The ranking of a page in the search engine results is based on numerous factors such as keyword usage, content on the page, and a number of referring domains. However, one factor which often goes unnoticed is ‘Internal Linking’. Strategic internal linking is an SEO power technique which is great for site navigation and enhancing the keyword rankings. It is one of the easiest and simplest ways to experience a boost in the rankings. Learn to read more!
What is Internal Linking?
According to the digital marketing experts, internal linking is the process of connecting two web pages to one another under the same domain. It is majorly used for main navigation but can also be found in the content itself in the form of ‘Anchor Text’. Anchor text is a clickable text which leads to another page via hyperlink.
But the main question is ‘How does internal linking impact keyword rankings’? The answer is that each internal link gets implemented by using keyword targeted anchor text placing emphasis on the main page for the keyword. These links will help Google understand what specific keywords your pages are targeting. Google then sees multiple internal links using the same keywords in the anchor text and starts to take in account with its rankings.
Internal linking is extremely important for both website rankings and usability because of the following:
- Allow users to navigate around the website
- Allows web robots and crawlers to discover more of the site pages
- Links can improve each given page authority
Internal Linking Tips for Top-Level SEO!
1. Create content
To create internal links, you need to have internal pages. The more links to the more places, the better your internal linking strategy. Internal linking does not require complex spreadsheets and charts but linking to relevant pages. And make sure the content is unique as search engines filters duplicate content in their results. If you have the same content, it can be hard to become an industry authority.
2. Use Anchor Text
Your digital marketing agency should use anchor text as opposed to linked images. The image links are good but are not the main source of links assuming the image is properly alt-tagged. The proper use of anchor text is important to use natural, unoptimized, sentence fragments as anchor text. In modern browsers, it is often blue and underlined for example – top digital marketing agency or seo services in India.
3. Link deep
The deeper your links go, the better it is. There are two types of links you should avoid using in your content:
Homepage – Most sites have too many links to the homepage. It’s better to strengthen internal pages to boost the overall SEO of the site.
Contact Us – This is a common mistake by amateurs in content marketing. So do not link to the contact us page until absolutely necessary.
Hence, avoid links to pages which the main navigation menu already has links for. The best links — and the most natural links are deep within the structure of a site.
4. Use Relevant Links
One important thing to remember is linking to content which is relevant to the source context. For example, there is a page about dog food and another page about nests. Is it sensible to link these too? The answer is NO as they have no strong connection. So as much as possible, link to the relevant content in your internal linking.
5. Use Follow links
Follow links are one of the best ways to build out the internal link architecture of your content marketing. Follow links reduce the effectiveness of certain types of internet advertising because their search algorithm depends heavily on the number of links to a website. The link value must flow freely to and from internal pages, rather than get stopped up by a nofollow link.
Use appropriate number of internal links: You don’t need thousands of links in your internal content. In fact, Google says ‘Keep the links on a given page to a reasonable number.’ However, no one knows the a definitive number.
Conclusion
Though the best methods seem to change overtime due to changes in user behaviour in search engine priorities, we have to stay focused on what matters now. From having a solid UX, managing the flow of link value, creating unique content, and ensuring proper indexing, the digital marketing agencies should position the website for success through strong internal linking structure. If you take a focused approach and plan ahead with internal linking in mind, your site’s content will attract opportunities from internal linking strategies.
