<b>Unpopular opinion: the second link to a page on the same URL is wasted.</b>

<b>Unpopular opinion: the second link to a page on the same URL is wasted.</b>

Google's old first-link-counts behavior never fully died. When two links on one page point to the same target, the anchor of the first is the one that tends to register. The second link still passes some equity, but its anchor text? Often ignored.

So when your nav links "Shoes" and your hero block re-links "running shoes for flat feet" to the same URL — congratulations, you may have just thrown away your best anchor.

Put the descriptive link first. Or split the targets. Stop letting your menu eat your keyword.

Who's actually testing link order on their templates? Or are we all just guessing?