Although internal links are a key component of successful search engine rankings, they are often overlooked in SEO strategies.
Most marketers focus heavily on building new external links from other sources, and rely entirely on strategies like link building via HARO.
However, without good internal link management, these new backlinks will not be as effective as they could be.
What are internal links?
Internal links are those that connect pages or articles within the same website or domain. In other words, they are links that connect two different pages within the same website. These links allow you to move from one page to another within the website. These links can be navigational, such as those found in menus, sidebars, headers, or footers.
Additionally, these links may come in the form of contextual links, which are inserted within the text within the page or article.
The importance of improving internal links
Improving internal links has significant benefits for three main reasons:
- Make it easier for Google and users to understand.
- Internal links make it easier for Google and users to better understand the content of each page on your site.
- Increase the time users and Google Bot spend on the site
With internal links, users and Google Bot can access more relevant content more easily, increasing the time they spend on your site.
Why should you improve internal links?
At Web Frontier, we care about improving internal links because it is considered a quick, simple and necessary task even in simple SEO strategies. By internally linking between pages that you want to rank in search results using appropriate texts, you can tell search engines what this page is about, and provide them with an additional amount of information.
Organize the information hierarchy
Internal links help create a hierarchy of information on your site. You can link from the home page to subcategory pages and then link to pages deeper in the site structure.
This organization makes it easier for visitors to navigate your site and learn more about your business, improving the overall user experience.
Reduce Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is simply a term that refers to the percentage of people who left your site because they didn't find what they were looking for.
Internal links increase the likelihood that visitors will find what they are looking for on your site. As a result, your bounce rate will be lower.
This is important because Google typically interprets a low bounce rate as a sign of high site quality.
Increase page views
Having a decent number of internal links helps increase the overall number of pages visitors view on your site.
If they like your content, they’re more likely to stay longer and explore more of your pages. To do this, you need to send them to contextually relevant pages through internal links.
Passing power between pages
When used correctly, internal links help pass authority between pages on your site. People call this concept differently, but it is an important concept to consider in your SEO strategy.
The role of internal links in indexing
If pages are not listed in your sitemap and do not have backlinks from external sites, Google may have difficulty discovering them.
For this reason, pages that lack internal links pointing to them are often invisible in search results, reducing their chances of being seen by users.
The role of texts attached to links
Google takes into account the text used in links, as this text helps provide additional information about the page being linked to. This benefits both Google and readers, as it gives them a deeper understanding of the context of the linked page.
Why You Should Choose a Web Frontend Company for Internal Link Optimization
The process of building internal links at Web Front is smooth and simple. We start by analyzing the keywords that your pages rank well for, then review your existing website content to look for ideal opportunities to build internal links.
We usually use anchor texts that contain an exact or near-exact match to the targeted keywords. This process does not require complex knowledge, but it does require time and effort to implement it effectively.
When you sign up for Web Frontier's internal link optimization service, you can expect to create up to 100 keyword-related internal links within your site, strategically boosting page cohesion.
Internal links are an essential element in guiding visitors between the pages of a site, helping them navigate the content and find the information they need. But it’s not just visitors who benefit from them. Search engines also rely on these links to index the pages of a site, which is an important factor in determining the ranking of your content in search engine results (SERPs).
The importance of using Dofollow links
The Dofollow attribute tells search engines that they should follow the link and go to the target page. By default, every link you add to your site is a Dofollow link, unless you change it to Nofollow.
Site owners sometimes use nofollow links when pointing to external sites that they don't want to support with link value.
Keep internal links as Dofollow so that search engines continue to follow the links and distribute the value of the links between them.