Internal Linking for SEO – Complete Guide
An internal link is a link that allows you to navigate from one page of a website to the next.
Internal links, which are usually utilised for navigational purposes on a website, allow visitors to access more information via linked articles or pages.
Internal links are useful not just for navigating within a website, but also for improving page visits and internal page rank.
Internal vs. External Links
Internal and external links may be found on any website, including online retailers. Internal links connect your website’s pages and articles, whereas external links link your pages to other websites. Internal links and what they signify for SEO are the subject of this piece. If you want to gain more external links pointing to your site, check out our blogs on link building.
Different Types of Internal Links
Internal links are divided into two categories: Navigational and Contextual. Let’s have a look at both of them.
a) Navigational Internal Links
The core navigational structure of a website is usually made up of navigational links. They’re frequently used site-wide and have the primary goal of assisting users in finding what they’re looking for.
They can be found in the site’s main menu:
b) Contextual Internal Links
Internal contextual links are often put within a page’s main body content.
For example, an e-commerce store might include the following links:
Setting up an Internal Linking Strategy
Regularly evaluating and improving your internal linking strategy is critical for your site’s SEO. It’s one of the approaches to boost your website’s fitness. By include the appropriate internal links, you ensure that Google is aware of the following:
1. Choose the best structure for your website
We always tell people to see their website as a pyramid. Your homepage is at the top; below that are certain sections or categories, and below that are individual articles and pages (possibly with subcategories in between).
2. Determine the most important content
The next step is to figure out what your most significant material is. Please read our post on cornerstone material if you’re unsure. In a nutshell, it’s your greatest and most comprehensive material; it’s about your business’s core. It’s the material you want visitors to find when they’re looking for certain subjects or items.
3. Link hierarchical pages
If your website has hierarchical pages, link parent pages to child pages and vice versa. Also, don’t forget to link the sites of siblings together. On a well-organized website, these pages should be related, and connecting them in this way makes perfect sense.
4. Try adding Navigational Links
It’s feasible to make your cornerstone content more authoritative by adding links to it from the homepage or top navigation, in addition to linking from topically-related articles and pages. This should be done with the most significant articles and pages for your company. This will increase the link value of these articles or pages, making them more powerful in Google’s eyes.
Advantages of using Internal links in a domain:
User-friendly and easier to navigate: The proper placement of internal links helps readers to navigate the website with ease. It also aids in the discovery of related material and publications.
Increased pageviews and lower bounce rate: By including relevant internal links, visitors will spend more time exploring through the many pages published on the website. As a result, the number of pageviews grows. Internal links provide several benefits, one of which is a significant reduction in the bounce rate of a website.
Improved indexing and crawling of the website: Internal links make it easier for search engines to crawl and index the website. The usage of internal links makes indexing more convenient.
Increased PageRank: If internal connections are well established, high quality backlinks posted on one page of a website will work as backlinks for other pages on the same site. This, in turn, would aid in improving the website’s pagerank.
Improved search engine rankings: Backlinks and internal links can boost a website’s search engine rankings when the page rank improves.