In the digital realm of SEO optimization, content, and links are the twin foundations upon which we build our strategies. The value of exceptional content is a no-brainer, and when it comes to link building, the spotlight shines on external links. Internal links, however, are often overlooked.
Did you ever realize that those insignificant internal links can give your SERP rankings a lift? Simply focusing on internal link building can dramatically boost your website's SEO.
Why? Because with them, website visitors and search engine spiders can index, comprehend, and market your content properly.
Furthermore, internal hyperlinks highlight your website's most important pages. Just as external backlinks serve as trust signals from reputable websites and enhance a page's credibility in Google's eyes, internal links do the same β albeit the results are less tangible.
Given that Google is hardwired to present its users with helpful content, it concludes that content consistently promoted throughout your site must be the cream of the crop.
Strategic placement of internal hyperlinks helps direct traffic to pages that might typically receive fewer backlinks or require a substantial SERP boost.
The keyword here is 'strategic.' This article will be your comprehensive guide to internal link building. We're covering the basics, the crucial role of internal linking in SEO, the types of internal links and where to use them, internal linking strategy, and much more.
Let's dive in.
What is Internal Link Building?
Internal link building is creating inbound links from one page on a website to another page on the same domain.
The word ββdomainββ is worth noting here. If two pages share the same root domain and you can connect them with a hyperlink, those links would rightly classify as internal links.
Internal links are distinct from both local SEO (which aims to improve your website's visibility in search results for places near you) and external links (which link your site to other sites).
They are a crucial element for enhancing user navigation and site structure. When users click on an internal link, they can effortlessly hop between different sections of your website, be it pages or articles. Albeit, internal hyperlinks should be accessible in three clicks or less.
From a search engine's perspective, internal linking SEO helps web crawlers understand your website's most, next, and least significant pages. You can use buttons, clickable pictures, and anchor text to build internal hyperlinks. This shows anchor text on a website's front and back ends.
Why is Internal Link Building Important?
When it comes to rankings on Google and other search engines, link building is crucial. But why?
Google explores websites via link structure to rank content in search results. Both external and internal links indicate to Google that a post or page is important or valuable.
While external links help with building trust & websiteβs credibility, internal link building does much more than signaling to pages within your domain:
- User Experience Improvement: Visitors will have an easier time navigating your site and finding the information they need, thanks to internal links.
- Highlight Important Pages: Strategic internal link building can help direct traffic to the newly published or important pages on your site.
- Improvements to crawling and indexing: Internal links help search engines better understand your website. They, in turn, scan and index your site, making its content more easily accessible in relevant search results.
- Increased SEO rankings: The search engine results page (SERP) positions of your website can benefit from a well-organized internal linking structure of internal hyperlinks.
- Pass Webpage Authority:
By redistributing "PageRank" to other pages on your site, internal links can improve your websiteβs authority and content rankings.
PageRank is a metric that scores a page's authority on a scale from 0 to 10. It's believed that when one page links to another, it passes the link equity or link juice and boosts the linked page's value.
In the past, webmasters used the "nofollow" attribute for links they didn't want to pass on "link juice." This meant Google wouldn't consider the linked page, and other links on the same page would benefit.
However, Google has changed this approach. Now, if you use "nofollow" for a link, the link juice it was supposed to receive won't be distributed to other pages; it will just be diluted.
So, there's no need to use "nofollow" your internal links anymore. However, many SEO leaders, including Legiit, Ahrefs, etc., found that nofollow links help web pages index faster while boosting their rankings substantially.
Different types of internal links (With Examples).
Broadly, internal links on your website are either Contextual or Navigational, which may be of various forms.
Each link has a specific purpose. Let's learn about the different kinds of internal links and look at some internal links examples and their uses.
1. The Menu Bar/Navigation Link:
Internal linking in SEO begins with navigational links. They are commonly located in headers, footers, and sidebars. Users will find these links helpful in navigating your site.
The "Dashboard" link in the header of a website is an internal link example.
Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs umbrella under navigational links. They help visitors understand where they are in relation to the website's hierarchy. These also allow them to click back at any time.
For example, "Home > Blog> SEO> Demystifying Internal Linksβ¦ββ.
Sidebars
Sidebars are the columns to the left and/or right of the main content. They often contain additional links, categories, popular posts, and recent comments.
This serves as an easy way for visitors to explore your website's content without having to search for it.
You can use this space to handpick important blog posts you want visitors to read & Google bots to index and rank.
Bookmark Links
Bookmark links - link to the sections of the same page. This allows visitors to quickly jump between content on the same webpage without having to scroll for it.
These links help in creating a better user experience by helping them find what they are looking for much quicker without wasting time going back and forth between pages.
Related Content or Products:
This internal hyperlink form recommends related articles or items users might be interested in, such as recent posts or popular products from the same category. This could be helpful if the visitor seeks something specific that isn't covered in the main article or page.
