Small business owners waste precious time on SEO myths. The latest recycled concern is that using the same anchor text in your website navigation somehow “dilutes” your ability to rank for those keywords.
Let me save you the worry: this isn’t true.
Google’s John Mueller recently addressed this directly when an SEO professional asked whether using identical anchor text across four sitewide navigational sections would reduce their ranking potential. His response confirms what sensible SEO practitioners have known for years—this concern is largely unfounded.
Where This Myth Came From
This worry dates back to 2005, when Google used statistical analysis to identify unnatural linking patterns. At the time, SEOs obsessed over exact-match anchor text from external sites as a ranking signal.
Over time, this morphed into a concern about “diluting” internal anchor text—the idea that linking to the same page multiple times with identical text somehow weakens the SEO value of those links.
The problem? Google never actually claimed this was how their algorithm works.
How Google Actually Handles Navigation Links
Since around 2004, and more formally by 2006, Google has treated sitewide links differently from contextual links. Rather than counting each instance as a separate vote, Google essentially consolidates them.
This applies to both external sitewide links (like blogroll links or footer links from other sites) and your internal navigation links. Google recognises these patterns and adjusts accordingly.
Mueller clarified that navigational links are processed differently: “From our point of view, it’s not that there’s any kind of penalty or negative signal associated with that. It’s more that we recognise this is just a navigational link that’s across your website.”
In other words, Google understands that your main navigation, footer links, and other recurring elements are there for user experience, not as repeated endorsements of specific pages.
What This Means For Your Website
For small business owners in New Zealand (and everywhere else), this brings welcome clarity:
1. Design navigation for users, not search engines. Focus on creating clear pathways that help visitors find what they need.
2. Be consistent with menu labels. Using the same anchor text across your site creates a better user experience and won’t hurt your SEO.
3. Don’t waste time varying navigation anchor text. Changing “Services” to “Our Services” in different sections creates confusion without SEO benefit.
4. Reserve your SEO efforts for content that matters. Instead of worrying about navigation text, focus on creating helpful, relevant content that answers customer questions.
The Bigger Picture For Business Owners
This navigation “dilution” concern reflects a common problem I see while consulting small businesses: getting caught in technical SEO minutiae while missing strategic opportunities.
Many business owners become paralysed by these technical rabbit holes. They spend hours researching and implementing minor tweaks based on misunderstandings or outdated information, when their time would be better spent on content creation, conversion optimisation, or customer engagement.
Google has grown increasingly sophisticated in understanding websites holistically. Their systems recognise navigational patterns and process them accordingly. The days of obsessing over exact keyword placement and frequency are long behind us.
What Actually Moves The Needle
If you want to improve your SEO results, focus on these proven approaches instead:
- Create content that genuinely helps your target customers solve problems.
- Structure your website logically so visitors (and search engines) can easily understand your offerings.
- Build authority through quality content that earns links naturally.
- Optimise for user experience, including page speed and mobile responsiveness.
- Track meaningful metrics like conversions and engagement, not just rankings.
The SEO industry sometimes perpetuates complexity to justify its existence. But for most small businesses, success comes from consistently applying fundamentals rather than chasing algorithmic ghosts.
So next time you hear about an SEO “rule” that sounds overly technical or counterintuitive, take a step back. Ask whether it aligns with providing a better user experience. If not, it’s probably safe to ignore.
Your navigation should guide users clearly through your site. Design it for them, not for algorithmic phantoms. That’s the straightforward path to sustainable SEO success.
