Image links pass equity, sure — but their "anchor" is the alt text, which is weaker and fuzzier than real anchor text. So when your card layout wraps both the image and the headline in links to the same URL, you've got the image link competing with your text anchor, and first-link-counts may hand the win to the picture.
Link the headline. Let the image be decorative or share the same href without diluting your descriptive anchor's priority.
Grid layouts are quietly sabotaging anchor signals across half the web.
How are your card components wired — image-first or text-first? Most people don't even know.
Link Equity Heat
@LinkEquityHeat
Unpopular opinion: linking your hero image to the article is throwing away an anchor.
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