Internal links are an important tool in your SEO strategy. They help not only in the performance of your blog, but also in the user experience. In this case, internal links are all those that link to another page of the same site. All links to pages or articles within the same domain are internal. But if I link to a Wikipedia page, for example, the link in question would already be an external link.
Do links interfere with ranking?
Yes, radically! Google values the way you distribute links on your own
pages and rewards those who have a real and active strategy – rather than those
who simply put an internal link every now and then.
Why?
To always provide users with the best results for their search, Google
never stops scouring the internet for fresh, up-to-date content that they may
find relevant to any possible topic.
To do this scan, Google uses robots, called spiders, that start by
scanning some pages. Then they follow the links on those pages to expand their
search and analyze the pages to which the links point. These spiders repeat
this process millions of times until they can evaluate a huge amount of content
across the web.
So, in short, links are vital for Google to keep finding the best
content and delivering good results to users quickly.
Best Internal Linking Strategies
- Include links in keywords that are directly related to the content you are linking to. Avoid expressions like “click here”. Thus, Google spiders can better understand that the link between articles is interesting to the reader.
- Using plugins that feature recommended content selections can be a good idea – especially for WordPress users. But it is also possible to manually make a selection and present at the end of an article, for example.
- Be modest when linking! That is: always link to pages that are really related to the content. An assertive link is better than 10 random ones. Also learn how to limit the number – even if you have 100 relevant content pages to link to a landing page, it’s hard for a reader to navigate through all those pages. Choose the most important ones.
- Another way to balance the distribution of internal links is to remember to link to the latest articles, not just focus on the main content and pages. This way your new content will also be boosted.
- Use more relevant pages to drive readers to other content pages you want to highlight. If you have a popular article, choose the most interesting internal links for you. So, where appropriate, naturally place internal links pointing to others that will redirect the reader forward on the buying journey. Increasing internal links to landing pages with rich materials, events, consultations, and budget request forms can transform your results.
In short, investing in an internal linking strategy is a relatively
simple step, but one that will bring great return for your business.