No one likes a lazy internal link. If you’re going to put the time and effort into building internal links, you need to do it properly and make sure that your links are doing what they’re supposed to be doing: working hard to improve your SEO.
In previous posts we’ve written about why you should use internal links, how not to use backlinks and how we really want you to use backlinks. We’ll continue on with our linking and SEO themes with a deep dive into how you can make sure your internal links are working for you and not against you. So, without any more preamble, let’s get to it (we’re guessing you skipped this paragraph as it is anyway…).
You Need Content
As you know, when we talk content we typically focus on quality. But we also want to think about how much content you have. To create good internal links, you need to have lots of content to link to. This means you need pages. You need lots of pages of good quality content that can be used for your internal links. Take a look at your website and look for any areas where you can break one page into multiple pages or where there is content on one page that can be used to create other pages on the same or similar topics. Do you have pages for all your products and services, what about a blog, an online knowledge center, a resources section? These pages need to have at least 800 words on them, so be careful not to break apart pages and turn them into thin content.
Dig into Your Website
Too many people create internal links to just their Home and Contact Us pages. This simply is not enough. For internal links to work for your SEO, you need to create more natural links that take readers on tour of your website. Remember your readers are looking for more content and while they might want to contact you, don’t always just link to your contact page. Remember why your readers came to your website – for your expertise, so give it to them with internal links. Now that you’ve followed the advice above, take advantage of the content you’ve created and get it working for your benefit with useful and successful internal links.
Respect Your Readers
Remember that your readers came to your website because Google has told them that you’re an authority on widgets. So, you need to live up to this reputation and give your readers what they’re looking for – good content that is easy to find with smart intelligent internal links. You must always think about how you can give your readers value, value that keeps them clicking and reading. Think about the nature of internal links – when a reader clicks an internal link, you’re effectively telling them that, while what they’re currently reading is important – the internal link will take them to even more important, related, and useful content. If your reader clicks one too many links that don’t live up to this promise, they’ll soon stop clicking and eventually stop visiting your website.
Don’t Go Internal Link Crazy
While we do believe, there is a time and place for being different and crazy – this doesn’t apply to internal linking. Don’t crowd your pages with too many internal links. Make sure the links read naturally and don’t feel forced. If every third phrase is a link, the reader will soon get distracted and likely frustrated with trying to determine what is worth a click and what isn’t. There is no hard-and-fast rule on how many links is too many – but if you’re questioning the number of internal links on a page, this likely means you’ve got too many.
Why Aren’t There Many Internal Links on this Page?
A good question and one we were hoping you’d ask. If you look closely, you’ll see there are a couple at the top of the page where we talk about previous blog posts and we’ll add in a couple in the next paragraph… but the truth is, we didn’t want you to be distracted and leave this page. We know that internal links and SEO are vital and we didn’t want to send you off too early and cause you to miss out on our valuable advice.
Now, of course that we’ve give you what you came for, we want to convince you to hang around a bit longer and learn about what we do best and how we can help you get your entire website working for you. We also want to show off some of our recent client work so you can learn more about our team and how fantastic we are. Of course, remember to bookmark our Blog so you won’t miss out on our future posts.
