Why Internal Links are more important than External Links
Internal Links are a great way to improve the accessibility and ranking of your website by pointing your readers to pages on your site that support the topics you’re writing about. When people click through internal links, they help increase your website’s PageRank and can also lead them to sales opportunities or other valuable content on your site. In this article, we’ll explain what Internal Links are, how they work, and some best practices for using them on your website.
Why are Internal Links Important
Internal links are important because they help users navigate through your website. When users click on an internal link, they are taken to a specific section of your website. This can help users find the information they are looking for quickly. They also help you rank higher in search engines.
Internal links are the bread and butter of SEO. They’re essentially hyperlinks between pages on your site, which helps Googlebot crawl and index your pages more quickly.
They are also important because they can signal to Google that your site is valuable and relevant. And they can help you attract new visitors, since they’re likely to click through if they’re interested in what’s on the page following them.
There are two main types of internal links: self-referential and contextual. A self-referential link points back to the same page as the one you’re linking from. This type is common in articles and blog posts, for example, when you link to a paragraph or sentence in your article that you discuss later in the same sentence or paragraph.
A contextual link refers to an anchor text link (the text you use as the hyperlink) that points to another content of your own website. Anchor text is the text that appears next to a hyperlink when you press it on a webpage. For example, if your article is about pets then, including a link for a page on your own website that talks about “healthy pet foods”.
Googlebot looks for both types of links when it crawls your site. self-referential links are more important, but both types of links are helpful.
2 Main Benefits of Internal links
As we have established above, internal links are links that point to pages within your own website. They allow you to create a more organized website and increase the search engine ranking of your pages.
They are important for two main reasons:
They help your users find the information they are looking for more easily.
They can help you rank higher in search engines.
To create internal links, you first need to determine which pages on your website should have links to them. There are a ton of tools available to help automate the internal linking process if you’re using WordPress. I suggest you use Screaming Frog (Free version) to find opportunities.
Check out this article from Practical Ecommerce to get started using Screaming Frog.
The Difference Between Internal and External Links
Internal links are links within the same website. External links are links to websites outside of the website. Internal links are more valuable than external links because they lead to more natural pageviews. Internal links also help bounce traffic back to your website, increasing your site’s visibility.
External links are valuable because they lead to more web traffic. Web traffic is what helps publishers make money from their websites. External links can help you gain exposure for your website in the search engines, and they can help you connect with other websites that might be of interest to your readers.
Hence, an external link helps gain more traffic whereas an internal link helps keep the traffic engaged on your website. If you’re interested to know more about high quality external link building then check out this article.
4 Reasons Why Internal Links are Important
Internal links are important for SEO reasons. They help to improve the ranking of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs). They are also important because they help to retain visitors a website. If a website has good internal linking, it will be easier for people to find new information on the site.
- Internal Links Help to Improve the Ranking of a Website in SERPs
They are important for ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). They help to improve the visibility of a website and increase the chances that people will find it.
- Internal Links Help to Retain Visitors on a Website
They are also important for retaining visitors on a website. If a website has good internal linking, it will be easier for people to find new information on the site. This can lead to more visitors and increased traffic.
- Internal Links Can Help to Connect Different Parts of a Website
They can help to connect different parts of a website. This can make it easier for people to find their way around the site. It also helps to improve the overall user experience.
- Internal Links Are Important for SEO
Internal links are important for SEO. They help to improve the ranking of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs).
How to design a good website architecture and implement internal links on your site
Internal links are links that point to other pages on your website. They help your website be more organized and help users find the information they’re looking for quickly. Internal links are important because they help users navigate your website easily.
You can use internal links to link to different sections of your website, to different pages on your website, or to different versions of a page on your website.
When you create internal links, make sure that they’re relevant and helpful. For example, if you have a page about dogs in general, you might include internal links to pages about different dog breeds, dog foods, dog training and more. This way, people who are looking for information about dogs will be able to find it easily on your site.
