Link building is one of the most important factors for SEO. And, like other factors, the way you do it can make a big difference in your search engine results. Interlinking your website pages and blog posts through internal links is a search engine optimization technique that takes your link building efforts to the next level, and gives your web presence a real boost.
When internal linking is done right, it helps both humans and search engines find and navigate your content. There are two basic types of internal links:
Absolute – This type of link defines the location of the file, including the protocol, server and name of the file or document.
Ex. <a href=”http://www.yourdomain.com/innerpage”> Anchor Text </a>
Relative –Used when the search engine spiders already know where the file is located. Below is an example of a relative link:
Ex. <a href="pagename.html"></a>
They are both correct methods. Some people like to use absolute links when linking to PDF files or when they want an immediate pingback. Relative links offer shorter download time because less code is involved.
Whichever type of linking you choose, here are 5 tips for effective internal links:
1. Optimize your anchor text.
Make your anchor text a keyword whenever possible. When you do this, both search engines and readers see your keyword as the linked text. This will help you rank better for these keywords.
2. Link to other pages on your site.
Linking internally increases the keyword relevancy of all pages within your site. For example, when you post a blog that covers a topic similar to another older blog post, you have an opportunity to link to that older post using a keyword. Doing so gives the older post fresh exposure with people and search engines.
3. Provide good navigation.
Interlink your web pages in a way that makes it easy for people to go from one page to another. For example, if you have a smaller site, consider adding an internal link on every page. You can provide a sidebar or link a product description to the relevant product page, or link directly to a blog page. This ensures that visitors can easily find what they need, which improves the user experience in general.
4. Include “breadcrumbs”.
Think Hansel and Gretel. Breadcrumbs are navigation aids that help visitors see the path to their current location.
Ex. Home page -> Category page -> Subcategory page
Each page is linked so that people can easily get back to the previous page, and the path is typically found near the top of a page. Breadcrumbs are another good opportunity to place internal links for user-friendly navigation.
5. Use WordPress plugins for blog content.
There are several plugins available that make it easy to interlink your blog posts. In a nutshell, these programs automatically create internal links between similar content on different pages. Anything from blog copy to comments to relevant content on other sites can be linked to your site pages via these handy tools.
