Also known as internal hyperlinks, they are links pointing to a page of a website from another page of that same website. Internal linking allows a user or search engine to navigate the site while helping them to understand the relationship between content on the pages and facilitating the distribution of link equity across pages of the site. The internal linking guide can help keep users on a website instead of navigating elsewhere, contrasting with external links. The higher the retention time of the users the higher the conversion.
What Is Internal Linking?
Internal linking is the process of linking one page of a website to another page within that website and on the same domain. Links such as these assist users and search engines all navigating, learning the content relationships, and linking the equity of the link across the pages. Unlike outbound links, which take the users to other external websites, internal links keep users within your website longer and thereby boost retention and conversion rates.
Related: Link Building: Power Up Your SEO
Why Internal Linking Matters for SEO?
A well-planned internal linking strategy has a major role in SEO by:
- Aiding in search engine crawling and indexing of pages effectively
- Enhancing user navigation and experience
- Spreading Of PageRank (link equity) across various pages
- Extend dwell time to decrease bounce rates
- Enhancing the exposure of partial or deeper pages
By adopting internal linking best practices, you are capable of optimizing your website’s structure and will increase your search engine rankings
Types of Internal Links
Interlinking can basically be classified into two types:
- Navigation Links – These are links that guide a user to important pages on a website. More common types of navigational links include Home, Services, or Contact Us, and these usually appear on the main navigation menu.
- Contextual Links – Found within content, contextual links guide the user from the main body to related pages. Contextual links are likely to have a positive effect on user engagement and also encourage users to view pages with related topics.
- Footer Links: These links typically appear at the bottom of a site, with highly important internal pages that include pages such as Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and important category links, amongst others. They help provide that foundational feel.
- Breadcrumb Links – These links serve as navigational aids to user access and understanding of the site’s structural hierarchy (e.g., Home > Blog > SEO Tips).
- Image Links – Images that are clickable links and take users to other internal pages further engage users.
- Sidebar Links – Any link found in the sidebar, usually directing users to popular or related posts.
Every type serves a unique purpose for SEO and experience improvement.
Benefits of Internal Linking
Internally linking from one website to another can prove to be very beneficial if done correctly in the first place. Some of the benefits include:
- Improving SEO Ranking
Internal links distribute PageRank, or link equity, from one set of pages to another, ultimately benefiting the authority of these pages to rank better. The more internal links that point to a page from trusted sources and authority sights, the better that page will be perceived as ranking higher in search engines.
- Enhanced User Experiences
Internal links thus improve navigation and keep users engaged for longer periods while directing them to relevant and associated content, thus reducing bounce rates.
- Increased Speed of Indexation by Search Engines
Internal networking thus helps search engines like Google in quicker discovery and indexing of new content. Such a well-structured grid of internal links ensures that none of the important pages are missed.
- Increased Page Views, Less Bounce Rate
Users are therefore required to explore more pages and fewer articles, which leads to a decreased bounce rate and increased page views.
- Improved Content Hierarchy and Structure
Internal linking allows the creation of a logical flow of information, which makes it easy for both users and search engines to refer to one’s site structure.
Internal Linking principles
Best practices for internal linking:
- Descriptive Anchor Text
Anchor text is the words a person clicks on in order for the link to become activated. Instead of “click here”, anchor texts should be descriptive so that they give an indication of the subject of the linked page.
Example: “For more information, check out our comprehensive internal linking guide,” instead of “Read more here.”
- Link to those Relevant Pages only.
Those internal links should join the users to relevant content, as well as connected pages, which could engage the users better and possibly let them find useful information.
- Further the Logical Link Structure
Your internal links will have hierarchies. You give more internal links to more important pages and strategically link them to less important pages.
- Don’t Provide a Page with Many Links
With all this being said, internal linking does seem to lose its effect when too many links are placed on one single page. Users will feel somewhat confused as well.
- Encourage Important Pages with Follow Links
Internal links should be set to “do follow” so that link equity is shared across linked pages so their authority increases.
