Internal linking plays an important role for an any type of website. It helps visitors to navigate around your website site more easily, as well as helping search engines understand what content you have available. Internal linking is the practice of adding links from one page on your website to another. This allows users to easily navigate between pages and find related content quickly and efficiently. Internal links also help search engines understand the structure of your site and how each page relates to other pages within it.
How Important is Internal Linking?
Internal linking is an important aspect of search engine optimization (SEO) and website usability. It helps to create a better user experience, improve SEO rankings, and increase page views. All website owners have this basic doubt, what exactly is internal linking? And why should you care about it?
When done correctly, internal linking can have a positive impact on SEO rankings by helping search engine crawlers discover new content more quickly and accurately indexing existing content for relevant keywords or phrases. When used strategically throughout your website’s copy, internal links can help keep visitors engaged with your site longer as they explore related topics or products that may be of interest to them.
Effective internal links can lead to increased page views as visitors are encouraged to click through multiple pages in order to learn more about a particular topic or product offering. This not only increases engagement but also provides valuable insights into which topics are resonating most with readers so you can tailor future content accordingly.
Reasons for why internal linking is important
- Improves website navigation
Internal linking helps users navigate through your website by providing them with relevant links to other pages on your site. This makes it easier for users to find the information they need and can improve the overall user experience.
- Helps search engines understand your website
Internal linking helps the search engines crawling bots to better understand the structure of your website. By linking to relevant pages on your site, you can help search engines identify the most important pages and improve their visibility in search results.
- Distributes page authority
Internal linking can help to increase the page authority of the website. By linking from high-authority pages to other pages on your site, you can pass on some of that authority and help improve the ranking of those pages.
- Increases pageviews
Internal linking can increase the number of page views on your website by encouraging users to visit other pages on your site. This can also help reduce bounce rates and increase the amount of time users spend on your site.
- Improves content discoverability
Internal linking can help improve the discoverability of your content by linking to related pages on your site. This makes it easier for users to find additional information on a particular topic and can help improve engagement and conversions.
We hope you all now understand what are internal links and its importance, now lets check Do’s and Don’ts of Internal Linking.
The Do’s:
Let’s start with the do’s:
1. Link relevant pages together
Internal links should be used to connect related pages on your website so that users can find information quickly and easily. For example, if you have a blog post about SEO tips, link to other posts or resources on your site that provide additional information on the topic.
2.Link Old posts to new posts
Usually while publishing a new article, people target to give internal links to the old posts from the new posts but never consider about giving an internal link to the new post from the old posts. So, once your new post is published, go back to your blog post and add link to the newer post to get a flow of authority.
3. Keep track of broken links
Broken links create a bad user experience and can hurt your SEO efforts, so make sure you regularly check for any broken internal links and fix them promptly if necessary.
4. Use descriptive anchor text for links
Anchor text should be relevant to the page being linked to in order for users and search engines alike to understand where they are going when clicking on a link.
5. Make use of breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs provide an easy visual aid which allows users to see exactly where they are within your website structure at any given time.
The Don’ts:
1. Avoid using generic
Avoid using the terms such as “click here” or “read more” These phrases offer no context about what the user is actually clicking through too, making them less useful than descriptive anchor texts.
2. Don’t overlink from one page
Too many links from one page can create confusion for both users and search engine crawlers who may not know which link leads where! Keep things simple by only including necessary links per page.
3. Link to irrelevant pages
Avoid linking to pages that are not relevant to the content on the current page.
4. Link from low-quality pages
Linking from low-quality pages can negatively impact the authority and ranking of the linked-to pages.
5.Too many breadcrumbs
Using too many breadcrumbs can make the page look cluttered and detract from the user experience.
Final Words
Internal linking plays an important role in improving the overall usability of your website while also providing valuable information about its contents for search engine crawlers. By following these do’s and don’ts outlined above, you can ensure that all of your internal links are set up properly so that everyone benefits!
