Google does not differentiate internal links by importance
Google employee D. Mueller, in a video format, answered user questions and stated that the search engine does not differentiate internal links based on their importance. No link is prioritized in processing depending on its location.
Google sees no difference between the location of the link in the content, footer, or header of the page – these links are equivalent to each other in terms of importance and will be processed absolutely identically. That is, an internal link in the footer/header of the page has the same significance as a link in the body of the page.
However, when texts are processed, Google begins to differentiate between additional and main content, handling them in different ways. The search engine aims to locate the main content on the page, and during the ranking process, it will rely specifically on it.
Meanwhile, an internal link will help the system better understand the site’s structuring, but the placement of these links has no significance for the algorithms, concluded Mueller.
