Internal Links in SEO | How to Create Internal Linking | Definition & My Understanding | SEO Tutorial

Website owners neglect internal linking on their pages in favour of other on-page optimization strategies.

But did you realise that such tiny internal links can raise your web page's search rankings?

When people type SEO services, they don't understand the scope of a complete SEO plan. It involves more than just optimising a Google Business Profile and publishing blog posts for websites. Other components of an effective SEO strategy include creating on- and off-page content, building links, technical SEO, content, and user experience or UX audits, website technical updates, regular blog writing after in-depth content topic research, creating landing page content with a targeted keyword strategy, optimising and updating article marketing, website content, blogger outreach, strategic keyword selection/optimization, citations/local directory building and more.

One could argue that link development is one of the most crucial elements of an effective SEO campaign. Additionally, it could be one of the most tedious and unpleasant experiences. The process of obtaining links from other websites to your own is known as link building. It is crucial and beneficial because it informs search engines that your site is valuable and reliable.

What are Internal Links?

The act of hyperlinking to other pages on your website is known as internal linking.

Internal links keep visitors on your website as opposed to external links, which are connections pointing to pages on other websites. They must not be confused with "inlinks," often known as "backlinks," which are links from other websites pointing "in" at your website.

The architecture of your website also consists of internal linkages. Your internal linking profile makes up the framework of your website's pyramid, which has your homepage at the top.
Your website's pages should all be easily accessible in three clicks or fewer.

One of the basics part of SEO is internal linking because it can help web crawlers communicate to the most important pages, second most essential pages and least important pages on your site. 
They are primarily created using the parts of a hyperlink that can be clicked, such as buttons, clickable pictures, and anchor text, which leads to another page.

Why is Internal Linking Important?

It might sound pretty important, but internal links are the base or pillar of your site. 

As mentioned earlier, they can help search engine crawlers understand a website's structure, hierarchy, and context. A page will appear more significantly to search engines the more internal links you have pointing to it.

To comprehend the site's structure and the relationship between the pages, Google uses internal links. It aids comprehension of the significance and general message of the page. 

Source: Google

The most important pages on your website—those with the best rankings and quality—are indexed by Google, but if the number of vital sites exceeds your crawl budget, some may be missed.

Source: Google

Internal links help spread "link juice" more evenly throughout the website. It aids Google's PageRank algorithm by determining the importance and authority of pages.

PageRank uses the quantity and quality of backlinks to rank websites. A site with a higher PageRank has more authority.

By leveraging internal links, you can distribute page authority to other pages if you have a page with a good backlink profile.

Why Internal Links are Important for SEO?

The main reasons why Internal links have become essential for SEO are:

1. They aid search engines in recognizing the layout of your website.

2. They transfer power.

3. They facilitate site navigation for users.

• They assist search engines in recognizing the structure of your website

By using internal links, you can indicate how Homepage is related to the Blog page or the About us page. This assists Google in analyzing the context of your website and the connections between them.

Search engines can easily identify and index the pages on your website thanks to a strong internal linking structure.

Google states, "Some pages are known because Google has already crawled them before. Other pages are discovered when Google follows a link from a known page to a new page.” in its guide on how search works.

Source: verbolia.com

• Internal links display related content's relevance to Google

Web crawlers from search engines such as Google evaluate the billions of pages that are available on the internet. They learn which pages are related to each other by just following the links. Crawl bots use internal links on websites to learn how they're structured and where to find the most relevant content.
Search engines can evaluate how your pages relate to any given query and rank your content in search results thanks to the data obtained by crawling your website.

When a page has a lot of internal links pointing to it, Google takes it into account when calculating its PageRank algorithm and determines how valuable it is based on how you send your users to the page.

These main pages frequently include thematically related subpages. For example, a car service company can have a core page about Car care & Detailing. This page can also link to sub-pages such as Denting & Painting, Wheel Maintenance and interior cleaning. If you use descriptive anchor text it will explain to the users and search engines what the target page is about.

• Internal links support the maintenance of the crawl budget

Google has multiple resources, but to visit more sites, it needs to spend less time on each one. The crawl budget that Google gives your website is determined by an algorithm that takes into account the size and responsiveness of your website, its popularity, and how frequently you update its content.

