When they say that not all heroes wear capes, they might be talking about internal links. In the world of SEO where all websites are competing for the top positions in the SERPs, internal links are the unsung heroes. Even though it is often overlooked by website owners, internal linking is a critical ranking factor for search engines like Google.
What exactly do we mean by internal linking? In short, internal linking is defined as the practice of linking web pages within the same domain. This means that a user clicking an internal link on your website will be taken to a different page on your website. This is in contrast to an external link which takes a user to a different domain.
While they’re not considered very sexy or exciting, internal links are equally important for SEO as external links. Internal links can significantly improve your website’s performance in the search results by improving your website’s user experience and crawlability.
In this blog post, we’ll shed light on the various benefits of internal linking and why it’s an important part of your on-page SEO strategy. We will also discuss the best practices that have to be employed while leveraging internal links to dominate the search engine battlefield. If you’re not already an internal linking superfan, you will be by the end of this blog!
Internal links: An overview
Before any discussion about the benefits of internal links, let’s dive a little deeper into what they are and what their purpose is.
Think of your website as a bustling city. Internal links are like the network of streets that connect the different parts of the city, allowing people to move easily between homes, shops, offices, and parks. Without these streets, it would be hard to get around the city and people would quickly become frustrated.
There are several types of internal links that serve different purposes. Some common types of internal links include navigational links, contextual links, related posts links, breadcrumb links, pagination links, homepage links, and footer links. In our city metaphor, these different types of internal links are just like the different ways of getting around a city – walking, cycle lanes, tram networks, and bus routes, for example. While these different ways of getting around have slightly different purposes, they all have the overall goal of allowing people to navigate the city more easily.
You may be wondering: how do external links fit into this analogy? External links are like the motorways that connect your city to other cities. These are just as important as the streets within your city, but they have a slightly different purpose. In SEO, we tend to categorise these links into two groups: ‘backlinks’, which are links from other websites pointing to your website, and ‘outbound links’, which are links on your website pointing to other websites.
Internal links and SEO
Now that you have a better understanding of what internal links are, let's move on to discuss the benefits of inserting internal links onto your website and the role they play in your SEO strategy. Here are six key benefits of internal linking for your website.
Improving website navigation and user experience
A primary benefit of internal links is that these enhance website navigation and user experience. Using internal links as a pathway, users can seamlessly navigate through the pages on your website and make purchases more easily.
For example, let’s say that your brand sells single origin specialty coffee. While your homepage may give an overview of the different products you sell, you’ll need internal links to the different parts of your website so people can easily find what they are looking for. Links to ‘coffee beans’, ‘ground coffee’ ‘coffee subscriptions’ and ‘coffee accessories’ will help your audience find the products they want immediately, increasing the likelihood of a conversion.
The importance of navigational links isn’t limited to your homepage. Strategic placement of internal links throughout your content can help the searcher to discover related information, thereby increasing their engagement and likelihood of a conversion. For example, if a potential customer searches ‘is specialty coffee worth the price’ and finds your blog post ‘10 Reasons You Should Buy Specialty Coffee’, the blog post should have links to your product pages so website visitors can easily navigate from informational content to transaction pages.
The more easily a potential customer can move around your website, the more likely they are to make a purchase. Plus, dwell time may be a ranking factor, so a well-structured website with good internal linking makes it more likely that people will spend longer on your website and signal to search engines that it’s a high quality site that should be shown to more searchers.
Distributing link equity and authority
Link equity, also known as link juice, refers to the level of authority or value that is passed from one web page or site to another through hyperlinks. The presence of internal links helps you with the distribution of link equity and authority across your website.
How does this work? When you incorporate internal links and link to other relevant pages within your website, you are sharing the link equity of the source page with the target page. A well-structured internal linking system can help you distribute the authority of the high-ranking pages on your website (such as your homepage) to the other pages on your site. Through this, you essentially increase the chances of the latter ranking higher in the search results.
Enhancing indexing and crawling
One huge benefit of internal linking for SEO is that it helps search engine crawlers easily navigate through and explore your website. Strategic interlinking of your web pages will help you ensure that all important pages on your website, such as your product pages, are crawled and indexed by search engines. This not only improves the visibility of your content but also improves your organic traffic and SEO performance.
