Internal & External Links | Why External and Internal Links are Important for SEO | SEO Tutorial

What are Internal Links?

Internal links serve two objectives, generally speaking. However,  connecting site visitors to further useful content on your website is the initial goal. Internal links are used to direct visitors from one page to another or to other pages on your website that may support what you're presenting or lead to a conversion. Thus, the links served as their guide to finding content.

They also assist web crawlers in finding important material, which is their secondary goal. However, it also supports crawlers in comprehending the layout and structure of your site. The crawling procedure is more effective with internal links. Additionally, if the crawling procedure is effective, web crawlers will be able to spend more time on your website and learn more about its environment, which will be beneficial for indexing. Making sure that your pages appear in searches and that they are correctly indexed and included in the index.Internal links do play a significant part in the user experience (UX), SEO, and how your site will be indexed and remembered in search.

Internal Linking Strategy in SEO

Managing internal linking strategy evaluation is essential for your site's SEO. It's one of the techniques to help make your site more suited. By including the relevant internal links, you ensure that Google is aware of:

• The significance of pages
• How pages relate to one another
• Their importance

Source: Wikipedia

There are various considerations to ponder while establishing your internal linking strategy. Of course, how you implement them depends on your website and your objectives, but the steps below are the general guideline.

1. Choose the right structure for your website

Website owners should envision their site as a pyramid which has the homepage at the top, sections or categories below, and then individual articles and pages farther down.

2. Make a decision regarding your most crucial content

You should decide which of your content holds the most value. It covers the foundation of your company and is your best and most comprehensive piece of content. When someone searches for subjects or services in which you have expertise, this is the content you want them to find.

You must add numerous links to this article if you want Google to understand that it is your most significant topic.

Click here to understand more about Internal Links.

What are External Links?

An external link, sometimes referred to as an outbound link, is a hyperlink that points to a page or resource located on another website. An internal link, which points to URLs within the same domain, is the inverse of external links.

External incoming links are another name for backlinks or inbound links.

Websites are connected via external links, which makes it easier for users to switch between them. John Mueller from Google once said:

"A fantastic method to give your users something of value is by linking to other websites. Links frequently assist consumers in learning more, investigating your sources, and comprehending how your material relates to their inquiries."

An external link on one site qualifies as a backlink to another site in terms of SEO, and Google values backlinks highly when determining rankings. External links assist connected pages rank higher by passing the link equity.

Linking to trustworthy websites, according to some webmasters and even SEO experts, can boost a page's authority and trustworthiness in Google's eyes. Although there is no proof, many SEOs favour linking to authoritative websites like Forbes and Wikipedia that have high Domain Ratings.

External links, SEO Strategy and Best Practices:

1. Be fearless when linking out

Many people think that when they link out to other websites, their own websites will lose essential "link juice." Because of this, they either exclude all external linking or set external links to "nofollow." But there is no proof for such theory.

What we do know is that, when appropriate, linking to other websites and pages makes your material more helpful and gives your users a positive browsing experience. Don't be reluctant to link to resources when you think they are worth it.

However, giving link equity through external links to your rival content is usually not a good idea.

2. Avoid using link schemes

Link schemes are constant attempts to use links to affect your search engine rankings.

A few typical link schemes are as follows:

• To improve SERP rankings, one can buy or sell links
• A lot of link exchanges
• Making links on your website with the help of automated tools
• Links to low-quality directories or bookmarking websites

Google may penalise you if they believe you are using link schemes or putting links on your website for financial gain.

The "sponsored" or "nofollow" attributes should be applied to all links inside a sponsored or affiliate article.

3. Utilise intriguing link texts

All outgoing links should have meaningful anchor texts so that your readers can understand where the link will take them.

Check out Google's link text guide here.

4. Frequently check your external links

Every month or two, spend some time auditing the external links in your article.

A broken external link on your website could be caused by the removal of the page you previously connected to.

Although broken links on a website are not essential, they can have a detrimental impact on the user experience.

External links that redirect can be riskier.

HTML Code and Example for External Linking:

Source: Toptal

CODE:

<a href="https://www.external-example-domain.com/">Link Anchor Text</a>

An internal link is a sort of hyperlink that points to a page or resource on the same website or domain as the one being referenced, such as an image or document.

External Linking and User Experience

Sites with external links performed better in search engine results than pages without them. If your site visitors believe you publish and connect to high-quality content, they will revisit frequently.

Your users will return to Google and retype the same query to find more accurate information if you refuse to provide outbound links that you believe your readers could find interesting to learn more about a topic. Additionally, this will harm your reputation with both users and search engines.

You may assist visitors to your website in finding the relevant, additional, and engaging content they want by linking to connected websites. This can improve the user experience and entice visitors to return in the future in search of further useful resources on your website.

As a result, users of your website will find it to be a more valuable and trustworthy source of information online. That increases the traffic to your website. 

Difference between External and Internal Links

External link	Internal link
It is difficult to control.	It is easy, fast and free to control.
It appears within the body text, in the content.	It appears in website navigation as well as in the content.
It passes SEO authority from other sites to your site, increasing your “domain authority”.	It passes SEO authority pages on your site, increasing the “page authority” of specific pages.
It has more value.	It has less value.
It connects to your external pages.	It connects to your internal pages.
Domain 1 A links to Domain 2 b.	Domain 1 A links to B.
It improves the quality of web pages.	It helps bots to find other web pages on your site.
It helps in increasing traffic to your website.	It also helps in increasing traffic to your website.

My thoughts...

If you work in marketing or content creation, you've most likely educated yourself on the value of both internal and external links while trying to produce high-quality articles for SEO. 

Both internal and external links are crucial components of SEO. External links enhance your search engine rankings while also helping you establish authority and trust with your audience.