In a blog post, for instance, you might see an "Author" or ββServicesββ section towards the end.
Hyperlink in the Footer:
Links in the footer are constant with those in the navigation bar, even as the visitor visits different pages.
They should lead the user to relevant and useful pages on your site. If the user still hasn't found what they're looking for when they reach the footer, the internal links there should provide some suggestions.
2. Contextual links:
Within the body of a web page, you'll find contextual links. They provide depth to the subject by supplying additional content. They also help distribute the PageRank or link juice and drive traffic to the otherwise less visible pages.
If you click on an indirect link in a blog post about "On-Page SEO," you can end yourself on an article about "Keyword Research."
3. Media links:
The use of media like images, videos, and infographics can be great for linking to other pages within your site.
Alt text written around these media links serves as anchor texts in this case. This is a great way to help search engines understand what the page is about since they cannot βwatchβ or βlistenβ to the content.
Difference between Internal, External, and Local Links:
Link building is an integral and multifaceted technique in search engine optimization. Hence, understanding the differences between internal, external, and local link building is important for SEO success.
Internal Linking in SEO:
Internal link building is linking pages within a single website to one another. As you already know, internal links are crucial for many reasons:
- Connecting relevant pages within your site using internal links improves user experience and keeps them exploring your website for longer.
- Structured data helps with search engine optimization (SEO). They help search engines comprehend the organization of your website's pages and their relevance.
- You may increase the visibility and ranking potential of important content on your site by linking to it from other, more relevant pages.
A website's internal links should be optimized for both user experience and search engine performance.
External Linking in SEO:
On the other hand, external link building focuses on increasing the number of external links pointing to your site. This is important because:
- External links serve as endorsements and references to a website's content.
- Search engines see your website as more reliable and authoritative, with high-quality backlinks from trustworthy sources.Β
- Having more backlinks to your site will boost your online profile and attract more targeted visitors.
- A wide range of external links from different sources helps improve your website's link quality.
Keep in mind that getting external links means reaching out to and building relationships with other webmasters, bloggers, and online groups to get these valuable referrals.
Local Links in SEO:
Local link building is a specific method for making a website show up higher in local search results, especially when people use Google Maps or other map-based search tools. Local SEO is very important for companies that have stores or customers in the area.
Building local links means:
- Making and keeping track of accurate ads for your business online on websites, site reviews, and social networks.
- By building relationships with local businesses, companies, and people who have a lot of impact, you can get relevant backlinks to your site.
- Location-based content means making content that appeals to and helps the local community.
Overall, by implementing an effective internal linking strategy and building external and local links, you can improve your websiteβs SEO performance and increase its chances of ranking higher in search results.
This can ultimately lead to more organic traffic, higher engagement, and potential conversions for the site. So, it's important to carefully plan and execute all three types of links to achieve the best results for your website's SEO.
Superstar SEO Case Study on Internal Link Building
Internal links can significantly impact your website's visibility and ranking in search engine results. And Legiit has a remarkable case study on internal link building to prove it to you!
During one of his live sessions, Chris discussed how he achieved a substantial boost in rankings for his website Superstar SEO by utilizing a service from Rank Zenith, a freelancer on Legit.
What happened was the site had numerous orphaned pages (pages not linked to anywhere else on the site) and lacked proper internal linking.
Despite creating valuable blog posts, the website struggled to improve its rankings due to this oversight.
Chris decided to invest in Rank Zenithβs Internal Linking Strategy service to address the internal link building issues on April 14th, 2022. This service involved comprehensive interlink suggestions, revision of existing internal links, and implementation.Β
The process took approximately a month, with the effects becoming noticeable around mid-May to early June.
Soon after the implementation, there was a substantial surge in the number of keywords the website was ranking for. A significant increase in top-level keywords and noticeable improvements in rankings across different keyword ranges (from 1-3 to 4-10) were observed.
The positive trend in rankings persisted throughout the year, leading to a significant improvement in search engine visibility and traffic. While there might have been a slight drop in rankings later, it was attributed to external factors.
This case study is a testament to the often underestimated power of internal linking in SEO. A well-structured internal linking strategy can prove to be a game-changer for your website.
Struggling with SEO rankings, particularly due to internal linking challenges? Rank Zenithβs service is highly recommended.
How to Create an Internal Linking Strategy for SEO:
Now that you understand internal link building and its importance better, let's look at how to create an effective internal linking strategy for SEO.
1. Audit Your Site to Find Internal Links
The first step to creating an internal linking strategy is to audit your website thoroughly. This will help you identify all the existing internal links on your site and their structure.
During the audit, pay attention to the following areas:
- Click Depth: This refers to the number of clicks it takes for a user to reach a specific page from the homepage. In general, all important pages should be reachable within three clicks.
- Inbound Links: By tracking the number of inbound links each page receives, you can identify which pages are viewed as valuable resources. Pages with more inbound links are likely to rank higher, as they are perceived to be more relevant and helpful.
