How does Internal linking help SEO?

Internal linking helps search engines understand the structure of your site

Implementing a robust Internal linking strategy helps search engines understand the structure of your site and how pages relate to each other.

Technical SEO includes optimizing your internal linking structure to improve navigation and help search engines crawl and index your site more efficiently.

Internal linking is a Google ranking factor.

Internal linking refers to the practice of linking to other pages within your website. When done correctly, it can help improve your website’s overall visibility and rankings.

Here is a list of 7 best practices for implementing internal linking:

  1. Use descriptive anchor text: The anchor text (the clickable text of the hyperlink) should be descriptive and relevant to the linked page. This helps search engines understand the context of the linked page and improves the user experience.
  2. Link to relevant content: The linked page should be relevant to the context of the page where the link appears. This helps users find related content and keeps them engaged on your website.
  3. Use a natural link structure: The link structure of your website should be natural and hierarchical. Important pages should be linked to frequently, while less important pages should have fewer internal links.
  4. Include links in the main content area: Links should be included in the main content area of the page, rather than in sidebars or footers. This helps search engines understand the importance of the linked page and improves the user experience.
  5. Use follow links: By default, links are “follow” links, meaning that search engines will follow the link to the linked page. This helps improve the visibility of the linked page and can improve its rankings.
  6. Use a reasonable number of internal links: There is no fixed number of internal links that is “best”. However, it’s important to use a reasonable number of internal links that add value to the user experience, without overloading the page with too many links.
  7. Use breadcrumb navigation: Breadcrumb navigation is a type of internal linking that helps users understand their location within your website’s hierarchy. This can improve the user experience and help search engines understand the context of your pages.

It is considered Best Practices to internally link keywords inside the content of a page to relevant pages that can support that keyword topic.

Internal linking is an important aspect of SEO that can help improve your website’s visibility and rankings. By following these best practices, you can ensure that your internal linking strategy is effective and user-friendly.

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  • […] Internal linking: Internal linking helps search engines understand the structure of your site and how pages relate to each other. Technical SEO includes optimizing your internal linking structure to improve navigation and help search engines crawl and index your site more efficiently. […]

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