Did you know that currently, 20% of website owners who do SEO and hope to rank on Google’s first page often neglect creating internal links? Remember that factors in boosting your website’s SEO ranking aren’t just about creating engaging content or choosing appropriate keywords. Another crucial factor is driving traffic to your website through internal linking.
For beginners wondering what internal links are and what benefits they offer for SEO, this article will help clarify those doubts. If you’re ready, let’s dive in.
What are Internal Links?
Internal links are links within a website that connect to different pages, like roads within a city. This allows visitors to stay on the website longer and helps Google’s algorithm, which sends bots to collect website data, see that the website is high quality because the content is related. You can think of a website as a pyramid, where the homepage is the top and internal links are the internal structure of the pyramid.
How Many Types of Internal Links Are There?
Understanding the differences between various types of internal links is important. Choosing the right internal links will yield good results. There are several types of internal links:
1. Menu/Navigation Links
Navigation links are links that guide users to important pages on the website. They are usually designed to be in the heading section of the website and are used to organize categories of products, services, or main topics. Technically, navigation links are not only a map for users but also a map for Google’s algorithm to collect website data and rank it.
2. Footer Link
Website visitors are likely familiar with the footer section of a website, which often includes headings such as Contact Us, Help, FAQs, and Privacy and Terms & Conditions. From an SEO perspective, footer links are not as important as other types of internal links. However, having them is better than not having them at all.
3. In-Text Link
In-text links, also commonly known as content links, are links within the content of blog posts that connect to other pages within the website with related content. Many SEO experts confirm that this type of internal link is the most important for SEO rankings.
Benefits of Using Internal Links for SEO
Besides acting as a map for general users, internal links also have the benefit of boosting SEO rankings. Let’s take a look at what they are:
Easy for Google to Collect Information
Are you still wondering if internal links are something Google wants every website to have? The answer is definitely yes! Having internal links on a website is directly related to Google’s algorithm. When Google starts crawling a website to gather data for indexing, it needs internal links to navigate and collect data throughout the website. In short, internal links are a mandatory flight if you want your website to rank in SEO.
Helps Distribute PageRank
Internal links also help distribute PageRank throughout the website. Remember that PageRank is an important metric for Google to identify how popular each page on a website is, measured by how many links point to it. This means that if a page has a high PageRank, it has a higher chance of being ranked well.
Builds Authority for Desired Topics
If Google’s algorithm sees many internal links connecting to a specific page discussing a particular topic, it increases the chances of Google seeing the website as an authority or expert on that topic. For example, if a website posts content about Link Building that is linked from other related posts on the website, such as posts explaining the meaning of Anchor Text, explaining the meaning of Backlink Profile, or other subtopics, it increases the chances of boosting the website’s ranking.
Now that you’ve read this far, you probably understand the concept of internal links. It’s one of the key foundations for doing SEO. Anyone who is about to start SEO for their website should prioritize creating internal links. As mentioned, internal links will help your website rank on Google’s first page unexpectedly.
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