Internal Linking for SEO: Why and How in this article I’ll tell you what is internal linking and why should you focus on internal linking and how to do internal linking.
Link building is the most important part of on-page SEO that improves website ranking and pageviews and decrease your website’s bounce rate.
But many bloggers do not know the advantages of link building, they ignore this SEO best practice and miss out SEO benefits.
So, let’s get started…
What is Internal Linking
Linking one page to another page in the same domain called Internal Linking. It connects one page to another page on your website.
You may have seen many websites linking old posts or valuable posts in their posts.
Why Are Internal Links Important for SEO?
Internal links help Google find, index and understand pages on your site. And improves your website SEO.
In simple words, internal linking is key to get higher rank in Google.
Here are some of the benefits of internal linking:
1. Make Your Content More Informative
It tells search engines and users about the most valuable pages of your website.
Internal links make your posts more informative for users. Google offers top rank to pages that are useful for users. Also helps the visitor navigate from one page to another.
2. Better Crawl and Index
When your blog is new, then search engines do not index your website or blog quickly. Therefore internal linking is very important.
When search engine crawlers come to your website, they follow the link to understand site structure, content and for index.
Always build internal linking in a strong and smart way so that crawlers crawl deeply, which are not always visited.
Internal linking provides a better crawling and indexing experience for search engines like Google. Easier to crawl, better rank in SERPs.
3. Increase Old Post Rank and Pageviews
Internal link passes link juice to your old post, which improves its ranking and also b​ oosts page views.​
If you have been running a blog for a long time and you have a large number of blog posts, then older posts from your blog can no longer receive traffic and rankings.
But, internal linking gives further reading options. If you have an old article that can provide valuable information to the reader, then link it to your new article.
This is a great way to promote your old content and increase pageviews. Here is the ultimate guide – How to Promote Your Website
4. Reduce Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is an important aspect of SEO. If the visitor land to your post and exit immediately then your site bounce rate increases, which affect your website SEO and hurt Search engines ranking.
For better SEO, bounce rate is very important and internal linking is the best way to reduce bounce rate. It helps the visitor stay on the website for a long time.
How to do Internal Linking
1. Use Keyword-Rich Anchor Text
If you want to get more benefit from internal links then use Anchor text.
Even, Google also recommends using keywords in anchor texts. It make easier for users to navigate and for Google to understand what the page you’re linking to is about.
With appropriate anchor text, users and search engines can easily understand what the linked pages contain.
Here’s a quick guide on Anchor text:
● Choose Descriptive Text – When you use anchor text for a link, it should be descriptive and understandable that what the page linked to is about. ● Always use short text-usually a few words or a short phrase but should be descriptive. ● Don’t write generic anchor text like “page”, “article”, or “click here”.
● Don’t use text that has no relation to the content of the page linked to.
2. Link to Important Pages
When you link to another page on your site, it passes link juice to that page and helps to rank that page in Google.
That’s why always link to important pages.
Internal links to your new post with your high-authority pages. This will give you good benefits. And also help you get backlinks.
3. Put Link in the First of Your Page
When you add an internal link at the beginning of your content, it helps to reduce bounce rate and improve Dwell Time.
Since you want to add an internal link to your entire page. But by adding 1-2 internal links on top of your page, you can give people something to click immediately.
Which means they will stay on your site longer.
Also, you can see, I’ve added my best post in the sidebar.
4. Use Dofollow Links
If you want to give SEO value to other pages of your site through internal links, then you will need to use the dofollow links.
I have seen many bloggers who use no-follow tags for internal links. That’s absolutely wrong.
What should Avoid in Internal Linking
Automatic internal linking tools are not particularly effective. Here are some reasons:
● Plugins and tools internal linking without understanding – which page requires the most juice or which page is best for linking. ● Depending on the size of your site, a plugin can create 1k+ exact match anchor text internal links overnight. Which leads your site to penalty. ● Internal linking helps users to find related content on your site. But, plugins never think to add an internal link.
Final Thought
Here I have told you about Internal linking for SEO: Why and How.
If you want to increase your website SEO, page views, and ranking then adopt these link building strategies.
But Keep one thing in mind your internal links should be related.
Hope you found the post useful and comprehensive! Don’t forget to share!