Any good SEO specialist will tell you that all measures to improve a website’s ranking must be comprehensive. But in this article, we will talk about one of the components of SEO specialists’ work, namely internal linking. We will explain why it is necessary and what mistakes are best avoided when adding internal links.
What is internal linking?
First, let’s clarify the terminology. In simple terms, internal linking is the linking of pages on a particular website to each other using links, which provides more convenient navigation for users and improves SEO performance. This means that links to other pages on the same resource appear in the content of one page.
Even Google’s help center used to say that the number of internal links to a page helps search engines understand its importance and priority relative to other pages. They even advised adding such links to particularly important pages and, conversely, reducing their number if the page is not super important.
It is worth adding that this information is missing in the new version of the help section. However, this does not negate the fact that internal linking is still part of any SEO strategy. And together with other components, it works great.
Mueller also adds that internal linking should be viewed strategically. Think carefully about which pages you need to highlight. But don’t ignore the rest.
Types of internal linking
It is generally accepted that there are four main types of internal linking:
- Navigation links. These are probably the most obvious internal links that can be found on almost every website. This includes headers, footers, breadcrumbs, etc. Sometimes links to website categories are considered a separate type. But more often they are also classified as navigation links.
- Contextual links. These are all text links (anchors) in the content of your website.
- Image links. These are hyperlinks added to image tags. This way, the user can click on the image and access the content at the link you provided.
- Internal modules. These are essentially blocks that simplify life for users. For example, “Similar content” or, as it is also called, “You may also be interested in.”
Why you need internal linking
Well-designed internal linking gives your website many advantages. Here are just a few of them:
- Improved page indexing. It’s not just people who need links to navigate from one page of a website to another. Google bots also move from page to page if they are linked. This is especially important for websites with a large number of pages, which receive higher positions in rankings.
- Usability. If you successfully link pages together using internal linking, it will be easier for people to find the information they need. This will make the website more convenient, and therefore users will stay on it longer.
- Page weight. By using links between pages on your site, you can distribute their weight. This allows you to highlight the pages that you consider most important to users for Google bots.
- Keyword optimization. Thanks to internal linking, search engines not only better understand the structure of the site, but also associate certain pages with specific keywords. And accordingly, they are more likely to display them after a specific query.
- Content relevance. With internal linking, you can maintain connections between relevant pages on your site. This improves its SEO.
- Internal traffic. By moving from page to page, users increase the internal traffic of the site, thereby improving its statistics. Additionally, you help people find the information or product they need, if we are talking about an online store.
- Reduced bounce rate. With good internal navigation, it will be easier for users to find the page they need. This means that they will not return to the search results and will spend more time on the site.
- Site structure. By organizing internal linking correctly, we form a clear site structure. With it, it is much easier to direct the user along a specific chain that you need.
- Conversion. Ensuring convenient navigation and content relevance increases the conversion of users into buyers or customers.
Factors affecting internal linking
There are many factors that directly or indirectly affect the effectiveness of internal linking. Let’s talk about them in more detail:
- Hierarchy. If you have organized the structure of your site clearly and logically, this will greatly facilitate the creation of effective internal linking. It is important that the site is divided into categories. Link its sections together. Then users and search engines will be able to navigate it more easily.
- Number of pages. Increasing the number of pages on the site provides additional opportunities for good and effective internal linking. If you have enough pages, you need to create one or even several thematic clusters, focusing on the main user queries.
- Level of nesting. The fewer clicks separate a page from the home page, the greater the chances of effective internal linking. Google will not index pages that are 5-10 clicks away from the home page. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to this and “remove” important pages. Let them be no more than 3 clicks away from the home page.
- Content. It’s simple: the higher the quality of your content, the more users will want to navigate between pages, and therefore internal linking will work better.
- Uniformity. Do not overload individual pages with a large number of internal links. You can make a few priority links, but in general, distribute the interlinking evenly among all pages so that they are indexed.
- Graphic links. If you use images as links, don’t forget to specify the “title” and “alt” attributes. This will make it easier for search engines to understand the context of the link and the content of the image.
- Anchor text should be relevant and informative. This helps search engines understand the content of pages and improves navigation.
- Relevance. Links should point to relevant content. This makes them more valuable to search engines and improves the user experience.
- Naturalness. Try to make your links look natural in context. Place them in the right place and make them readable. This will significantly improve your SEO metrics.
- Checking and updating. Work regularly to ensure that links do not lead to pages that no longer exist or contain outdated information. Also, make sure that new pages are logically linked to others using internal links.
Principles of anchor construction
Let’s talk about what anchors should be like to ensure that internal links work correctly. Of course, first of all, we will talk about contextual links.
The anchor itself should be meaningful and describe the page to which the link leads. As for length, it is worth sticking to the golden mean. On the one hand, it is better not to make anchors from a single word. But don’t highlight the whole sentence either. Optimally, it should be a few words that best describe the page to which the link leads.
Do not place anchors at the beginning of a sentence or, especially, a paragraph. The text surrounding the anchor is also important. It is good if the surrounding text also relates to the accepting page. Ideally, you should place the anchor in a thematic block.
Pay attention to font size. This is especially important for the mobile version. Make sure the anchor text is not too large, but also not too small. It is important that the user can read it easily, so pay attention to the color as well.
