Last Updated on April 21, 2024 by Callum Morris
What is Internal Linking and How Does it Actually Work to improve your SEO?
Internal linking can be defined as the act of linking to a web page within your own website. The act of linking is not limited to just one website, but can also include linking between different websites. Internal linking helps improve your website ranking by helping search engines find relevant content on your site. It also helps with link building and site optimisation by increasing the number of links pointing back to your own website.
Internal links are typically found in footers, headers, or within blog posts or articles. When you use internal links, you are telling Google that you want to rank for a specific keyword phrase that is related to the topic of the page you are linking to.
How Internal Linking can Help with these 4 Amazing Use Cases
Internal linking is a powerful tool that can be used in many ways. Here are 4 amazing use cases of internal linking.
Make your site more authoritative: You can increase the authority of your site by making it more interconnected with other sites. This will help you rank higher in search engines and make your site more visible to visitors who click on the links from other sites. This will also help you get more backlinks from other websites to increase the ranking of your website. To do this, you need to create a list of all the pages on your website and then create links between them, for example: “The History of World War I” -> “World War I Timeline” -> “Battle of the Somme”. This will also help you avoid duplicate content issues because there is only one link between these pages instead of multiple links.
Make your site’s content more unique: You can increase the uniqueness of your website’s content by making it more informative and providing more in-depth information than other sites about the subject you are covering. In order to do this, you need to find what is unique about the information that you have gathered that does not appear on other sites and use this to provide new, original and expanded information for your audience. For example, if another website covers the topic of “how Facebook works,” then you could cover how Facebook has changed its privacy settings since its IPO.
Increase user engagement with social sharing: Users share content on social media sites like Facebook and Pinterest which can be an effective way to attract new visitors. By participating on these sites, you can help build an online community of people who are interested in your topic and provide the content that they are interested in.
Benefit from increased traffic: The more popular your site is, the more likely it will be to draw in a large amount of traffic. If you are more popular than other websites, then your website can benefit from the increase in traffic through better visibility within search engines and also potential advertiser funding.
Internal linking is a strategy used by websites to increase their search engine rankings by connecting related pages with each other on the same website. It is often done through hyperlinks that connect to other pages in a website or blog. Internal linking is advantageous to your business as it helps to increase website ranking through relevant content on your site, and helps with the process of link building. Therefore, you should use internal linking as part of your SEO strategy to reach even more customers!
Internal Linking 101 from a Copywriter's Perspective
Link building is an important part of any content strategy. It can help you gain more traffic and improve your SEO. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. There are many different types of links that can be built and they all have their own benefits and drawbacks.
Internal linking is a way to connect two or more pages on your site with a common topic. This increases the depth of your site, which leads to a better user experience and higher rankings in search results. Internal linking helps search engines know what your website is about, by providing them with more information about the website you are linking to. When you have links on a page that point back to the page they are on, it’s called a self-referencing or in-depth page. On the other hand, if there is no backlink from the linked page and it leads outside your site, then it’s called a superficial or outbound link. Internal links generally help to increase the relevance of your own website.
Most people are aware that internal links should be used to help increase site ranking and visibility. However, internal linking can also be seen as an SEO tool, because it is most effective when done on pages that already have a lot of inbound links, such as the homepage or quality blog posts. Linking to other high-quality content will help your website gain more exposure, because it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
From a copywriter’s perspective, internal linking means that you need to create quality content that is both shareable and helpful, and that will build a relationship with your audience. That does not always mean that the content needs to be about your business, but it does mean that if you are sharing someone else’s content consistently, you must make sure it is good quality and relevant. Internal linking alone has no effect on SEO, but as long as you are creating a user experience and building relationships with your audience, these links will help to improve SEO.
Best practices for internal linking
Here are some best practices for internal linking to aid your search engine optimisation campaign:
Use a hierarchy: Use a hierarchy when linking to pages within your website. For example, you might have a main navigation menu at the top of your website that links to the most important pages, and then use internal links within those pages to link to more specific topics. This helps search engines understand the relationship between different pages on your website and can also help visitors find what they are looking for more easily.
Link to relevant pages: The pages you link to should be relevant to the context of the page you are linking from. For example, if you are writing a blog post about marketing, it would make sense to link to other pages on your website that are related to marketing.
Use descriptive anchor text: The anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. It should accurately describe the page being linked to. For example, if you are linking to a page about blue widgets, the anchor text should be something like “blue widgets” rather than “click here.”
Link to new content: If you have recently published new content on your website, be sure to link to it from other relevant pages. This can help search engines discover and index your new content more quickly.
Don’t overdo it: While internal linking is important, you don’t want to overdo it. Avoid linking to the same page multiple times from the same page, and don’t include too many links on a single page. This can be seen as spammy by search engines and can actually hurt your SEO.
Facts about internal linking for SEO:
- Internal linking refers to the process of linking one page on your website to another page on the same website.
- Internal linking is an important aspect of on-page SEO, as it helps search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your website, and makes it easier for users to navigate your site.
- Internal linking can also help distribute page authority and link equity throughout your website, which can help improve your website’s overall search engine visibility.
- By linking to related content within your website, you can keep users on your site longer, which can improve your website’s engagement metrics and reduce bounce rates.
- It is important to use descriptive and relevant anchor text when linking internally, as this helps both users and search engines understand the context and relevance of the link.
- Avoid using generic or vague anchor text, such as “click here” or “read more”, as this does not provide any context or relevance for the linked content.
- Plan your internal linking strategy carefully, taking into consideration the relevance, authority, and topical connections between the pages on your website.
- Consider using a silo structure for your internal linking, which helps group related pages and topics together, making it easier for both users and search engines to understand the structure of your website.
- Use internal linking to promote important pages, such as your homepage or product pages, by linking to them from other high-traffic pages on your site.
- Regularly review and update your internal linking structure as your website evolves and grows, to ensure that it remains effective and relevant for both users and search engines.