While backlinks from external websites enjoy a high level of attention, internal links are almost completely neglected. This is a mistake that should definitely not be made. The visibility of websites and user-friendliness play a central role, and internal links are links that are placed within a domain. Internal links are also known as hyperlinks, while external links are known as backlinks. It is about directing the user to further information, which is also placed sensibly in the context of the text. “Internal linking SEO” is a specific area that can certainly influence the ranking. Another advantage of all this is that you have full control over internal links. The situation is different with backlinks, where the power lies with the other website operators.
Why are internal links so important for SEO?
Internal linking has a significant impact on SEO, provided it is done sensibly and thoughtfully. The benefits of this take place on two levels, which are explained below.
1st level: User
User-friendliness has the greatest influence in search engine optimization (SEO), because content should be created for the user. The crawlers of the search engines check exactly this, here on the one hand the content has a corresponding importance, but also the navigation.a clever internal linking leads to the fact that the user is also led from the main content to the marginal information, which is treated on another subpage. This leads to a lower bounce rate and a considerably longer dwell time, while a low bounce rate and a longer dwell time in turn lead to positive user signals, which increases the ranking. Google considers this to be informative content that actually provides added value, and it is possible to set as many internal links as you like, and there are no restrictions in terms of link spam. In addition, there is no need to worry about keyword links. This will not lead to a penalty for internal links.
2nd level: Search engine
Most backlinks point to the homepage and the least to various subpages, which are particularly important for a technical reference. With internal linking, however, precisely those subpages are shown to the crawler that were not linked externally, and linkjuice also plays a role here, as the internal links can pass on the linkjuice of an external backlink to the linked subpage. External and internal links can be combined to increase visibility.
What is the best way to set internal links?
There are various approaches to setting internal links for SEO. There are certainly different requirements depending on the website, but in principle it is always the same. If you are unsure about the best way to set internal links for SEO, you can hire us as a professional link building agency.
Central keywords as link text
Unlike external links, keywords can also be used as link text for internal links. However, care should be taken to ensure that the links also match the text. It is harmful if links with or without a central keyword anchor text are found in the content, which are inappropriate in the respective context.Google published a starting guide for search engine optimization some time ago, which states: “The better your anchor text is, the easier it is for users to access the linked page and the better Google recognizes the content of this page. “In plain language, this also means that links such as “link” or “here” are by no means good link texts. This is also shown by the click rate, users click on such anchor texts very rarely or not at all.
Logical reference to the text
When setting a link, the user should always be in the foreground. You can ask yourself whether a logical click would happen at this point. A link is always logical if the user remains on the topic and does not digress from the actual topic.
Further factors for target-oriented links
Further factors for internal links can be found in the following list. The focus here is on ensuring that the internal links are clicked as often as possible, as this is what characterizes relevance, and Google repeatedly emphasizes this factor.
- Correct positioning: Link should be linked in the main content. Links in the footer hardly attract any attention and are less likely to be noticed by the user.
- Highlight links: Among other things, links should be highlighted in color so that they are also perceived as links.
- Flat hierarchies: The click depth of menus should only be as deep as necessary. It makes sense to link the respective main topics in the menu.
- Create breadcrumb navigation: Users and search engines like the breadcrumb navigation, which also enhances the page in terms of internal links.
- Fix 403 and 404 errors: Faulty or dead links should be removed; there are also automatic tools for this, such as the “Broken Link Checker” WordPress plugin.
Conclusion: Internal links are important for SEO!
In summary, it can be said that internal links should always be taken seriously. However, indiscriminate internal links should be avoided. For a positive effect, however, attention should be paid to skillful linking. The (positive) consequences of this are: more traffic, more visibility and maximum user-friendliness on the website.