A crawl bot moves on to another site whenever it exceeds your crawl budget cap.

Internal linking and SEO assist search bots to navigate your site effectively, leading them deeper into the site to find and index new content.

You can further reduce the cost of your crawl by:

1. Upkeeping your site map
2. Deleting redundant or unnecessary pages
3. Handling error messages and redirects
4. Enhancing website loading and speed

• Internal links contribute to the value of ranking

SEO places a lot of emphasis on proving to Google that a site is reliable and authoritative. Links from a page that has been shown to have value can then share that value. Link value, also known as link equity, can aid ranking power transfer from one website to another even if it is not a direct ranking component.

Internal links are quite useful because of this. A page with an established link value can pass that value forward to other pages on the website to help them rank higher. As the worth of those pages increases, so may the link value they generate, increasing your site's overall authority.

Benefits of Internal Linking

Here are the top important benefits of internal linking in SEO

• Easy navigation: Internal links can efficiently and clearly guide both visitors and search engines around the website.
• Enhanced link equity and authority: Internal linking, also referred to as "link equity" or "link juice," is a method of transferring value and authority from one page to another.
• Improved page hierarchy: Your site's structure becomes more distinct thanks to internal links. It makes it easier for search engines to discover all of the website's pages and understand their significance.
• Enhanced indexation of the site: Search engines can more easily determine the site's content and meaning and the connection between the pages when there are internal links provided between the sites.
• Improved UX and participation: The user will stay on the page longer if it has a solid structure, clear navigation, and well-organized content.

SEO Best Practices for Building Internal Links

Here are some guidelines to assist you to optimise the linking structure on your page.

• Linking the important pages

Use links to direct visitors to crucial pages on your website, such as your homepage, service or product pages, or strategically significant conversion points.

This approach guarantees that Google:

Can quickly and easily find the pages. Place links on sites that have previously been indexed by Google because such pages are always the ones that are crawled first.

Realises their significance. A page's importance is indicated by how many internal connections it has.

• Add links from your homepage smartly

The homepage of a website is typically the page with the highest ranking. Be careful when choosing which pages you link to from here, even though this indicates that it has significant link value to convey to other pages.

Even though you might be tempted to link to a lot of pages, link value is distributed equally to all guests at the table like pie. Less equity is transferred to each link when there are more links.

• Display your website's architecture

Google in its SEO Starter Guide mentions that:

"Navigation of a website is important in helping visitors quickly find the content they want. It can also help search engines understand what content the website owner thinks is important. Although Google's search results are provided at a page level, Google also likes to have a sense of what role a page plays in the bigger picture of the site."

With links leading users deeper into each area, your website should be divided into sections or categories. Search engine crawlers gain a better understanding of the site's design as they move from broad to more defined categories.

For example, a beauty company can have a general category for Makeup and subcategories for Foundation, Blush, Eye Makeup, Concealer and Primer. Internal linking arrangement with the use of SEO, Google can classify web pages and respond to search queries with more precise results.

• Attach links between old and new pages

There is a lot of content on blogs, so when you publish new posts, older blogs get buried deeper in the site's history and are less likely to be seen by readers. As the subject matter is pertinent, linking previous information to new pages is an acceptable practice. This keeps older pages active and raises their rating by directing traffic to them.

Similar to this, older (and updated) pages frequently rank higher than more recent ones since they have had more time to gather backlinks and establish authority.

• Use anchor text with specific keywords

The words that are clickable and appear over hyperlinks are referred to as "anchor text." To inform visitors and search engines about the type of material the link points to, anchor text should ideally contain keywords. For example, in "Here are some of our workout attires you can look for", the phrase "workout attires" is a more suitable informative anchor text than "you can look for".

When constructing backlinks, it's crucial to apply keyword-rich anchor text carefully. Internal links should always make use of words and phrases that support the association between the content and the search terms you want it to rank for.

Different Types of Internal Links

You probably have a variety of internal links on your website. Because they are crucial to the people who visit your website, it is necessary to understand their variations.

1. Menu/navigation links

The internal links in your main navigation menu are the most crucial ones on your website.

