Internal linking (2 links from the same page)

I have a question about successful internal linking. Lets say I have a link to my main "Dogs" page in my sidebar. Would it be a waste of time (SEO wise) to link to that page from inside an article since I already have a link pointing to that page from the side bar? I know it would be useful to my visitors and that is my main concern but I'm wondering about the SEO aspect of it.

A contextual link from within a related article will be much better than a crappy sidebar or footer link. This will probably sound silly but what if I put a no follow on the link in the sidebar (only on pages with scenerios like this). Would that mean G will only count the much better link from within the article?

Also I am trying out a new internal linking strategy and would love your opinions on it. On the bottom of each page I have 3 small areas of text like this:

Dog Houses
Every dog owner that
leaves their dog out
side overnight should
look into getting
a doghouse. <- a link to my "doghouse" page



There would be 3 text boxes like the one above at the bottom of my "dogs" page. I have only been using these to link to internal pages that are not linked to from my main navigation. They are all also related to the page they are on as well so its kind of like a "related content" section at the bottom of the page. Does this sound like a good internal linking strategy?

Thanks in advance.

A similar question was posed not so long back and the general consensus seemed to be that a second internal link from a page was not a bad thing. Some said it pointed out to google that the page being linked to was of significance.

I think the link within the text is quite an important one for your readers who will be far more likely to click that link than the one in your sidebar as sidebar links are often overlooked if they are part of a template appearing on every page.

I look forward to reading of your discoveries with internal linking because I share similar questions with you.

Thanks for your input. I searched around, i must have missed that post. My #1 priority is making my site easy to navigate for my visitors but if I can achieve that while getting the most from my internal linking that is my goal. Nav/footer type links just seem so generic compared to a nice relevant contextual link. I'm probably putting too much thought into it though.

I guess if you dont keep thinking and you stop experimenting you wont go forward. Im no expert but would think if you keep testing things out you will move forward in the end.

The keyword there is "successful" as in it aided to produce better ranks.

I haven't tested this myself... but SEOMoz did and their conclusions were "no benefit" occurred from the second link [or more] on a page to another page.

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/results-of-google-experimentation-only-the-first-anchor-text-counts

While Rand and I often disagree on SEO specifics, and I don't have access to his factual data to confirm or refute his findings...

It makes perfect sense that you can't load pages up with every anchor phrase under the sun and artifically influence ranks that way.

It doesn't sound "plausible"... as such -- what he says "makes sense" and I see no need to test it myself.

So for successful internal linking... make sure the link anchor you want to be used to help ranks for the page... is the first link on the page [for that destination]

Does it add? Unlikely, it does add to usability though, which means the users are happy they do'nt have to search for your links.

Nav links are usually in the ideal world about 5 per page. You can add to that in articles, not a problem. Residual benefit? limited? although, if you alternate anchor text it may have some bearing.

It appears better but a more consistent and user-friendly navigation menu is even more important. This is where you can use your sidebar properly.