There are several factors that can help boost your SEO and the performance of the website itself. One of them is surely internal linking. However, many website owners are underestimating the power of these links. As a result, they fail to use them to the full potential, missing a number of benefits of internal links. Luckily, our guide is here to help you out. In this article, you’ll read the top five tactics you can use to maximize internal links on your website. Let’s begin!
Why are internal links an essential part of SEO?
Internal links are connecting two pages within the same domain. Basically, you are linking to another page of your own website. They are very important for navigation – these links help users get around the website much easier. Furthermore, internal links help your SEO. Google uses them to understand the pages on the website, gather important information, and rank the authority better. Therefore, if you’re looking for a way to improve your SEO, make sure you use internal links properly and boost their benefits.
Top 5 tactics to maximize internal links
Including random links in your pages will not give any results. There should be a strategy you can use to make sure you get the most out of your link structure. Here are the best tactics you can try.
1.Relevance is essential
One of the main factors for any links out there is the relevance to the topic they are included in. That’s why you shouldn’t add internal links randomly, but pay attention to the topical relevance of these links. Google has become very proficient in recognizing (non)relevant links on the internet. It uses a page rank system that is used to give scores to links according to their relevance to the page. Links that are more connected to the topic and its keywords will score better and pass more value, helping your website rank higher in search results. Start by using a tool to help you check the rankings and check what are the things you can do better.
2. Surround the link with relevant text
Adding a link to a piece of text will not do much good for your website. One of the tactics you can try to maximize internal links is to add context to the text that surrounds them. If a person reads a text or sees an image, it will make them pay closer attention and actually take a look at the link you added.
3. Check the places you add links
One of the main reasons why Google will rank your website better is user engagement. If people are clicking on your links, they will certainly bring more value and a better ranking. However, the place where you put internal links will determine if users will click on it, or not. For example, links that are located at the bottom of a page don’t do so well. Many times people don’t finish reading the article and don’t even get to see the links you added. That’s why you need to make sure users have some links to click on as soon as they start reading one of your pages. This will boost engagement on the website and improve the ranking.
4. Choice of internal links
Most of the time, internal links are leading to the homepage. For a successful linking strategy, make sure you diversify the use of internal linking and go deeper into your website structure. Link more of the pages from your website, instead of commonly using the homepage or contact us links every time.
5. Use unique anchor text
The focus of adding links to your pages should be the context and how natural they appear in the text. That’s why always adding the same anchors is not something that Google will appreciate. Instead, try using unique anchor text with every new link. Furthermore, you can make variations and use exact match only partially. This will help you with the natural flow of the text and also avoid over-optimization.
Other internal linking tips
Apart from these main five tips on how to maximize internal links, we want to offer some additional tips on internal linking. Combined with the mains strategies, these can help you boost your website’s SEO.
Don’t underestimate the power of internal links
Even though internal links don’t bring as much authority as high-quality links from other websites that you can get with the help of the Link Department, they are still important and powerful. That’s why you should strategically link to important pages on your website.
Differentiate similar pages
In case there are pages on the website with similar content or name, be sure to use unique anchor text for each of them. This will prevent Google from thinking these are the same pages and create confusion among users.
Fix broken links
A task that should part of regular website maintenance is fixing broken internal links. This very important to ensure smooth indexing and crawling, so be sure to use tools to help you check broken internal and external links on your website. Depending on the problem, there are a couple of ways to fix a broken link. Sometimes, the errors come from a typo, so don’t forget to check if the link is correct. Furthermore, you can replace the broken link with one that works, or delete the link from your content.
Don’t go over the board
Internal links are an important part of your website structure and you should use different techniques to maximize internal links as much as possible. However, it’s essential not to overdo it. Even though there are no limits on when and how you should use internal links in your content, be sure not to use too many. It’s important to create a positive user experience by writing informative content supported by relevant, well-picked internal links. If you are not sure what is the right approach, feel free to consult with our representatives at Link Department. We are always ready to help!