Over the 10 years Web Systems has been in business, I have received a huge number of questions about SEO (search engine optimization), so I thought I would cover the topic in detail on our blog. When it comes to on-page SEO, one of the most important, yet frequently misunderstood, concepts is internal linking. In this text I will share the advice and pointers you need to run a search engine optimization campaign properly.
In the world of search engine optimization (SEO), most companies focus on structuring their texts in order to raise a site’s ranking. A great many people, however, underestimate the power of internal links. In the most basic sense, internal linking between subpages within a domain serves three main purposes:
- It makes moving around the website easier
- It clearly defines the structure and hierarchy of pages
- It passes on ‘power’ and lets you rank selected content
The first two purposes matter for the user, while the third one is tightly linked to search rankings and is part of optimizing the site. Internal links create very clear paths for search engines. Think of it as a connected network of page URLs that gives Google, Bing and other search engines a convenient map. On top of that, by encouraging users to move from one subpage to another, we get a higher number of page views and a lower bounce rate across the domain, which matters from the point of view of a webmaster focused on winning valuable traffic.
Table of contents
Now that you know what internal linking means, let us look at a few best practices and tips on how to do it well.
The basic idea behind internal linking is that it provides optimal paths for search engine crawlers and long sessions for users, by connecting subpages that carry similar content the users are interested in.
So how can you achieve that? How can you use internal linking to improve the quality, visibility and appeal of your own site in the eyes of search engines and users?
What matters is:
1. Creating high quality content
You cannot build a strong internal link structure connecting subpages that carry no valuable content at all. That is exactly why it is so important to regularly create fresh, relevant content on your website. It is worth creating interesting blog posts on your own website.
2. Weaving topical links into the content
Wherever possible, every article should contain at least two or three internal links to similar articles on our site. There is no need to limit their number, so if you are able to place 10 or 20 such links in a text, do it! If you have a lot of content on your site, linking to that content from a new article is only a matter of time. Example: Find out how to get more out of your blog posts.
3. The unwritten rule of building internal links
In the world of SEO there is an unofficial rule saying that the home page should be organized clearly and that other links should be easy to find once you click through to it, which is why the main menu is usually placed at the top of the page so that we can go deeper into the structure of the website from there. The deeper the relationship in the internal connections, the better. There should be no situation in which some subpage has no internal links at all, so it is a good idea to review the entire link structure of your own domain from time to time. On small sites you can do it ‘by hand’, on more complex sites it is worth using tools such as Screaming Frog (the free version of the Frog, with limited functionality, can be downloaded here). If in doubt, it is worth getting in touch with professionals who will carry out an SEO audit of your website.
Summary
What is internal linking? It is an important issue when optimizing websites for search engines. Changing the linking on your own website is faster and easier than earning links from other sites. Linking is tightly bound to the architecture of the site and to how visitors perceive the website, so it is worth taking the time to build the best possible internal link structure on your own site. Good luck!