Continuing the previous topic, make sure the anchor stands out on the page. Make it underlined, bold, or highlighted in a different color. In other words, let the user know that this is a clickable link.
URL
Now let’s turn our attention to the link. There are also certain conditions that are desirable to follow.
As we mentioned earlier, the content must be relevant. The thematic relevance of the donor page and the acceptor page is very important. But note that Google recognizes links exclusively by the <a href=”/”>anchor</a> tag. Other tags, such as <span>, <div>, and <onclick>, are not suitable for internal linking.
To transfer weight, only the dofollow attribute is required. At the same time, do not use the nofollow (do not take into account when indexing), noopener (the link will open in a new browser tab), or noreferrer (the link will open in a new tab, but the source of the transition will be hidden) attributes.
Only use nofollow when there is no need to rank pages and give them weight (for example, document pages, contacts, agreements).
Keep a certain distance between links. Don’t put two links one after the other. Google will understand you, but people may think it’s one link, especially in the mobile version. Therefore, distribute anchors evenly throughout the text.
If you link to an article, update it. You can change very little, but Google will still see that the content is being worked on. The same applies to the content we link to. It should also be fresh and relevant.
And here’s another nuance that not everyone knows about. The higher you place a link on a page, the more weight it will have. This leads to another rule: if you put two links on one page, only the first one will be taken into account.
Mistakes in internal linking
Let’s take a look at the most common mistakes made by website owners and SEO specialists. As a result of these shortcomings, linking does not work as well as it could.
Illogical site structure. This is one of the most common mistakes. As a result, users feel uncomfortable when visiting the site, and Google ranks it lower than it could.
Nestedness. What we wrote about above. If a page is more than 3 clicks away from the home page, search engines consider it unimportant. Studies show that the shallower the page depth, the higher it ranks.
Lack of internal links. If no internal links lead to a page, the chance that it will be indexed is close to zero. And it will be much more difficult for users to find such a page.
Broken links negatively affect optimization and user experience. Make sure you don’t have any incorrect links or links that lead to pages that don’t exist. Read here to find out how to detect broken links.
One internal link. If only one internal link leads to a page, Google receives a signal that it is not very important. The more internal links there are, the easier it is for search robots to find the page and the greater the chances that it will be ranked highly.
Graphic links should be optimized. The effectiveness of interlinking decreases if search engines do not understand the context of the links. Insufficient work with the “alt” and “title” attributes complicates the work of search robots.
Overloading the page with links. Everything must be balanced. Too many links on one page will cause negative emotions in users. On the other hand, a large number of links to one page reduces the weight of others.
Links out of context. In an article about purchasing hosting, it is not worth linking to an article about car manufacturing. Such actions reduce the effectiveness of internal linking.
It is better not to use the “nofollow” attribute when internal linking. Or minimize its use, otherwise we do not transfer the weight of the pages.
Single-word anchors. They have a right to exist, but it is better not to abuse them. Use them only if it is not possible to insert a link naturally, but it is still necessary.
Breadcrumbs, or rather their absence, complicates navigation for users. And search robots can get lost on your site. By using breadcrumbs, you emphasize the relevance of pages and can form thematic clusters.
Loop and repetitive links. Do not make a page link to itself, or two pages link to each other. This can cause a negative user experience and also worsen SEO, as the weight of the link will decrease.
Links to pages with redirects. There is simply no logic in using such links, as you are essentially adding an intermediary that does nothing. Again, the weight of the links will be reduced.
Multi-level redirects. Imagine that you changed the page link and added a redirect to the new link. But the old version also had a redirect from an even older one. Your links must lead to current working URLs, then internal linking will bear fruit.
How to analyze the results
Finally, we will tell you what tools to use to monitor the results of internal linking.
Specialized services
Google Analytics will come in handy for tracking user paths, studying their behavior on the site, and the effectiveness of internal links.
Google Search Console will help you find indexing errors and track both internal and external links. For example, track the percentage of links between pages. This will help you find those that are not linked to.
Google Tag Manager will allow you to track user clicks and their transitions between internal links.
Ahrefs will analyze the structure of the site, track internal and external links, and identify interlinking issues. For example, it is convenient to search for links to pages that redirect to others or do not exist at all.
Sitebulb allows you to analyze the architecture of your website and identify problems with internal links.
WordPress plugins
Let’s mention a few more WordPress plugins that will help you automate your internal linking.
Yoast SEO. Helps analyze internal links. Can also be used for automatic keyword-based linking.
Link Whisper. A plugin that can analyze your site’s architecture and suggest internal links based on the results.
LinkPatrol monitors and controls internal links on your site. It also allows you to manage their quality. But you’ll have to pay for it: prices start at $50/year.
In conclusion
When working with external links, you make a plan and stick to a strategy. The same applies to internal linking. Take a comprehensive approach to your work and maintain a balance. This will allow you to achieve positive results.
Well-thought-out and correctly placed internal links are the least you can do for your website. This way, you will not only help users find the content they need, but also simplify the work of search robots, and thus improve the ranking of your website pages.
You may also be interested in the article “Internal linking of a website using ChatGPT. Visualization and analysis.”