This is pretty obvious from a design point of view, but it’s important to remember the SEO benefits as well.

When designing a website, you should try and have a text link back to your homepage on every page of the site. Flash and Java navigation is (usually) okay from a user point of view, but can’t be used by search engine spiders, meaning that you should always include a text link as well.

Where possible, use relevant anchor text in your home page links (dropping in a primary site-wide keyword or two), rather than just using a boring and non-descriptive “Home” link.

As the most important page in your site, there is no doubt that the home page deserves a good backlink from each and every page in your navigation structure. This is one of the easiest ways to create a good internal linking arrangement, and make it easier for search engines to index your site.

Keep in mind that this strategy isn’t just limited to your home page, but can also be applied to other important pages of your site. For example, if you have a blog and want to increase the ranking of a particular article, you could give it a side-wide link on all of your previous post pages.