Whenever people think of search engine optimization, or SEO, keywords are probably the first thing that come to mind. But comprehensive SEO strategy is far beyond just keywords. Internal linking is probably one of the least practiced but most effective techniques. You not only help your visitors to find more and more web pages on your website, but it’s also very important for your results in SEO.
This article will describe:
- What is an Internal Link?
- Why Does Internal Linking Matter for SEO?
- Types of Internal Links
- How to Strategize Internal Linking
- What Is Internal Linking?
An internal link is simply any hyperlink from one page on your website to another on the same site. These play a big role in both user navigation and crawling by search engines.
For instance, when you are posting a content about sustainable coffee production, you can link another post to the environmental benefits of organic farming. Internal linking creates content hierarchy, making it easy for both the visitor and the search engines to find related information.
Why is internal linking important for SEO?
In addition to making it easy for your visitors to get around on your website, there are many more benefits of internal linking. Here’s why internal linking is important for SEO:
It encourages effective users: Internal links encourage visitors to explore related content on your website, which makes for great navigation and decreases bounce rates.
Impacts Link Equity: With internal links, you transfer link juice from one page to another. The more internal linking a page has, the more the search engine is likely to regard it as authoritative.
Streamlines Crawling and Indexing: Internal links lead search engine crawlers to reach out to crawl and index new content on your site. The more efficient the internal linking strategy you use, the better your pages are indexed.
Increase Page Rankings: Linking to high-quality content on your site, such as cornerstone content, allows ranking potential to be distributed and hence increased visibility in SERPs.
Types of Internal Links
There are various types of internal links. Each of them plays a different role for SEO and navigation.
1. Navigational Links
These links usually come in the header of the website, sidebar, or the footer. They help users to move around such core pages as the homepage, product categories, or a contact page.
2. Contextual Links
Contextual links are inserted into the text on your web page. In this sense, they add other context or some information that can relate to something, evoking an urge in readers to click further to other articles or resources related to the same material.
3. Footer Links (Links in the Footer)
These are the links that appear at the bottom part of a web page. Examples of such links include ones to terms of service, privacy policy or contact info. They are less conspicuous than the navigational links but are equally important in structuring a site.
4. Sidebar Links
These links are often put on the sidebar of a webpage and include related posts, popular pages, or other important content. Sidebar links facilitate users in rapidly surfing through different sections on your site.
5. Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs refer to text links listing the user’s way to the current page, commonly placed at the top of the page. These are helpful both to user navigation and search engine crawlers.
How to Create an Internal Linking Strategy
To make the most out of an SEO strategy, developing an effective internal linking approach is critical. Here are a few steps toward the right direction:
1. Site Audit
You must start with a site audit to understand your current internal linking structure. Tools such as SEMrush or Ahrefs really come in handy for spotting broken links, site hierarchy assessment, and which pages may require more internal links.
2. Define Your Site Structure
A good site structure, by the way, is, after all, the backbone of effective internal link building. Imagine your website as a pyramid:
At the top: the homepage
Under it: the categories and subcategories
At the bottom: the cornerstone content-that is to say your most important articles.
For instance, if you have a comprehensive guide on “SEO Best Practices,” it should link to relevant posts such as “SEO Tools for Beginners” or “Advanced SEO Strategies.” Remember to do vice versa, to have your cornerstone content link back to these sub-pages as well.
3. Use Descriptive Anchor Text
Anchor text refers to the text of a hyperlink. Descriptive keyword-rich anchor text gives meaning to what is being clicked for both the user and the search engines. Avoid using generic anchor text such as “click here” or “learn more.” Use specific terms related to the content of the target page.
4. Link to Relevant Content
Internal links should be content-relevant and of high quality and suitable. Over-linking in the bid to burden the reader with too many links might do more harm than good. Instead, create a need for the reader while linking only to related pages and enhancing the user experience.
5. Use Related Posts, Breadcrumbs, and Sidebars
Include a “Related Posts” section or add breadcrumbs and sidebar links that help nudge users toward really valuable content. These will help make your readers engage more, drive traffic to those less-visited pages, and generally improve your overall SEO performance.
Practical Good Practices for Internal Linking
To help you optimize your internal linking, remember the following good practices:
Don’t link too much to one page, as this will be considered manipulative by the search engines. Just internal link evenly throughout your website.
Update regularly: Periodically scan your site structure to identify opportunities to update your links on new content.
Be mobile-friendly: Ensure that your internal links are accessible easily via phones so that users can view your content easily, regardless of their platform.
Conclusion
Internal linking is one of those SEO components that often gets neglected but is important nonetheless. A good strategy for internal linking not only improves the user experience on your site but also improves your SEO efforts by fully indexing and ranking all the pages of your website.
Want to optimize the internal linking and SEO strategy in your website? Contact us today and learn how our award-winning SEO team can help bring your website to its full potential!