Best Internal Linking Strategies To Improve Your Website’s SEO

Hyperlinks; also referred to as internal links are primarily placed on a web page which builds a connection between various pages of a similar website. Internal links serve as pointers or navigators, helping users and search engine crawlers to discover new website pages.

Website owners and SEO experts see internal links as a ranking parameter. It is because they help search engines find other relevant pages on your website and rank them in high positions. 

Having a solid internal linking strategy is paramount to achieving higher rankings on search result pages and delivering a smooth user experience. The better the placement of these links, the better your search visibility. 

This article will discuss the best internal linking strategies to improve your website’s SEO performance. Let’s get started.

5 SEO Best Practices for Internal Linking

• Use Keyword-rich Descriptive Anchor Texts

What is anchor text? Well, the visible text of a hyperlink is referred to as anchor text. It explains to readers and search engines the context of the page you are pointing to. Many SEO experts consider anchor text as a ranking factor. Simultaneously, it reduces the bounce rate of the website.

If you want your readers to encourage clicking on internal links, it is important to give them a clear idea of what they can expect on the linked page. To achieve this, you need to master the art of anchor text. If you’re new to this field, consider professional  SEO services for proven results. 

Google advises using descriptive anchor text rather than an exact match of the keyword. When choosing anchor text keep in mind that it should read naturally in the text and you don’t overdo it. If all of your internal links consist of exact-match keywords, they will appear suspicious to search engines. Furthermore, avoid generic texts like ‘read more’ or ‘click here’, as these phrases don’t convey any meaning. 

While your anchor texts are descriptive and relevant, they should be concise as well. It is essential to strike the right balance between them.   

• Interlink High Authority Pages with New Pages

Interlinking high authority pages with new pages is also among the best internal linking strategies that will boost your SEO performance. When you interlink relevant pages, they pass link equity. Relevancy is the key. Make sure you are linking relevant blogs otherwise, it might misguide users. 

If your website has high-authority pages, they are more likely to attract traffic and rank in better positions. High authority pages are already in the eyes of search engines and whenever a user types in a search query, the page appears on SERPs. If they are ranking on Google’s top search results, they will get more impressions and clicks. Leverage these pages to improve the page rank of other related pages by interlinking them. 

This is one of the most viable approaches to guide search crawlers and users to other important pages of your website. However, avoid over-stuffing the pages with internal links in the blog or any of the content pieces.

• Include High-value Internal Links at the Top

The internal linking strategy directly influences the search engine rankings. If your strategy to link one webpage to the other is on point, you will be able to see improved online search visibility. The linking hierarchy also matters a lot. It is also known as the arrangement of links on any web page. The better approach is to put more valuable links at the top. 

Mostly, users don’t read at the first opportunity as they prefer scanning the content — reading the subheadings, looking into the infographics, and more This practice of the readers shows that valuable links should be placed in initial paragraphs, instead at the bottom.

By doing so, the navigation process becomes easy for the users. They can get access to the important pages and find relevant information quickly. This also helps search engines better understand important pages. 

Working on the link structure is a simple process, however, it can yield impressive results. 

You can improve the visibility of the links by putting important and resourceful links at the top. On the other hand, place less important ones on the bottom or sidebar. While implementing this strategy, ensure you aren’t over-stuffing links on the page as it may dilute link equity.

• Fix Broken Internal Links

Statistics show that 42.5% of the websites have broken internal links. Broken links refer to those links that take users to pages that might get deleted and do not exist anymore. Broken links influence bad user experience. 

You might have come across pages giving 404 errors or 301 errors. These web pages are broken and don’t have any content available. Imagine, a user opens a link to your website, and it is broken. This will cast a negative impression on the user. That is why it is crucial to deal with broken links on your website. The better approach is to run a report once every month. This way you can tackle them timely and effectively.

It’s easy to find and fix broken links on your web pages. There are multiple tools that can get the work done in no time such as Semrush and Screaming Frog. Make sure you check your website has minimum broken links, improving the user experience. 

• Update Older Pages with Internal Linking

It is a common practice for website owners to overlook older pages. Older pages have relatively more authority than the new ones. A good internal linking strategy is to link the new pages with previous web pages every 4-6 months. When website owners consistently post content on their website they forget about the previously written article on their website. This results in low rankings of old articles.

Update older articles with pertinent contextual links directing to new pages that didn’t exist when you created them earlier. This allows link juice to pass, positively impacting the SEO of the website.

To sum up, following the best internal linking strategies will deliver proven results, boosting your website’s SEO performance and search rankings. It is important that when you’re working on internal linking, leverage quality links on the web page. Make sure you include the most meaningful and contextual links.

Internal links are helpful in navigating search crawlers and showcasing the hierarchy of the website. Furthermore, users can easily find related topics and explore more knowledge without any difficulty.