Phoenix Website Design – What Is the Purpose of Internal Linking? Is it Important for SEO?
Internal links are essential for both users and search engines. For users, internal links improve the user experience. It will lead them to other pages that may be of use to them. For search engines, internal links help in discovering pages in a website.
Better together.
So, let’s define internal links.
Basically, in a page, you can insert 2 links: external or internal links. An external link is the type that points the user to a page outside the website. Meanwhile, an internal link is the type that redirects the user to a page within the same website.
For example:
“If you want to learn more about anchor texts, see my article on 5 Best Practices when Writing Anchor Texts.”
In HTML form, it would be:
“If you want to learn more about anchor texts, see my article on <a href=”https://phoenixwebsitedesign.com/blog/5-best-practices-when-writing-anchor-texts/”>5 Best Practices when Writing Anchor Texts</a>.”
Therefore, internal links are helpful in:
- connecting related pages together,
- enhancing website navigation,
- helping search engines identify the other pages of the website,
- spreading the link juice among the pages
Why are internal links important?
The main page of a website is lined to other important pages. Then, these pages are also connected to other pages. Hence, it is called a website because it creates a web of connected pages.
These links help the search engines work efficiently. The web crawlers deployed by search engines will be able to scan the website thoroughly since all the pages are linked together. If there is no internal link system, these crawlers will end the crawling process and move on to the next website.
The more connected pages your website has, the more pages it discovers. Hence, the more pages to report back to Google.
So, if pages are not connected, Google will only know a limited number of pages. In the search results, Google can only recommend a few of your content. Internal linking is your job in order for website crawlers to discover the pages of your site. Google will then understand your website structure and point the right audience to your content.
Internal links distribute PageRank to the internal pages.
Also, links aid in spreading your PageRank. In simple terms, a popular page can spread its popularity to other pages that may need some boost.
The most-clicked page can give some link juice to the pages that aren’t getting much attention. Together, the linked pages work hand in hand to add value to your website.
More on: Clearing the Misconceptions About PageRank
The connection between the internal links and SEO.
In order for internal links to help your SEO efforts, you should remember the following:
- For internal links to have an impact, add it in page or post. Yes, you can still add them on the website footer or the sidebar. However, internal links are most valuable when it is inserted in the body of a page.
- Link new pages to old page, and vice versa. This tells the readers that you have an updated post about the topic. So, take time to link old pages to your the newly published articles.
- Like I said earlier, the strong pages can boost the not-so-popular pages. Add internal links within your popular page so it can lead readers to the other pages that aren’t gaining enough views.
