Complete Guide to Internal Linking for SEO

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, linking is on the top of the charts. Without effective link-building, you cannot amp up your SEO strategy. Therefore, if you are thinking of dominating the online arena and want customers to visit your site, then this blog is for you. We will stream you through the basics of linking and highlight why links are essential.

First, you need to know that there are two types of linking: internal and external.

Internal Linking

What are the Internal Links?

Internal links are basically hyperlinks that tend to target at a domain on which the link already exists. In other words, internal links basically target pages that are already available on the same site. This means the source domain and target domain in internal links are the same.

The Purpose of Internal Linking

Internal linksare usually employed for navigation. They allow the users to stream through the site, establish information hierarchy, define the architecture of the site, and also amp the ranking power or link equity.

Why are Links Important for Visibility?

There are quite a lot of benefits for building internal links.

1. Improves the Usability with Anchor Texts

Internal linking helps the people to navigate from one to another on the website. If you use proper and user-friendly links, you can improve the way users interact with your site. Therefore, it is crucial that your anchor texts link to relevant content, which appears interesting to the readers.

2. Establishes Authority and Spreads Link Juice

Linking basically ensures that the credibility and authority of your site are established. Internal linking makes it possible to spread the link juice across different pages on the site. Creating backlinks for a specific page on the site makes it possible to link to other pages on the site.

3. Enhances Page Views

Qualitative anchor texts can make it easier for visitors to navigate through the site. But relevancy of the content can also ensure that your visitors not just visit other pages but also interact with them. Doing so can increase the conversation rates of the site and help new visitors discover your site.

4. Improves PageRank

It is a metric that measures the importance of web pages depending upon how many backlinks a webpage receives. The score ranges is from 0 to 10, and therefore, it is a very crucial ranking factor. A page with a high PageRank can also benefit from internal linking and boost the authority of your site.

5. Reducing the Bounce Rate

When you link more relevant sites for the audience to get information, you can keep them longer on the site and decrease the bounce rate, which basically describes a visitor viewing a page only for a short time and leaving the site immediately. Therefore, to reduce the bounce rate, it is crucial that the visitors remain on the site for longer by giving the real value.

What is Link Value / Link Equity?

Link equity, link value, or link juice are all the same terms to describe the ranking factor of the search engine. This factor is based on the notion that links tend to transfer value and authority between the pages. The factor is dependent upon various elements such as the topical relevance, authority of the linking page, HTTP status, and many more. Here are some essential questions to consider when link equity is considered:

• Is the website authoritative?
• Does the link follow?
• Is the link crawlable and relevant?
• How many links are found on the page and where?
• What is the HTTP status of the page that has been linked?

Internal linking strategy

When formulating a strategy for internal linking, various things need to be considered.

1. The Structure of the Site

The way pages are organized on your site is exceptionally crucial. As a rule of thumb, it is an effective practice to think of your site as a pyramid where the topmost level consists of the homepage, followed by categories/sections, and finally individual pages.

2. Decide What is Important on Your Page

You need to identify which is the most essentialcontent for your site, something that lies at the centre of your business, and you want people to find when looking for a particular product or topic. When you know which content is crucial, you can add various links to it.

3. Link Relevant Pages

When linking pages, think what is relevant to the topic. You can’t be writing about one thing and then linking a page that is entirely different from the topic at hand. Therefore, the relevance of the links is crucial.

4. Get Hierarchical Pages for Linking

In case your site has hierarchical pages, it is a good practice to link parent pages with the child pages. You can also link sibling pages according to what makes sense.

5. Link Popular Posts

You can also link the newest or the most popular posts on your site. It is preferable that these sections appear on the footer or the sidebar of your site, so the readers cannot miss them.

Use Anchor Text

Anchor text refers to the clickable text available in the hyperlink. By using the anchor text, you can easily refer to the page you want to target.

Link Deep to Orphan Page

Orphan pages are those pages on the site that are unlinked to any other page. Therefore, orphan pages cannot be accessed from any other page available on your site. And, this is why orphan pages cannot be found or crawled. By linking deep to the orphan pages, you can improve your SEO efforts and increase the authority of your site.

How Many (Internal) Links do You Need?

The total number of internal links on your website depends upon what your users want. Adding a link where the readers might be exploring your site further is a good practice. If you have a relevant blog or certain products associated with the topic, then you should link to those pages. The total number depends upon the type of content too. Instead of thinking of an absolute value, consider what is relevant to the users.

Outbound Linking

What Is An Outbound Link?

An outbound or external link basically links your site to another site. In this way, with an outbound link, you are taken to a different website. Just like the internal links, outbound links are also significantly for improving SEO.

Why are Outbound Links Important?

Outbound links make it easier for the audience to discover relevant and useful content. They build trust, improve organic traffic, develop authority, and also facilitate the relationships between different businesses. Therefore, SEO Company in Singapore like B Thrust focus a lot on outbound links.

Do Outbound Links Matter for SEO?

Outbound links play a significant role in linking a site to high-quality external sources. These links bring balance and authenticity to the overall SEO strategy. It also helps in strengthening the topic signal to Google. Accordingly, a page linking to related content can be considered to do better than a page having no links.

These links also add more trust in the content. When people know that their links to the other sources, they will know that the author has done the research and has not constructed content solely on opinions. Therefore, external links also add more value to the overall content, which users will like to share with others.

On the other hand, when thoughtful external links are added in the content, they can encourage other experts to link your site as well. In this way, external links can be an excellent opportunity to promote your site, eventually improving your overall SEO strategy.

Outbound Link Best Practices

When considering outbound linking, think about what you should be linked. You can either site your sources with the help of outbound links, help the readers in navigating a partner’s site, and motivate the users to interact with other relevant sites on the search engine. A no-follow link is also helpful since there is nothing wrong in monetizing a site or blog. Influencer marketing is already very popular.

You can also identify various outbound links with the help of site audit tools. This is crucial, so relevant issues in your SEO strategy are identified and resolved. Links in your content should also be natural. This means you shouldn’t shove outbound links wherever you can. Instead, they need to be carefully placed in your content, so it is easier for the users to interact with them and also make the content digestible. Forcing the links in the content is an extremely problematic approach.

In The End

Linking is an essential strategy when it comes to SEO. You need both the inbound and outbound links in order to improve your SEO marketing. This is because a single strategy might not be enough to promote your site. Instead, a careful mix of both inbound and outbound links can help you reach out to your target audience, improve your site’s ranking, and enhance the viewership of your content.