Think of an internal link as a simple connection from one page on your website to another. It’s a key part of your website’s structure that helps users and search engines navigate your site. Without internal links, your pages would be like islands: no one could get to them.
Internal links are a fundamental part of your SEO. They help a search engine’s bots find, crawl, and index all the pages on your site. They also help a search engine understand the relationship between your pages and which ones are the most important.
Why Internal Links Are So Important for SEO
Internal links are a huge ranking factor. They are a signal to a search engine that your website is an authority on a topic. Here’s why they are so important:
- They Help a Search Engine Crawl Your Site: Internal links are a map for a search engine. They tell a search engine’s bots how to navigate your site and find all of your pages. This is a great way to ensure that all of your content is indexed.
- They Build Authority: When you link from a page with high authority to another page on your site, you are passing some of that authority to the new page. This is a great way to build the authority of your most important pages.
- They Improve User Experience: Internal links help a user find what they are looking for. They can guide a user from a blog post to a product page or from a category page to a specific product. This keeps a user on your site for longer, which is a great signal to a search engine.
A professional platform Clickrank can help you with this. The platform’s Internal Link Optimization can analyze your website and provide a prioritized list of tasks to fix these issues.
How to Build a Strong Internal Linking Structure
Building a strong internal linking structure is a simple process that you can do with a few simple steps.
Use Descriptive Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. You should always use descriptive anchor text. For example, instead of “click here,” you should use a descriptive phrase like “how to build a strong backlink profile.” This helps a search engine and a user understand what the page you are linking to is about.
Avoid Orphan Pages
An orphaned page is a page that has no internal or external links pointing to it. This makes it very hard for a search engine to find and index it. You should ensure that every page on your website has at least one internal link pointing to it.
Use a Flat Website Structure
A flat website structure is one where all your pages are easy to find and can be reached with a minimal number of clicks. This is a great way to ensure that a search engine can find and index your most important pages quickly.
What is an internal link?
An internal link is a link from one page on your website to another. They are a fundamental part of your website's structure that helps users and search engines navigate your site.
How do internal links help SEO?
Internal links help SEO by helping a search engine's bots crawl and index your site, building the authority of your pages, and improving the user experience.
How do I find orphaned pages?
You can find orphaned pages by using an SEO audit tool to crawl your website. These tools will show you a list of pages that have no internal or external links pointing to them.
What is descriptive anchor text?
Descriptive anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. You should always use descriptive anchor text that tells a user and a search engine what the page you are linking to is about.
