In the web world and the fierce SEO competition, everyone is looking for a way to improve their site’s ranking.
One of the key factors that Google pays a lot of attention to is link building.
But it is not only external linking that is important, internal linking also plays a very important role in search engine optimization (SEO) and improving user experience.
In these many years that I have been dealing with SEO, I realized how effective internal link building can be in improving the ranking and increasing site visits .
In fact, internal linking is like a road map for Google crawlers and users of your site.
These links help Google understand the structure of your site and help users to easily find relevant content and spend more time on your site.
In this article, I want to share with you the experiences and tips I have learned over the years of working in the field of SEO .
Together, we will see how to use internal links to bring our website to SEO heaven and achieve our goals in the online world.
What is internal linking and what is its benefit?
In simple words, internal linking is connecting different pages of your website to each other using internal links.
For example, suppose you have a blog about cooking. In the article you write about making a cake, you can link to other related articles such as how to prepare cake batter or types of cake decoration. This is called internal linking.
There are many benefits of internal linking and it can significantly improve your site’s SEO . Below are some of the most important advantages:
- Increase ranking in search engines: Internal links help Google crawlers to easily find and index all the pages of your site. The more pages on your site are linked together, the easier it is for Google to find out that your content is relevant, and as a result, the more likely it is that you will rank higher in the search results.
- Improving user experience: Your users can easily access relevant information and enjoy browsing your site by using internal links. This will make them spend more time on your site and reduce the bounce rate.
- Reducing the bounce rate: When the user can easily navigate your site and find the content he wants, the probability of him leaving the site decreases. This has a positive effect on your site’s SEO.
- Increase the number of page views: By using internal linking, you can direct users to different pages of your site and as a result, increase the number of visits to other pages.
- Strengthening the credibility of the domain: internal linking shows Google that your site has a regular structure and quality content. This issue has a positive effect on the credibility of your domain and will improve your site’s ranking. Read the Domain Authority article for more details .
How to create effective internal linking?
Now that we know the importance of internal linking, let’s go to the main part of the article and see how to do it properly.
1. Identify key pages: The first step is to identify the key pages of your site. These pages usually include home pages, product pages, service pages, and popular blog posts. Identifying the key pages will help you to do link building correctly.
2. Use related keywords: When creating links, use keywords related to the content of the destination page. For example, if the link is directed to an SEO tutorial page, use SEO tutorial or learn SEO for the link.
3. Using the right Anchor Text: Anchor Text is the phrase you use for the link. Try to use diverse and natural Anchor Texts. Avoid repeated use of keywords in Anchor Texts.
We already have a comprehensive article on what is anchor text? We have written that you can read further.
4. Creating a logical link structure: Your internal linking structure should be logical and related to the content of the pages.
For example, if you want to link to the page of buying men’s clothes, you can use phrases like click here to see the latest models of men’s clothes, or if you want to buy men’s clothes, you can refer to this page.
5. Using internal links in related content: Related content is the best place to create internal links. Try to place the links where they are useful for the user and related to the content of the page.
6. Using internal links in the site menu: Your site menu can also be a good place to create internal links. For example, you can link to pages like About Us, Contact Us, Products and Services in the menu.
7. Creating natural and relevant links: Do not create artificial and irrelevant links. Only create links when they are really relevant to the content of the current page.
8. Use internal links in new content: When you add new content to your site, make sure you use internal links to pages that are thematically related.
To learn more, you can refer to the content SEO page.
9. Review and update links regularly: Check internal links periodically and make sure all links are active and leading to relevant pages.
Examples of internal linking
Let’s make it clearer with practical examples. Suppose you have a website about SEO training.
- On the site’s SEO training page, you can link to white hat SEO training , technical SEO training and content SEO training pages.
- On the white hat SEO training page, you can link to the white hat SEO tips, white hat SEO tools, and white hat SEO obstacles pages.
With this, your website users can easily move between related pages and find the information they want.
Important points in internal linking
- Avoid linking to 404 pages.
- Avoid broken links that lead to inactive or deleted pages.
- Avoid too many internal links on one page.
- Use SEO tools to track the performance of internal links.
- Check and update internal links regularly.
Internal linking is an integral part of your SEO strategy.
By following the tips mentioned in this article, you can improve the user experience of your website, improve your site’s ranking in search results, and achieve your goals in the online world.
Remember that internal link building is an ongoing process.
You should always look for new opportunities to improve your internal links and monitor the performance of the links.
I hope this article has helped you to understand and properly implement internal linking.