Keep in mind that internal links should only be used if they’re necessary. Too many of them can slow down your website’s speed and make it difficult for users to find the information they’re looking for.
There are several ways to implement internal links on your site. Here are a few tips:
1) Add Internal Links at the Top and Bottom of Your Pages:
This is the most common way to add internal links on your site. Simply add a link at the top or bottom of each page, as desired. You can also add them as part of the text content on your pages, or as part of the headings on your pages.
2) Add Internal Links to the Home Page:
If you have a home page, you can add internal links to it. This is the best way to make sure that visitors who visit your site from the home page will be able to find the information they are looking for.
3) Add Internal Links to Specific Sections of Your Site:
If you have separate sections on your site (such as articles, products, etc.), you can add internal links to each section. This will make it easy for people to find the information they are looking for.
4) Add Internal Links Using Google Webmaster Tools:
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is a free tool that allows you to add internal links on your site. You can use GTM to add them as part of your web pages, or as part of the headings on your pages. GTM also allows you to add internal links to specific sections of your site.
5) Use Anchor Text:
Anchor text is the text that appears near the end of a link. This text can help people find the link, and it can also help people click on the link. You can use anchor text to help people find the internal links on your site.
6) Use 301 Redirects:
If you make changes to your site (such as adding new pages, changing the layout, etc.), you can use 301 redirects to automatically send visitors to the new pages. This will keep your site updated and organized, and it will make it easy for visitors to find the information they are looking for.
7) Use RSS Feeds:
You can use RSS feeds to add external links to specific articles on your site. This way, people who subscribe to your RSS feed will be able to automatically receive updates about new articles on your site.
8) Use SEO Tools:
Several SEO tools (such as Screaming Frog, Google Webmaster Tools, and SEMrush) include internal link building features. This means that you can easily add them to your site.
How Internal Links Can Provide Important Rankings
By now you know they are important for SEO because they can help your site rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). When a potential visitor clicks one of these links, it takes them to another page on your site. In order to improve your website’s rankings, make sure you create internal links that lead back to your main website page.
They are especially important for small businesses because they can increase traffic and ROI. A study by Moz found that small businesses with high levels of internal link authority see a 66% increase in organic search traffic over time. Additionally, a study by iIndustry showed that small businesses with high levels of internal link authority generate $1 million more in revenue than those with low levels of internal link authority.
So make sure you’re creating internal links that lead back to your main website page and see the benefits for yourself!
Why should bloggers focus more on internal links to generate ad revenue
As a blogger you absolutely must shift your focus to internal linking! Not all content that you write will rank on page one however it doesn’t mean that your content has no value to it. You will hear a lot of chatter around writing SEO optimized articles to gain traffic but what is the point of generating 1K organic clicks in a month with mere 1-2K page views?
If you are planning to start blogging with the intention of generating ad revenue you must focus on your internal linking structure. It is important to gain as many page views as possible rather than just gaining organic clicks.
Every time a visitor clicks on your internal links and navigates your content you make more money! Generally ads are paid as per CPM (Cost per Thousand) impressions. Hence, you need to strategize your internal linking structure to ensure visitors click on those relevant links and stay engaged with various relevant content on your website.
Let’s assume you get paid $5 for every thousand ad impressions. If you generate 1K organic traffic and they just read the content on that page only, then, you are making just $5 per month. If those visitors are viewing minimum two pages then you make $10 per month.
Now if you have implemented a strong internal linking structure to your content, you may be able to generate 5-7 page views per visitor which would translate into 5K – 7K page views per month, which is $25 – $35 per month.
Hence, it more important to keep the visitors engaged on your site with relevant information rather than trying to get all your content to rank on page 1.
A good strategy would be to have 3/5th of your articles SEO optimized for rankings and the remaining content to be linked to the ones that are ranking on page 1. This way you don’t have to worry about SEO all the time and you can blog to your hearts content.