- Regular Checks and Audits of Internal Links
Regular audits ensure that internal links link to existing locations and current URLs and maintain optimal performance.
How to Create an Effective Strategy
An effective strategy will make a drastic improvement in SEO and user engagement. Here’s how to create one:
- Identify Pillar Pages and Supporting Content Pillar pages are comprehensive, high-value pages that cover broad topics, while supporting content consists of related subtopics. Ensure pillar pages link to supporting pages and vice versa.
- Establishment of a Content Hub, A content hub will contain all the articles pertaining to the niche explanation of related topics, easing out navigation. For example, in a digital marketing niche website, a hub could comprise SEO, PPC, Content Marketing, and Social Media Marketing.
- Link High-Authority Pages to Lower-Authority Pages The esteemed pages need to issue linkage to others with lower authority and a new low amount of traffic to share link equity and therefore boost rankings.
- Optimize Internal Links for Mobile Users, Since you are now aware of the number of visitors who access the site with a mobile device, ensure your internal links are simple to access and use on mobile devices.
- Use Various Types of Internal Links, Nav systems wouldn’t be complete without a few contextual, sidebar, and footer links within an internal linking system.
Avoid These Common Internal Linking Mistakes
So you see, these mistakes, while very few, can harm SEO:
- Too Many Links on One Page
The page can be filled with a very large number of links along which the dilution of link value occurs and the navigation gets confused.
- Linking Irrelevant Pages
Internal links to unrelated pages just to have an internal link. It is important that every link has to be useful for the user.
- Ignoring Orphan Pages
Pages that are not linked with any other internal links are orphan pages. These pages are also difficult to find and may not get indexed.
- Using Weak or Generic Anchor Text
“Weak anchor text like “click here” or “read more” does not give any indication to search engines or users. Use descriptive keyword-rich anchor text instead.
- Not Updating Old Internal Links
The old URL changes and even pages are deleted over time. Hence, audits of internal links must be done regularly to avoid broken links.
How External and Internal Links Work Together
Improving site navigation, and internal linking also adds to the main advantages of external linking in credibility by linking to authoritative sources. The average use of both kinds of links, promises user trust and a higher rank by search engines.
Internal links are responsible for spreading authority throughout your site, while external links connect your content with the wealth of external resources outside, thus improving credibility. Internal and external links should go together to create a great website structure.
Wonderfully Internally Linking Users
That’s one way of illustrating the internal linking task, or at least mentioning them, definitely considers the entire SEO benefit from bar links but ignores the company or user engagement, the complete user experience.
When the page displays for any kind of visitor, he/she will be searching for some more relevant information. The concern does not stop at defining the source but spreads through the journeys of the user linking. And it can also have them captured within the walls of the place for longer time spans.
The whole picture is very much about organizing and linking well enough for people not to feel quite lost, as they could easily navigate through linked possibly related topics. Not alone satisfied, but actually quite trustingly inclined to return.
Afford contextual navigation to the user; it gives a smooth browsing experience so that users dive to greater depths into your content.
The Long-Term Optimization of Internal Links
Creating a good internal linking structure is a never-ending practice. When more and more contents get created and added to the site, regular updates of all pages with new hyperlink connections, in order to keep the structure intact, should always be practised.
As soon as that is done, it should regularly check the whole navigation scheme with the way users behave within it: constantly analyzing their behaviour toward the metrics of engagement.
So, basically, internal optimization makes your site usable while keeping it well-ranked and interesting for the users.
Conclusion
Planning for internal linking is a very crucial factor of good SEO practice in creating user engagement and organization within the site. Adhering to best practices in internal linking, therefore, provides great benefits to the navigation, ranking improvement, and overall human experience.
Revise internal links in a timely manner, link to relevant pages, and maintain a good structural framework for maximum benefits from internal linking. Following the internal linking tips in this article not only helps beginners create an authoritative and user-friendly site, but advanced marketers benefit as well.
