Internal links are for interlinking which cannot be separated from each other because they will be related. Links are truly critical to SEO success, but receive little or no credit. So internal links are links from one page on the same domain to another.
Every website has them, but what most people don't realize is that when used strategically, internal links can significantly improve a site's performance in search engines. Google uses internal linking to help find new content every time.
Pages with no internal links pointing to them are called orphaned pages that do not have a 'parent' link. Therefore, pay more attention to your internal links so that your SEO optimization reaches the right target.
In various articles that discuss SEO strategies, it is certain that internal links will appear there. No wonder because it is an integral aspect of SEO practice. However, for those who just have a website, this term will raise a lot of question marks in their heads. This is why you decided to enter the word “internal link” in Google and clicked on this article, right?
Yup, you've come to the right place. In this article, all your questions regarding internal links will be answered. We will discuss thoroughly from A-Z so that you not only know what it means, but also how to optimize it for SEO.
So, there are a number of specific steps that you must take in order to get the full benefit of this internal link, namely:
- Create lots of content
- Enter keywords in anchor text
- Links to relevant pages
- Avoid the same anchor text on two different pages
- Use dofollow links
- Links to important pages on the website
- Don't put up too many internal links
Oh yes, as we mentioned above, internal links are a small part of the overall SEO technique. So, before implementing the methods above, make sure you learn what SEO is first.
What are Internal Links?
As the name suggests, internal links are links from one page to another on the same website. For example like this:
In the Complete Guide to Maximizing Image SEO for Websites, the fourth step is compressing images. However, instead of writing down how to optimize images at that point, we include a link to a separate article that discusses how to compress images in full. Well, that's what links are called internal links.
Well, internal links are important for SEO because they can help Google index your website and understand its overall structure.
If Google understands your website better, of course it's easier to get top rankings in search results, right? (provided you have also implemented other SEO techniques). And vice versa, if Google is confused about your website, the chances of getting top rankings are also diminishing
The difference between Internal Links and External Links
The difference between internal links and external links is quite significant, namely:
1. Understanding
As you know, internal linking is a link that points to another page on the same website. Conversely, external links are links that point to other websites.
2. Purpose
The purpose of internal linking is to increase domain authority. With internal website pages that are continuous with each other, it shows that the content has strong relevance.
While external links to increase page authority. Page authority shows the quality of website pages. This is evidenced by the content having clear references or reference sources from external websites.
3. Function
Both internal links and external links have their respective functions. Here's the function of external links:
- Increase spend time alias time spent by visitors on the website;
- Increase page views, aka the number of pages opened by visitors;
- Supports on-page SEO.
Unlike internal links, external links play a role in:
- Increase the credibility of website pages;
- Supports on-page SEO.
So, what's the difference between internal linking and external linking in SEO optimization? Please refer to the following discussion.
4. SEO Optimization
Both support on-page SEO, internal links and external links are much different. Internal linking boosts the SEO performance of the website in question, through the anchor text used. As info, anchor text is text that has been embedded with certain links.
Meanwhile, external links actually help your referral website get ranking through the anchor text that you put on your site.
The bad news, external links also have the potential to snatch your traffic. Because, visitors can be more interested in your referral site. Therefore, you must use external links wisely.
How to do internal linking in SEO?
Here are seven steps to optimize internal links on your website so that SEO can be maximized.
1. Create Multiple and Connected Content
You could say this first step is the most important step. If you have no content, it means that there are no internal links that can be installed. In other words, the more content you have, the more links you can include.
However, don't be careless in creating content, ok? Create content that is still related to each other or one topic so that internal links can be installed. For example, you create content that discusses tips on caring for cats. So, it wouldn't be right if you attached a link to the article "Simple Ways How to Start a Career in Digital Marketing"
Therefore, regularly create quality content on your website. The more new interconnected pages on your website, the easier it will be to install internal links in the future.
Don't forget to always make interesting blog article titles. This is because the title is the first thing people see when they search for keywords in search engines or on social media timelines. This will help you boost website traffic.
