In the 10 years Web Systems has been in business, I have received a lot of questions about SEO (search engine optimisation), so I decided to cover the topic in detail on our blog. In on-page SEO, internal linking is one of the most important ideas, and also one of the most often misunderstood. In this post I will share tips and advice you need to run an SEO campaign properly.
In search engine optimisation (SEO), most companies focus on writing content that helps their websites rank higher. Many people, however, underestimate how powerful internal links are. At its most basic, linking the pages within your domain does three main things:
- It makes the website easy to navigate
- It clearly defines the structure and hierarchy of the pages
- It passes on ‘link power’ and helps selected content rank
The first two matter to users, while the third is closely tied to SEO and is part of optimising the website. Internal links create very clear paths for search engines. Think of them as a connected network of page URLs that gives Google, Bing and other search engines a convenient map. On top of that, when you encourage users to move from one page to another, you get more page views and a lower bounce rate on your domain. That matters to any webmaster who wants to attract valuable traffic.
Table of contents
Now that you know why internal linking matters, let’s look at some best practices and tips for doing it well.
The core idea of internal linking is simple: by connecting pages with related content that users care about, you give search engine robots the best possible paths and keep users on your site longer.
So how do you do it? How can you use internal linking to improve the quality, visibility and appeal of your website for both search engines and users?
What matters is:
1. Creating high-quality content
You can’t build a strong internal link structure between pages that have no valuable content. That is why it is so important to publish fresh, relevant content on your website regularly. Interesting blog posts on your own site are well worth the effort.
2. Weaving topical links into your content
Where possible, every article should include at least two or three internal links to related articles on your website. There is no need to limit their number, so if you can fit 10 or 20 such links into a text, go ahead. If you have a lot of content on your site, linking to it from a new article is only a matter of time. Example: learn how to benefit from your blog posts.
3. The unwritten rule of internal linking
There is an unofficial rule in SEO that the home page should be clearly organised, so that once visitors land on it they can easily find other links. That is why the main menu usually sits at the top of the page and lets visitors go deeper into the website’s structure. The deeper the internal connections, the better. No page should be left without any internal links, so it is a good idea to check the entire link structure of your domain from time to time. On small websites you can do this ‘by hand’, while on larger sites it is worth using tools such as Screaming Frog (download the free version of Screaming Frog with limited features here). If in doubt, contact professionals who can carry out an SEO audit of your website.
How to build a strong internal link structure
What is internal linking? It is an important part of optimising websites for search engines. Changing the links on your own website is faster and easier than earning links from other sites. Linking is closely tied to your site’s architecture and to how visitors experience your website, so it is worth taking the time to build the best possible internal link structure on your site.
