SEO glossary: Internal linking

What are internal links?

Internal links are nothing more than hyperlinks, except that they are located within a web page. Thanks to internal linking, users find their way around better and discover new, possibly interesting content.

 

But also in terms of search engine optimization internal links also play an important role. The link power of a domain can be specifically distributed from the main domain to individual subdirectories and subpages. For this reason, internal linking is an important part of the well-known on-page optimization. It should be used sensibly in order to achieve better rankings.

 

 

What is the purpose of internal links?

Optionally, there is a possibility to fulfill different purposes with the help of internal linking. The main ones are search engines and users.

 

Both of these points are addressed below:

 

Internal linking for users

 

• Users of a website can find their way around better with the help of internal links. For example, internal links can be found in a navigation or in the breadcrumb.

 

• Furthermore, there is the possibility to draw visitors' attention to further topic-relevant and interesting content. This can have a positive
• effect and increase the dwell time, for example.

 

• Internal linking is applicable to any type of website. Blogs, for example, can link to other interesting blog posts. Online encyclopedias, in turn, link to other informative entries that fit the corresponding topic group.

 

Internal linking for search engines

 

• For many websites it is the case that only a few sub-pages are linked from sufficient or few external pages. This makes it all the more important to link to such pages internally within a website.

 

• Visits a bot page and recognizes links to subpages, it orientates itself on these and only recognizes that these subpages really exist.

 

• Here also play the ANCHOR TEXTS (LINK TEXTS) play a decisive role. Because depending on the link text, a search engine can recognize which topic the linked page is assigned to. The frequency is also an important factor.

 

What characterizes good internal linking?

 

As mentioned above, internal linking is essential for user and search engine orientation. Website owners and SEOs can consider some important points to optimize internal linking:

 

• Internal links are best placed at the beginning of the content. This ensures that users actually click on them.
• Under no circumstances should internal links be placed in a sidebar or at the bottom of the footer

 

• When choosing the anchor text, you should use a keyword that matches the target page. At the same time, search engines should receive a clear signal as to what content is present on the target page. Internal links should be clearly recognizable. Classic hyperlinks are highlighted in color, italic or bold and also underlined.

 

• If page A links to page B, both pages should have a thematic relevance. Both must fit together

 

• If a link target is linked from several pages, the link text should be as identical as possible

 

• Quality before quantity: When setting links, the number of links should be limited to a reasonable and natural level. This is the only way to ensure that the link power (Linkjuice) is transferred in a sensible and correctly dosed manner.