- Internal Links: This will help you understand how well your content is interconnected. Pages that have many internal hyperlinks pointing to them are considered important. Conversely, pages with few or no internal links may be overlooked by search engine bots and users.
- Page Authority: This is a metric provided by SEO tools like Moz, which predicts how well a specific page will rank on search engine result pages (SERPs).
- Page Status: Assess the functionality of each page. Broken or non-existent pages (404 errors) can harm your site's SEO.
By considering these factors, you can create an internal link audit that gives you a clear picture of your website's current state and highlights areas for improvement.
You can use tools like Google Search Console, Ahref, or SEMrush to crawl your site and create a list of all the internal links.
2. Identify Internal Link Building Opportunities
Once you have a list of existing internal links, it's time to plan your internal linking structure. Use a top-down approach to identify areas where you can add more internal hyperlinks. These can include:
- Content Gaps: Look for gaps in your content that could benefit from internal links. For example, if you have a page discussing the benefits of a product or service but lack a page explaining its features, you can create a new page and link it to the existing one.
- Authority Pages: Some pages on your site might have high authority, meaning they are trusted and rank well on search engines. Identify and leverage these pages by adding internal links to other relevant pages on your site.
- High-Traffic Pages: Identify pages that receive a high volume of traffic and add internal links to other relevant pages on your site. This will drive more traffic to these pages and improve their visibility in search results.
- New Content: Every time you publish new content, look for opportunities to link back to older relevant content. This will not only help with indexing but also drive more traffic and engagement to your old content.
- Orphan Pages: These pages have no internal links pointing to them, making them difficult for users and search engines to discover. Identify these orphan pages during your site audit and link to them from relevant pages. This will enhance your site's navigation and ensure all your content is accessible.
Hereβs how you can identify relevant pages for internal link building easily:
Go to the Google search bar and enter the βsite:yourdomain.com βkeyphraseβ
For this article, I typed ββsite:legiit.com βinternal linking,β Google gave me all indexed pages, either services or blogs, containing my keyphrase.
Since some of these articles have recently been published, they can benefit from a strategic internal linking structure.
3. Use Pillar Pages & Create Topic Clusters
Pillar pages and topic clusters are an effective way to structure your internal linking strategy. It is a broad, comprehensive piece of content that covers a specific topic in-depth.
Each pillar page is the main hub for a cluster of related posts or pages with more specific information on subtopics within the broader topic.
All of these pages are interlinked by internal hyperlinks.
By creating pillar pages and connecting them to individual blog posts or pages within the same topic cluster, you are reinforcing the topic's relevance and authority. This not only helps with internal link building but also improves your site's overall architecture, crawlability, and indexing.
For example, if the pillar page for the Legiit blog is about ββ internal linking, the topic cluster would be ββwhat is internal link building?ββ, ββinternal linking for SEOββ, ββinternal linking structure, and ββinternal linking strategyββ.
4. Choose Keyword-Rich Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink that directs users to another webpage.
It is essential to use keyword-rich, descriptive anchor text for your internal links as it provides context to the page youβre linking to. Furthermore, it aids search engines in understanding the relationship between your pages.
Consider this internal link example: if you have a blog post about ββlink buildingβ, instead of just saying βclick here,β it is better to use anchor text that provides more information, such as ββlearn about the importance of link building for SEO.
The phrase ββvariety of long-tail keywordsββ is an example of relevant and keyword-optimized internal link anchor text.
Avoid using exact-match keywords, as they can harm your SEO efforts.
5. Implement Internal Linking Best Practices
When it comes to internal link building, there are certain best practices you should always bear in mind.
- Limit the Number of Internal Links per Page: Too many internal links can be overwhelming for users and may dilute the importance of each link. Limiting the number of internal hyperlinks to 2-3 per page is ideal.
- Use a Logical Hierarchy: Organize your internal linking structure based on a logical hierarchy, with pillar pages at the top and subtopics beneath them. This will help users navigate your site easily and provide better context for search engines.
- Link to Relevant Pages: Only link to pages that are relevant to the content of the page you are linking from. Avoid adding internal links just for the sake of it, as this may confuse users and harm your SEO efforts.
You might want to read our comprehensive guide to internal linking best practices.
6. Create New Linking Opportunities
Finally, don't limit yourself to existing pages on your site. You can also create new internal linking opportunities by creating content that naturally links to other relevant pages on your site. This could be in the form of blog posts, product/service pages, or resources.
Add links from established, high-authority pages to newly published content, and vice versa. Doing this can help you quickly build page authority and increase rankings for new content.
Conclusion:
Internal linking is powerful and often underestimated. Prioritize cornerstone content, focus on user relevance, and add links naturally.
By consistently auditing and improving your internal linking strategy, you can boost your siteβs SEO, improve user experience, and drive more traffic β that too, without backlinks. It's not technically difficult but requires time and patience. That's why you might want to hire someone from Legiit.
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