Internal Links: Tips For SEO Optimization Of Your Internal Links

In SEO, a lot of attention is paid to the external links from other websites – the backlinks. Internal links on your own site are almost as important. We give you tips on how to optimize your internal links.

Why are internal links so important?

Internal links between two of your own websites not only make it easier for the user to find their way around your site. They also ensure that the Google bot finds its way around the website faster and better. The bot is responsible for the so-called crawling of the page. The better he understands the pages, the better he can index and rate them. This increases the chance of higher rankings.

Internal links have three central functions in SEO:

• They show the bot ways to crawl the pages. Because a bot also behaves like a user and “goes” from page to page via links. By using relevant and meaningful links, you guide the bot through the website in a structured way.
• On the other hand, internal links provide the bot with clues as to what the linked pages are about . This works by using keywords in the anchor text (the linked text) or the link title. Google understands the topic of the page better.
• Last but not least, internal links ensure that the user can find his way around the site more easily. This increases the length of stay and reduces the bounce rate – two important ranking signals in SEO.

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You should always take this into account with internal links

There are a few basics that you must always take into account with internal links. The most important thing is the structure of the link. A link always consists of the following components:

• Link Target: This is the subpage that is linked to.
• Anchor Text: The linked text.
• Link title: You enter this in the HTML code for the link. You use it to describe the link target in more detail. Here, too, you should pay attention to important keywords.

You should take all three components into account and ideally include important keywords. Means: A link in the text using the term “here” (e.g. “You can find it here”) or something similar makes little sense. Rather link exactly the keywords that match the target page. Google itself says in its SEO guide: “The better the anchor text, the easier it is for users to navigate and the better Google understands what the linked page is about.”

The golden rule of internal linking

In addition, there are other things you need to consider. The golden rule when building your internal links is: the more users click on the link, the better it is. Google also pays attention to which links users use on the pages. Links higher up on the page tend to be stronger than links in the footer or bottom.

However, that doesn’t mean that links at the top of your navigation are the most important. Of course, the most important points and topics of your company should be mentioned there. However, links in the content or buttons on the page can also be considered relevant. The fact that the user must understand this link, it should be highlighted in color and must match the topic of the page can also be derived from the rule. External links are therefore rather pointless.

Two optimization tips for internal links

1. Low click depth

Click depth is an indicator of how many times users have to click to find a page. The further the path, the less relevant the page seems to be. The usual entry points on your site are used as the starting point. In most cases, this is the homepage or another very relevant landing page. Tip: Check your analytics tool to see which pages your visitors came from organically.

Important pages with strong keywords should not be more than two clicks away from these pages. Less important pages can also require three or more clicks. But there shouldn’t be many more links: It’s better to ensure a flat page structure and thus a low click depth.

2. Siloing by topic

Siloing means that you arrange your pages by topic and only link to each other within a topic (silos). You use it to create focal points . The advantage is obvious: users are not distracted by links that do not belong to the topic. Also, your sides can inspire each other.

In order to understand the last point, you need to know the following: Your pages can also assign relevance to each other internally. The more frequently and the more meaningfully a page is linked, the more relevant it seems to be overall – especially if the links come from particularly important pages on your website. Relevance is also more important the closer the page is to the topic of the link target .

Conclusion

Internal links are more relevant than you might think. You can use them to consciously influence and strengthen the rankings of your pages. Create meaningful anchor texts, a meaningful structure and ensure a low click depth. However, you should avoid merely linking pages: Your links should remain topic-related and relevant in order to provide an additional SEO boost.

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