience.
Let's go back to the original post. 500 links was the number in question. That is a lot of links, a whole bunch. In that scenario, a targeted category listing is needed. I don't think a page can be effective with more than 100 links (in most cases, depends on the industry). Many will probably say that I am incorrect and I could be. I'm just coming at it from my perspective.
The bottom line...
If you can squeeze that many links on a page and still make it effective for the user and spidering SE, more power to you. From a usability standpoint, I think there may be some issues for most audiences.
