July 30, 2021
Struggling to rank your content on Google and other search engines? If so, you should use internal linking to connect your content somewhere on the web. From marking your significant content to helping various search engines find your content, internal linking plays a major role.
Before moving on to explore important things to consider while making an internal linking strategy, let’s first understand what is internal linking. Then, have a brief about internal and external links. Read on.
When a page of your website is linked to other significant pages of your website, it is known as internal linking. Linking is crucial for both readers as well as the search engine. Users utilize these links to navigate through your website and find relevant content on your website.
Moreover, search engines like Google or Bing use internally linked web pages to go through your website. The more internal linking is there, the higher your website is going to rank on the web. Hence, internal linking determines the value of your content.
It is understood from the name itself. An internal link connects a web page of your website with other web pages of your website. Whereas, an external link connects your web page to some other website across the web.
With that said, let us explore what are some of the most crucial points you should keep in mind while structuring an internal linking strategy. Read on.
Before initiating internal linking, you should think of your website as a pyramid. The homepage is the highest peak which gets the most attention. Various other sections also come underneath with individual categories setting the base.
However, every page of your website should be linked to each other. A user opening the menu of your website should get a brief idea about various web pages on your website. Doing this gives the perfect structure to your website and helps it rank higher on a search engine.
The most important purpose of internal linking is to mark the most significant content of your website. In technical terms, it is called cornerstone content. The core of your website which you think is the most complete and valuable content should be internally linked.
Marking your content allows Google and other search engines to present it to others. Hence, internal linking channels the traffic on your website to ultimately lead them to the cornerstone content.
Sometimes a single topic needs a lot of content to describe it. Thus, you end up having plenty of articles to back the required information to highlight the important topic. However, you should link all of them to each other.
It depends on you whether to add a linking phrase or a complete link at the end of your content. Moreover, along with internal linking your content, you should also link cornerstone content with other content on your website. In case you want to know more about cornerstone content or contextual links, you should enroll in SEO training.
Not every web page has a similar authority or significance. In that case, you should first identify which is the parent page. Once you know that, connect the parent page to the other web pages via internal linking. Not just that, you should also link the smaller web pages to the parent page.
This creates a flow between various web pages to ensure the user can move smoothly from one web page to the other and finds the most relevant data.
Do you have some popular posts? If yes, you should promote them more by internally linking them to the sidebar or side menu of your website. Even internal linking your recent popular posts to the footer of the website could be another great option for you.
This boosts the overall performance of your recent posts. Hence, it improves their reach so that more and more people read them.
As you can see, internal linking plays a crucial role in enhancing the significance of your website in the eyes of a search engine. Further, it helps your website rank higher on Google or any other search engine and boosts its performance.