These serve as a constant reminder to users of the hierarchy of your website within the header. They are typically arranged according to major services, product categories, or main subject areas.

Source: Discovery

When a user first visits your website, these internal connections let them know which sites are the "next most important." They are known as navigation links because they function very much like a map, directing users to the next best place.

2. Footer

Similar to navigation links, footer links stay the same while a user navigates around your website's pages.

They must include links to other significant pages on your website that visitors could find useful. Your internal links in the footer should direct users to alternative clickable locations if they haven't already found it by the time they scroll to the bottom of the page.

Source: National Geographic

Website footers typically connect to contact us, help, frequently asked questions, about pages, and other resource-type pages.

3. Sidebar

Typically, sidebar links are contextual links with a navigational function.

Some websites use sidebar internal links to lead visitors to popular or pertinent material. For websites with a lot of content, like news or recipe websites, sidebar links are quite frequent because the user may not necessarily be seeking something specific but may just be wandering from page to page.

Source: simplyrecipes

4. In-text

Links that appear within the text of a website's content are known as in-text links. They are frequently referred to in blog entries.

Source: digitalmarketinginstitute

In-text internal links point to pertinent information that the user can view at their convenience rather than indicating importance or providing navigation.

What are the Potential Outcomes of Internal Linking?

By using internal links, you can create a more thorough and transparent site structure

Internal linking enables architecture-based content, intent, and relationships when done intentionally and coherently.

Internal linking facilitates better site indexing

Internal links allow Google to add content that is not yet indexed when it scans a website and identifies new content. Search engines are more likely to find new information on a site that is thoroughly connected based on entities and established semantic relationships.

Improved user experience and navigation on websites

Internal linkages are how this is made possible. Internal links allow website owners to change the visitors' search intentions from informational to navigational to commercial to transactional without having to send them elsewhere. If the user only needs information, they can also broaden their search scope by introducing them to other topics or by otherwise improving their intent.

An increase in site interaction

The number of page visits each session can be increased through internal linking. The bounce rate can also be increased with a thorough internal linking plan for the entire website.

Internal Linking Strategy for SEO

It's time to develop your internal linking plan now that you are aware of the goals and types of links used in internal linking.

Conduct keyword & topic research

Conducting keyword research is your first step. Depending on where you are in your SEO plan, you may have already finished this stage. You should consider the number of users searching for those terms as well as the competition from other businesses that are already ranking for those terms. To ensure that you will receive the maximum benefit from your efforts, choose a selection of keywords depending on those considerations. In order to create content on the subjects users are looking for, you should also undertake topic research around those keywords.

Develop pillar pages

Perform a content audit of your website after doing keyword and topic research. Based on those keywords and content subject research, identify any gaps where content needs to be developed. The most relevant pillar pages are the ones which naturally contain keywords as well as broad topic information. Building links off of that is what you should do but avoid keyword stuffing.

Fix any broken links

Although it may seem intuitive, it becomes easier to lose track of internal connections on larger websites, particularly those leading to deeper material. Most websites will have multiple owners over the course of their management. The rankings of your website can suffer from broken links. Broken links present a chance to replace them with worthwhile links that use pertinent anchor text.

Create informative anchor text

When a user clicks a hyperlink, the anchor text that appears on the link informs them of the topic of the subsequent page. A contextual link on your website's content will include anchor text. Make sure you choose your anchor text carefully. It must be insightful, and meaningful, and include keywords when logically suitable. Avoid keyword stuffing and avoid using the phrase "click here."

Avoid overlinking and keyword stuffing

Search engines are aware of strategies like keyword stuffing, and if you're not careful with your efforts, what started as an internal linking technique to assist your organic ranks might end up damaging them, resulting in penalties and wasted work. Avoid any situations that can harm user experience because search engines appreciate it. Avoid stuffing links in and make sure your material is organic.

To summarize...

The foundation of a quality website and a successful SEO strategy are internal links.

They add value to your website, users, and search engines. They are also essential in raising the authority and rating of both your new and old pages.

Your internal links can increase the number of pages in Google's index and improve your ranking positions with a little bit of work and preparation. The most crucial thing is to build a coherent site structure and support it with internal links.