Improving keyword relevance and establishing page authority
Using keyword-rich anchor text (the blue text hyperlink that a user clicks on) in your internal links can help provide search engines with contextual clues regarding the content of your linked page. Through this, search engines can better understand the topic and relevance of your web pages, boosting your rankings for related search queries.
Supporting content hierarchy and structure
A well-structured website with proper content hierarchy is vital for SEO. Internal links support this by helping you establish a logical and organised site structure. It achieves this by linking from high-level category pages to more specific subcategories or product pages and thus creating a clear path for users and search engines to navigate through your website.
The existence of a proper hierarchical structure will not only provide a better user experience for your readers but will also help search engines to understand the relationships between different pages and content on your site, thereby improving the crawlability and indexability of your website.
Encouraging user engagement and lowering bounce rates
All the aforementioned benefits lead us to the conclusion that internal linking is a process that can help improve the user experience of your visitors considerably. With improved user experience, you can also enjoy better user engagement. Internal links can have a significant impact on user engagement metrics, such as time spent on site and bounce rates. Through a strategic use of internal links that provide further relevant information, you can encourage users to spend more time on your website and drive them naturally towards conversion pages.
Internal linking best practices
Now you know the benefits of internal linking, but what are the things that you have to keep in mind while incorporating internal linking into your content marketing strategy? Let’s take a look.
Relevant and contextual links: Firstly, ensure that the links you use are relevant to the content they are linking to. Avoid using generic phrases like ‘click here’ and opt for descriptive keyword-rich anchor text such as ‘freshly roasted beans’ or ‘coffee tasting bundles’. The anchor text should also give an accurate description of the linked page and provide users with context.
Place hyperlinks strategically: It’s not enough to simply fill your webpage full of internal links to random parts of your website. It is equally important to place them strategically. While placing internal links make sure you consider user intent and try to guide them to pages that can provide them with additional information and further value.
Avoid over-linking: While it is necessary to have a sufficient number of internal links, too many links can confuse the user and dilute the impact of each link. To avoid having too many internal links on your website, try linking only to the pages that you deem the most important and relevant to the user’s journey.
Regular auditing and updating: Once you have your internal link structure in place, perform regular audits to ensure that they stay relevant and functional. It is important to review and update your internal links as your website evolves and new content is updated.
Link diversity: Try to use a diverse range of anchor text while creating internal links. It is useful to note that repeated use of the same anchor text can result in search engine penalisation.
Embrace a user-centric approach: At the end of the day, your content is for the users. Thus, it is important to focus on creating a seamless experience for the visitors on your website. Do not over-utilise internal links for the purpose of SEO, and ensure that the internal links do not disrupt the flow of your content.
External linking: Yes, you read that right. While internal links are the primary focus of this blog post, it is useful to note the importance of external links. When linked to high-quality external sources, external links can help boost the credibility of your website. As with internal links, use the external links sparingly and ensure that they provide a smooth user experience.
Auditing your internal linking structure
If your website already has an internal linking structure in place, but does not help you reap the benefits that we have discussed, then it might be time for an audit. Conducting an internal linking structure audit is no easy task and requires expertise and time. However, let’s take a look at the essential tips to keep in mind while performing an audit to help you get started.
To perform an effective audit, you must start by clearly defining your goals and mapping your site’s structure. Next, evaluate the existing internal links and their relevance and context. During this step, check for broken links which need fixing and find redirects. You should also evaluate the range of anchor text for each destination page.
Throughout your audit, you should be looking for opportunities to improve the internal linking structure of the site. Identifying orphan pages (pages with no internal links pointing to them) is essential as these pages will be neglected by both users and search engines. It’s also important to evaluate which of your pages have the most links pointing to them; these should be your key conversion or eCommerce category pages.
If you have the resources, conducting an internal linking structure audit as part of your overall content SEO audit is a great way to ensure that your on-page SEO strategy is performing optimally.
Sharpen your internal linking strategy with our team of experts today!
Effective internal linking is an indispensable tool to boost website visibility, improve user experience and elevate your search engine rankings. By employing the best practices that we have discussed and other strategic internal linking techniques, you can unlock the true potential of your website.
If you are looking for expert guidance and support in optimising your internal linking strategy, then our SEO experts are here to help. Our dedicated team of experts understands the intricacies of SEO and can help you develop a comprehensive internal linking strategy tailored to your needs.
Contact us or book your free audit today and we’ll help to propel your website toward the top of the search engine rankings!
