It’s no secret — internal linking brings SEO value and better user experience.
You may have heard that internal linking will boost your SEO and get you a better ranking on Google. But how?
Let’s start at the top. You might already know, but a refresher never hurts.
An internal link is one that originates from and leads to a page on the same domain. Take a peek at your website’s navigation menu. Your origin and destination links are on the same website—simple enough!
So, how is something so simple and so very important for your SEO? Well, it all comes down to how well it’s executed.
Proper internal linking results in the following:
- A well-optimized internal link structure is crucial for enhancing SEO performance.
- Internal linking ensures that your website is ranked properly on Google searches.
- Helps promote a good user experience to keep users on your site for longer.
- Contextual links enrich the user experience by providing additional context and deepening the conversation, while also contributing to improved SEO.
- Forms the hierarchy of information for your website, establishing link equity.
Table of Contents
What are Internal Links?
Definition of internal links
Internal links are the backbone of your website’s navigation and SEO strategy. These are hyperlinks that connect one page of your website to another page within the same domain. Think of them as the threads that weave your site’s architecture together, guiding both users and search engines through your content. By strategically placing internal links, you help search engines understand the structure of your website, which is crucial for a solid internal linking strategy. For instance, linking from a blog post to a related service page not only enhances the user experience but also distributes link equity across your site, boosting your SEO efforts.
Difference between internal and external links
While internal links keep the navigation within the same website, external links take users to pages on other domains. Both types of links are essential, but they serve different purposes. Internal links help users and search engines navigate your site, improving the overall user experience and SEO. On the other hand, external links can provide additional value by linking to reputable sources, thereby enhancing your site’s credibility. However, the primary focus of a solid internal linking strategy is to ensure that all relevant pages within your site are easily accessible and well-connected.
Your site can’t be ranked if search engine crawlers don’t know how to search your site
Let’s break this down by how Google searches and indexes your site. What Google does isn’t completely magic (though, it does come pretty close).
Google uses search engine crawlers to crawl your website for all of the content it can find. They do this in order to gain insights on what your site is about, and how to rank it on their search engine. They start on your homepage, following link to link, and scouring every last bit of information they are able to find.
To reiterate that — they can only evaluate what they can find, see, and read.
Make it simple for Google to crawl your website
For internal linking, one of the greatest advantages you can give yourself is making it easier for Google’s bots to do their job. For example, if there’s no clear path to a page on your website, then how will Google’s bots be able to index that information?
Simply put, you could have highly valuable content, but it won’t matter if Google’s bots can’t reach it. To the great Google Machine, your content is as good as invisible.
We see this problem all the time—websites will make the mistake of an incorrect linking structure. A well-organized site architecture is crucial for ensuring that search engine crawlers can efficiently discover and index content. To get some insight into what the structure of your website looks like, you can use tools like Moz’s link explorer.
So it stands to say that the better your internal linking strategy on your site is, the better Google will rank it! Not to mention, it stands to good reason that if a Google bot has an easy time navigating your internal linking structure, a real person will too.
This leads to our next point—promoting a good user experience.
The Run-down:
Let’s run through a quick scenario. Suppose you own a Pool Services company, and Google’s bots start crawling your site to index its pages. Now, let’s say Pool remodeling is your highest-earning service.
Unfortunately, without a proper internal linking strategy, that page isn’t easily accessible or discoverable. A well-implemented internal linking structure could have solved this by streamlining navigation and helping search engines understand the page’s hierarchy and importance, even if there are issues with canonical tags.
In this case, it’s likely Google won’t rank your site for that content. As a result, you could be missing out on valuable clients searching for terms like “pool remodeling services.”
Internal linking promotes a good user experience, keeping users on your site longer
When users see links that are relevant to what they’re interested in, they are more likely to actually click on it. This is especially relevant when users are actively looking for information. Users will click on related links within blogs to read up on related information. Think of it like going down the YouTube rabbit hole, hopping from related video to related video, only to regain temporal awareness hours later (there’s no shame in admitting it, we’ve all been there).
The idea is roughly the same, except on a more objective level. By providing related or similar links within a page or post, we can promote this effect and keep visitors to your site longer. Naturally, throughout this blog, and in the end, you’ll see the same thing — related blog posts that have similar topics or industries related to this one.
But why do we do this?
Yep, you guessed it. User experience. The main objective of a strong internal linking strategy is to make it as easy as possible for the end-user to arrive at the content they really want to see. That way, they’re less focused on how to find it and more focused on consuming the content.
A robust internal linking strategy involves creating a wealth of internal pages filled with high-quality content. These internal pages enhance linking opportunities, improve user experience, and distribute authority across the site. Avoiding links to error pages and strategically linking deep internal pages can significantly boost the overall SEO value. Not to mention, greater user engagement is something Google really likes to see when ranking your page. That said, there’s a direct relationship between good user experience and improved SEO.
So, as it turns out — keeping your user’s best interests in mind is also in your best interest. It’s really a win-win situation. Thanks, Google!
Internal Linking forms the hierarchy of information for your website, establishing link equity
As we’ve mentioned before, Google’s bots scour the pages and posts of your website and piece together how they relate to one another. So when it comes to internal linking, the deeper your links go, the better it reflects for SEO. Especially when everything is closely related together. Think about it as the search engines being able to better contextualize your website.
However, be careful. This does not mean going link-crazy. Linking everything on your website together for the sake of inflating your links is an awful idea.
Back in the day, that would have worked.
However, the advanced nature of Google’s page ranking algorithm has rendered cheap gimmicks that attempt to manipulate the system obsolete. The only effective strategy is to link genuine, relevant, and valuable content. Keep the user in mind first, always.
