Most businesses are looking for ways to improve their SEO. One effective method to improve your SEO rankings is to pay attention to your internal linking. Why? Here are five reasons why we think internal linking matters:
- Facilitates the spread of link juice
- It helps search engines understand the design of your website
- Increases page visitors
- Keeps users on your website longer
- Improves user experience
Before we begin
A quick review of what is an internal link.
A link from one page on your website to another is considered an internal link. Both visitors and search engines utilize links to navigate your website’s content. Your users use links to traverse your website and locate the desired material. Search engines also use the links to travel through or index your website.
Internal links are, of course, distinct from external links pointing to another website entirely.
There are also various internal connection types, but we won’t get into that in this blog. We’ll instead focus on anchor text links (ATLs) or clickable text within your site using a hyperlink pointing to another page.
So let’s get back to the purpose of this blog; the five ways internal linking strategies will easily improve your SEO.
1) Internal linking facilitates the spread of link juice
I’ve always loved the term “link juice.” I always visualize making fresh squeezed orange juice and sharing it across several glasses.
Spreading link juice from one page to another pages is not very different. Quite simply, if you have a page with “authority,” you can share that authority or link equity internally with other internal pages by pointing to them.
First, identify which of your pages have the most “authority.” For instance, pages with high conversion rates or a high amount of organic entrances.
Let’s say it’s a blog that generated a lot of interest. Now what?
Second, share some of the blog’s link juice to other internal pages that you would like to see gain some authority. Maybe you have a services page that you would like to improve. Find a creative and relevant way to link from the blog to that services page.
That’s it! Now Google may feel that the services page you are pointing to from that popular blog may have more value than before.
2) Helps search engines understand the design of your website
Effective internal linking makes search engines aware of how internal pages interact and which pages are the most important. The structure of the website further improves crawler understanding and navigation.
Internal links construct the hierarchy of your website by assigning more link equity to pages with more value, enhancing the SEO ranking potential of each corresponding page.
In addition, websites with a robust internal linking structure make it easier for search engines to find new material. It is more likely that these new pages will rank sooner than later.
3) Internal linking increases page visitors
Internal linking increases page views. For instance, if the content connected by multiple internal links is relevant to your target audience, visitors are more inclined to investigate that page.
If one of your web pages on a topic, such as “SEO Fundamentals,” obtains 10,000 monthly views from search engine results pages (SERPs), you may encourage thousands of people to visit other pages on your website by using this interlinking strategy.
Enticing the visitor to visit other pages will also reduce bounce rates.
4) Internal linking keeps users on your website longer
Internal links improve the chances of new visitors finding what they were looking for on your site rather than returning to a different website.
Increased page views mean more time on site (TOS). A longer time on site is an excellent way to improve conversion rates.
When the visitor arrives at your site from a Google search and stays longer, this signals to Google that the visitor finds the information it is seeking and has value.
5) Internal Linking improves user experience
As stated earlier, internal connections assist site navigation, and it also improves usability via the use of relevant anchor text. The anchor text should provide pertinent content that may interest your intended audience.
For example, suppose you are elaborating on an issue and its solution in a piece of content. In that case, you may direct the reader to one of your prior articles that gives a more in-depth explanation of a given subject by utilizing the suitable, keyword-optimized anchor text.
Internal links also improve your web page’s user experience for those users visiting your site for the first time who are unaware of what is on your website. Providing users with easy-to-understand navigation options helps enhance the user experience.
These internal links direct visitors to relevant and engaging information, increasing user experience. Improved user experiences through engagement increase average session time, and visitor page views naturally lead to a positive user experience (UX). And we know from the
Page Experience Update that Google considers UX when ranking websites.
In Conclusion
Internal linking is a vital, though frequently ignored, aspect of search engine optimization (SEO). Internal linking helps Google with page discoverability and allows it to understand your site’s structure.
Internal linking helps Google understand how each page of your website connects to the others and eventually helps assign value to pages with more internal links.
Internal linking is an SEO strategy you can regularly use in your blog posts or articles to boost your rankings. Increased rankings consequently increase the number of people who read them.
The SEO method of strategic internal linking is an absolute powerhouse. It’s a straightforward way to improve SEO for your website. To drive as much traffic as possible to your most important pages and minimize bounce rates.
Try to identify the most critical pages on your website and give them higher link importance. When you include multiple contextual links to the primary content, the search engine will see it as more resourceful, and your SEO performance will increase.
Many marketers say they see a positive change when they start general SEO link-building strategies within a few months of using internal links in the content.
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