2. Entering Keywords in Anchor Text
You must be familiar with this anchor text. Anchor text is a piece of text containing a clickable link. It differs from plain text and is generally blue in color. When you use anchor text for internal links, don't forget to include keywords about the page you want to go to. In other words, avoid anchor text like "click here," or "this page" for your internal links.
Because, anchor text with these keywords can help Google and visitors to understand the contents of the link before they click on it. Apart from that, inserting keywords into anchor text is also a best practice suggested by Google itself.
3. Links to Relevant Pages
Install internal links when you feel that other pages are also relevant to that page. Because, if there is nothing to do, the possibility of the link being clicked by visitors will be very small.
Take the example in this article. If we put a link to the article “10+ Tips for Maintaining the Most Effective VPS Server,” you surely wouldn't click on it, would you?
Well, this low click shows that the level of visitor engagement is low. In effect, Google will assume that the internal link is irrelevant and will ultimately have a negative impact on your SEO. So, post relevant links that can encourage visitors to learn more about the topic.
4. Create Various Anchor Text
Not all anchor text will match the sentences you write. So, don't be stubborn about entering the same anchor text in every content. You can make it more varied to make it look natural.
After all, repeated anchor text is considered by Google to be unnatural, you know. This method is considered by Google as an attempt to cheat the algorithm. So, you have to avoid it so you don't get penalized by Google.
5. Use DoFollow Links
In short, a dofollow link is a type of link that allows Google to follow the link. Maybe this one step looks obvious, but not a few people actually put nofollow on internal links (usually due to internal link plugin errors) so that Google ignores these links.
Therefore, make sure you use dofollow links on all internal links so that Google can follow these links.
6. Link to Important Pages on Your Website
When you install an internal link, the authority of that page is also shared with other pages. The higher the authority shared, the better for your SEO. Therefore, try to put links on high authority pages to other pages that you want to rank for.
To find out the level of authority on a website accurately, you can use a paid tool like Ahrefs or Moz Pro. However, there is also another way —although not as accurate as paid tools—namely by using free tools like on this website.
7. Install Adequate Internal Links
How many internal links should you put on one page? Nobody knows the exact answer. Matt Cutts, who has worked on Google's SEO team for 17 years, suggests that internal links are around 100 links on one page. Then, is posting links that are less or more than 100 prohibited? Oh, of course not.
Matt Cutts is only suggesting, so don't make it your primary benchmark. This is because each website page has a different purpose. Sometimes 100 links must be included because it really supports the purpose of the page.
Take for example the article → How to Create Digital Marketing Strategy, where we provide links to each of the themes on the list. So, links to each theme plus other links on that page (starting from the header, footer, to the navigation menu) of course there are more than 100 of them.
However, this is not a problem. Because our goal is to provide links to make it easier for visitors to find the theme in question.
In essence, you must pay attention to the purpose and user experience when including internal links. If a lot of links can help visitors, you just add as much as needed. But if not, you don't need to include the internal link.
Watch Your Internal Links Starting From Now!
How? Internal links are not as simple as you think, are they? To get maximum SEO results, there are indeed extra steps that must be taken. If you haven't implemented the internal link optimization steps above, you better do it now!
Having internal links creates a hierarchy on your site, allowing you to provide the most important pages and post more link value than other, less valuable pages. So, using the right internal linking strategy can improve your SEO.
When defined in general, internal links themselves are hyperlinks that point to pages on the same domain. This is different from external links, which link to pages on other domains.
Conclusion
Applying how to create internal links on a blog can potentially cause a redirect chain to occur. This can have an impact on when search engines perform the crawling process and worsen the user experience. For this reason, you must continue to update the internal links on each page to prevent redirect chains from occurring.
Thus the discussion on how to make internal links on the blog. This method can improve website performance based on SEO rules. The amount of content connected by internal links simplifies the process of indexing pages and increases their authority.
Oh yes, internal link optimization is still lacking if your website wants to get top rankings on Google, you know. There are other optimization steps that you should do. We hope this article was useful to you. See you in the next article!