What is an internal link?

Unlike external links (such as out links), which are hyperlinks that link to pages on other sites, internal links restrict users to your site. They should not be confused with "links" (or backlinks), which are links from other domains that point "to" your site.

Internal links also cover the architecture of your site. When you think of your site as a pyramid, with your homepage at the top, your internal link profile forms the structure of that pyramid.

Basically, you should get three or four clicks on every page of your site.

Internal linking is one of the foundations of SEO because it helps web communicate which pages are most important to your site, more important, and least important.

Internal links are created using buttons, clickable images, and anchor text or a clickable portion of a hyperlink that points to another page. Here's an example of how anchor text looks on the front and back of a webpage. If the anchor text for a page contains a straightforward keyword on the page, this can help improve the SEO value of the page.

Types of internal links

There are many types of internal links that you probably have on your site today. Understanding their differences is important because they play an important role in the journey of your site visitors.

1.Menu / navigation links

The most important internal links to your site are those in the main navigation menu. This is a permanent extension in your site's header that communicates with users in your site's hierarchy. They are usually organized by product category, key service, or key industry.

These internal links communicate with users where the "most important" pages come to your site. They are called navigation links because they act as a map that guides users where to go next.

2. Footer

Like navigation links, footers remain constant as a user navigates through the various pages of your website.

They should point to other important pages on your site that the user wants to link to. If the user doesn't find what they're looking for when they move to the bottom of the page, you'll want to help their internal links in the footer find where to click.

Contact us, help, frequently asked questions, about sites and similar resource-type pages can always be found linked in the footer of the website.

3. Sidebar

Sidebar links are usually contextual links that also serve a navigational purpose.

Some websites use internal sidebar links to direct users to popular or relevant content. Sidebar links are very common on sites with a lot of content, such as news or recipe pages, because the user doesn't have to look for anything specific, but simply scrolls from one page to another.

4. In the text

There are links in the text that appear in the content of the website. They are often used in blog posts.

Instead of signaling interest or navigation, internal links in the text refer to relevant information to which the user has access at will.

Why build internal links?

Spending time adding internal links to your website has several benefits. Let's see how they help improve your SEO strategy. Improves the user experience

First and foremost, relevant internal links make your site a better place for users. This is especially true for users who come to your site for the first time without prior knowledge of the content on it.

By making it easier for users to browse your website and find what they're looking for, you can quickly maintain a positive user experience and improve your user experience.

Keep users on your site longer

Internal links reduce the likelihood that a user will move to another website or return to a search engine to get the information they are looking for.

This means longer page visits and more pageviews. In addition, this time gives the user many opportunities to convert if your calls to action and conversion actions are well optimized.

And if users come to your site from a Google search (organic traffic) and stay on your site for a long time, it also tells Google that users are looking for the information they're looking for and that the content should be bilingual.

By linking to other relevant blog posts on your site, you can help your users learn more about your products, services or topics. Best practices and tips for internal connectivity

Internal linking is an important part of website optimization. However, internal preferences can reduce your SERP performance incorrectly.

So how do you create an internal link to increase your ranking potential?

1. Use descriptive anchor text filled with keywords

The value of internal links can only go so far without optimizing the anchor text that these internal links contain.

Ideally, your anchor text should be sufficient to describe the content of the page. If you want your linked site to be ranked against specific keywords, make sure you're using exact, partial match, or contextual anchor text to report more relevance to Google. 

2. Strategic use of do follow / no follow

You must follow your internal links to pass the PageRank. Do follow is a search engine that tells Google's crawlers to follow links on the web instead of ignoring them.

There may be times when you want to use the no follow tag for pages that don't need to be rated, such as "Thank you" or confirmation pages. More on that later, but if you add a link to a page to increase its ranking, that non-robots do follow link is worthless. 

3. Link the new messages to the old messages

You should also add internal links to old posts that link to any new blogs you have published. This is a step that many people forget, but again: Google can't find a site without links to it, and it's a great way to get a lot of traffic off your evergreen green. So after publishing a new blog, include a regular part of your checklist to find old related posts and update them with internal links to the new slide. The lower your new site is in the architecture of your site, the longer it will take crawlers to find it, but if there are internal links, crawlers have a way to index them.

Depending on the importance and potential of the new page rank, you can link the old posts page to multiple backlinks to increase link sales.

4. Monitor and repair broken links

Over time, internal links on your site may break when you add new content, update old content, or change URL paths. Some content management systems automatically add redirects when you change these important elements, but not always. It is important that you schedule regular link maintenance in your strategy and immediately identify and correct any broken internal links.

Otherwise, you could send users and search engines to dead sites. Not only does this interfere with user experience, but it also causes your website to not be maintained at all times, which reduces the likelihood that Google will evaluate pages from your site.

5. Open on the same page

Opening internally linked pages on the same tab after a click is considered a good practice. Users can simply press the Back button to find the page they were on before.

This is the opposite of external links that should open in a new tab. Otherwise, your links will send users directly from your site, instead of publishing them.