Can internal links improve SEO (search engine optimization) and the UX (user experience) on a website?..The answer is yes and is a pretty simple process.You just have to make it a habit every time you write a new post or publish a new page.
Internal links are those who point to your website , on other posts and pages , on the same domain , the links that stay inside your web property.
The Importance of Using Internal Links both for SEO and UX
Without internal linking your website is like a road without signs.Where should your visitors go next after reading a post?..Which post on your website offers additional information for the subject you are expanding on?…What is the overall content marketing strategy you use and what are your goals as an affiliate and website owner?
Builds trust with your visitors
Your website is your business foundation and the content inside is your weaponry.As an affiliate you have some promotional posts with affiliate links to earn commissions for your work.You have informational posts , like tutorials , guides , tools , resources , reviews that add trust to your brand and bring you traffic.The more content , the more weapons to use , more chances to succeed at your goals.
By dividing the content in categories and by inter connecting the posts and pages , you present a well organised website that helps visitors understand your overall content and directions.You are the driver , you set the rules according to your strategy.
At the end of every post usually we display a CTA button (Call to Action).You can point anywhere on your website , offering a solution , an alternative recommendation or additional information.Beware though not to inter link always to your affiliated promotions , as that action is not equal with a Good User Experience.
For example , I am directing my visitors to read about the basics of Affiliate Marketing or to other articles with relevant information without pointing always to my affiliated posts.If a visitor is interested he can be directed through the second interlinked article to your sales pages.
Just because someone read an article on your site does not mean is ready to buy from you.In fact , statistics show that a visitor trusts a website by repeated visits and we want to build trust following this guideline.That is why I recommend to drive visitors to your body content and start gaining their respect.Moreover they will trust you and eventually they might buy.
The users now are not left in the dark.You guide them to other posts , they have options to choose.
Helping Search Engines Bots
The engines can crawl faster your website and understand your content.Search engines love websites that use internal linking and that is your top priority.You can use external links as well to offer alternative sources and cite important aspects but you do not want to point out to different domains on every new post.Instead you need to use internal links on all of your posts.
The search engines do not admire websites that point out to external sources very often.If you do that the engines won’t take you seriously because in that cases it seems you do not to trust your own content.Your website is where your visitors should stay and find answer to their questions or problems.That can be achieved by publishing new material frequently and by inter linking all the relevant posts.
Additionally … internal linking can result to better rankings for one particular post or a mini group of posts.
Let’s say you are you are reviewing a specific product that is very similar to another one you reviewed in the past.Or the owner of that new product is the same with the previous one.You have to connect these posts and you can add more relevant posts into this group.Then the rankings for the old post primarily but for the new ones as well are getting an uplift.
With this process you increase your authority.Now you have an additional post to enhance the old content.The old post now is a part of a wider group and both posts help one another.
Reducing Bounce Rate
The bounce rate counts users that visited a page or post on your website and then directed to an external source of left the website without visiting a second page or post.By inter connecting relevant articles you increase the ratio of additional visits and decrease the bounce rate , which can help you get better rankings.
Search engines consider bounce rate as an important factor as it shows that your content is interesting and engaging.
Continuous Updates
By interlinking new pages to old ones is a sign that you care for the visitors , for their overall experience and that you update your site consistently.The engines admire websites that are updating frequently.
What to Avoid When Interlinking
Do not point to your homepage , as that page is always accessible with a simple click.If you set your homepage to display the latest blog posts is a good example of multiple internal links and that is enough.Through your call to action buttons you want to direct visitors deep into your content.
Do not point to the contact form page from posts.Instead you can point to that specific page from other pages that are necessary but created for operational purposes , such as the privacy policy , disclaimers and other strictly informational pages.
Instead inside your posts you can guide visitors to take action and reach you through the comment section.Comments will build trust and is the sign that a website is alive , like a mini community,I will expand on this subject in the near future as comments are the most important factor when it comes to authority.
Do not overuse internal links.That depends on your site , your niche and the overall size of your website.I never exceed the 5 internal links inside my posts and if we count the related posts plugin that is displayed at the bottom of every post we reach the 11 internal links.For my website I think is enough.
