Internal Links: Good For SEO and Website Usability

Links are like the currency of the internet.
Like a blog post? Link to it.
Like a product? Link to it.
Refer to a page on the internet for more information on any topic under the sun? Link to it.

Links from other sites to your website are great! They tell search engines that you are the trusted go-to for whatever it is they are linking to you for.

Internal links are really important too! An internal link is a link from one page on your website to another page on your website. Internal links can be found in your navigation and your sitemap but they should be in your website content too.

Internal links improve usability

As people come to your website and make their way around, internal links can help them with the flow of information. Many users even say they are more willing to click on links in your text versus a navigational item because there is a more natural transition to it.

Internal links for SEO

Search engines send little bots or spiders to regularly crawl your website. They determine what your site is about and if/when they should list it in their search results when someone searches for something. Internal links help search spiders figure out your website’s architecture. They tell the spiders the pathways on your site and which pages are most important. The most important pages will have the most links to them.

Important aspects of internal linking

When you are linking from one page of your site to another, you should make sure you have a few things:

  • Make sure to add a link title that explains to the search engines where this link is going and what information they will find on that page.
  • When you link a keyword to another page, make sure that keyword is on the next page that you are linking to.
  • When adding internal links, make it look natural. Don’t link too much (see below).
  • If you link to a page multiple times, mix up the anchor text or link title so you give the search engines an even better idea of what this page is about.
  • Always add links and keywords to a site for users first and search engines second. Trust me – the happier the people, the happier the search engine.

Don’t over link

Search engines compare the amount of content on your site to the amount of links on your site. The less links on a page, the more value given to them. The more links on a page, the less value each link is given. Try not to have more than 100 links per page as a general rule.

Help out your website visitors and search engines by making sure you have a sound internal linking strategy in place!

See how Hall can help increase your demand.