Understanding the importance of link value is crucial here. Link value refers to the authority and ranking potential a webpage gains from the number and quality of links, both internal and external. Strategically linking to enhance the perceived value of your content can significantly boost its ranking potential on search engines.
This is also why we always advocate for our clients to be proactive in writing blogs. Blogs establish companies as thought leaders in their industry while simultaneously promoting internal linking best practices for SEO. Because that’s exactly the sort of thing Google wants to see. Genuine, fresh, valuable content.
Not to mention, a good internal linking strategy ensures your website passes on great link equity, making it easier to promote newer content you put out.
But what is Link Equity, and how does it work?
As described by Moz, link equity is “a search engine ranking factor based on the idea that certain links pass value and authority from one page to another.”
Essentially, it serves as a signal of trust between two pages. If a page with strong authority is linking to a newer and smaller page, Google is more likely to promote it. Why? Well, because now it’s connected to a page with good standing. Of course, external linking is also incredibly helpful for establishing page authority and therefore better link equity.
For example, take the homepage of your website. In many cases, it will have the most internal and external links going to it, which is how Google knows that this page is valuable and reputable. Therefore, this page usually has the most page authority and passes on the most link equity. Internal link pointing from the homepage to other pages on your site helps distribute this link equity, making those linked pages more authoritative and relevant. Whichever pages you are linking to from the homepage receive that link equity, and become the cornerstones of your website.
This is why when we design websites, we will always focus on your key services and/or products on the homepage to funnel your visitors toward those most important pages.
Follow Links vs. Non Follow Links
Standard hyperlinks include a “follow” link, which tells search engines to consider the linked page when determining a page’s rating. Through the transfer of “link juice,” it enhances the SEO value and visibility of the linked page. On the other hand, search engines are told not to consider a “nofollow” link in their ranking calculations by including a “rel=nofollow” property. This is more of an unbiased mention than an endorsement since no link equity is passed. Most CMS systems make this task simple by checking a box to follow or nonfollow.
When to use follow links vs. nofollow links:
- Use follow links when you want to endorse the linked page as valuable and relevant, such as when linking to high-quality resources or trusted partners. This helps build authority for the linked content.
- To maintain your site’s credibility and control over link equity, use nofollow links when connecting to sponsored material, advertisements, or even external pages that contain useful information but are not entirely endorsed. This instructs search engines not to give ranking authority to those links, ensuring that your SEO strategy remains focused on your priorities while still directing users to relevant resources.
Choosing the right type ensures you balance SEO benefits with responsible linking practices.
So, how do we promote smart internal linking strategies?
While we already touched on a few different best practices previously, let’s look at a few surefire ways to improve and boost the user experience and SEO value of your website.
When considering how many internal links should be used on a webpage, it is advisable to maintain a reasonable amount—2-5 internal links can be a good starting point, but this number can vary depending on the article’s structure and the relevance of the links. The goal is to provide value without overwhelming users or diluting the link equity.
1. Content, content, and also content for good measure
Content cannot be overstated enough. The richer in content your website is, the better your SEO, and the higher ranked you will be on Google. As we’ve mentioned before, this is why we always recommend blogging to our clients to boost SEO and establish them as thought leaders in their industries. You must follow strategic content writing tips for SEO.
2. Anchor text
Anchor text is the actual text that shows up in a link (see what we did there?). Keep the anchor text relevant to what you’re linking to, but don’t hyper-fixate on matching the exact key phrases. Just keep it natural. Like we said before, gimmicks will not work on Google, but don’t be afraid of it matching when it’s relevant. Staying as user-friendly as possible will never steer you wrong.
3. Link as far as you can
Typically, the deeper your internal links run on your site, the better off you are. Linking to relevant pages on your site promotes good user experience and makes the job of Google’s bots easier (and keeps your SEO score going up!) That said, keep the following point in mind when you’re linking…
4. Focus on value and relevancy
Make sure your internal links are relevant to each other. For example, say you own a website about outdoor sports. Linking from a page about mountain biking to a page about mountain climbing won’t do you much good. However, linking to a blog you wrote about the newest bike model on the market will!
Advanced Internal Linking Techniques
Implementing internal links on your site
Implementing internal links on your site is more than just adding hyperlinks; it’s about creating a seamless and intuitive navigation experience. Start by using descriptive anchor text that clearly indicates the content of the linked page. This not only helps search engines understand the context but also improves the user experience by making it clear what users can expect when they click on a link.
A solid internal linking strategy involves several best practices:
- Use Descriptive and Relevant Anchor Text: Ensure that the anchor text is relevant to the linked page. For example, if you’re linking to a page about SEO tips, the anchor text should reflect that topic.
- Support SEO Strategies: Use internal linking to distribute link equity throughout your site. This helps improve the ranking of various pages, not just your homepage.
- Regularly Review and Update Links: Internal links should be regularly reviewed to ensure they remain relevant and effective. Broken internal links can harm both user experience and SEO.
- Enhance User Experience: Internal links should guide users to related content, keeping them engaged and on your site longer.
By following these best practices, you can create a robust internal linking strategy that not only supports your SEO efforts but also enhances the overall user experience on your site.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, internal linking can be relatively simple and has amazing benefits for your search engine rankings. Even though there’s no way to get a 100% perfect look inside Google’s algorithm for ranking pages when it comes to internal links, by following best practices we can ensure greatly increased SEO.
Remember, the key takeaways are that as long as you’re keeping your internal linking strategy user-friendly and relevant, you’re on the right track.
If you have any unanswered questions or comments, Contact Mighty Fine Co. We’d be more than happy to assist!