Matt Cutts , ex Googler suggests not to use over 100 internal links inside a post.If you do the bots will have a hard time in crawling your website and might leave before they crawl all these internal links.
Conclusion
Internal links are more important than you may think , especially if you are a new website owner.Is the core to build trust and authority , helps the engines , reduces the bounce rate , increases the average time of visitors that stay inside your website.All these factors can get you better rankings , meaning more traffic and more conversions.
I hope you enjoy reading this article.I am welcoming your comments as always.Are you using internal links as part of your marketing campaigns?..Till next time , your online partner.
Black Hat SEO – What To Avoid if You Want a Healthy Website
Hi thanks for discussing this topic I think internal links are really important and they definitely provide additional support for readers.
It’s also a great way to link together content because especially on larger websites it can be difficult to locate posts especially older content. Internal links show the reader which information supports your article and also if they are interested in this topic where to find similar articles.
It can also increase ranking because if Google sees a page with lots of internal links pointing to it then it knows you view this article as being particularly important and central to your topic.
In terms of external links I think it depends on the subject matter, if I’m writing about something that uses data or research then Google and the reader would expect to see external links to support my claims and give validity to the work. So I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss them it depends on how you use them.
I am glad we agree on the importance of internal links Marie.And external links are important , as you said , in cases of studies or a research , people will be expecting to support your arguments with those.
In all cases we want to support our articles with more content and educate our visitors.
Thank you for this visit and for discussing this subject with me.All my best.
Thanks for this article on using internal linking to help with SEO, and this is just what I was looking for since I’m brand new to the concept of SEO.
I sure have learned something new here, and it also didn’t cross my mind that implementing internal links could help reduce my website’s bounce rate too.
Thank You also for helping me to avoid certain linking strategies too!
This was most helpful…
Neil
Nice to see you again Neil , oh , it seems you had been looking for such information.
We have to keep internal linking always in mind as it can really help our overall SEO efforts.I believe this tactic is the most useful of all but first comes the content.
Thank you for this visit and for your support.Glad it helped.
UX?
I didn’t even know what this was until I finally made my way, all the way around, the World-Wide web, to your page. This helps a ton. Just knowing what it is opens up many new avenues, opportunities, and more that are already coming into my head.
Thank you so much for such the outstanding information to take what I already know and expand it. Truly helping take my at home business up to the next level.
Welcome back MM , I am very glad you found some value on this article and you can take it as a resource of inspiration.
Thank you for another visit and for your participation.Good luck with your business.
Interesting, I thought I knew the methods of SEO pretty well up until now. Having read through this Blog Post of yours, there is still much I need to learn.
Especially upon the topic of sticking to a certain amount of internal links within a Blog Post. I never knew that.
Is there a certain limit you follow when pasting external links in your Blog Post as well?
Thanks for a great insightful Blog Post, Tasos 🙂
Wishing you all the best with your online success above and beyond the horizon,
~Angel
Welcome back Angel.I try to interlink to my most relevant content.I try not to exceed 5 links but depending on your website’s size you can link to more articles if you need so.Besides the search engines , as Matt Cutts mentions , have a problem above the 100 links.
I follow a same policy with external links.I always link to articles that expand my topic.But there are certain posts that do include more external links.For example the post of 15 tools for blog content creation has at least 15 external links.But this is a post pointing out to web applications and tools.In that case I need to link to those sites.
Thank you for another visit and for your questions , good luck with your projects.
This is a great article on how to rank in google search using internal links. I had no idea they could be so powerful. It makes total sense now. Your article was great to read. I will bookmark and save it for later and come back to it as I write any articles. Thanks again
Hello there Ruth , you are very kind.You can apply that technique of interlinking according to your strategy and plans.But always do remember to link one post at least with one more.That way you can create a bunch of small groups that will be moving hand in hand.
Thank you for dropping by and for leaving your comment.Good luck.
A very Techie looking Site! Matches your niche! well done with picking a great theme.
Good product introduction and reviews! I am not a tech geek by any means but certainly learned some new stuff today!
I like the use of wonky little images! Adds good color and almost a video game feel!
All the best in your business and Online Marketing!
Welcome Max , video game feel , I never thought of that.I think I like it.Thank you for the nice compliments and your honest feedback.I salute to your success as well.