When you are search engine optimizing your website, you know that content is king. Having a lot of high quality, unique content is what will help Google to track your site the easiest, and it will boost you up the search engine ranks the quickest. However, you also know that there are many other aspects to SEO like backlinks, tags, and sharing your content on social media.
One big aspect, however, that many people miss, is the benefit of internal site links.
What are Internal Links?
Most websites have a menu bar. Each item on the menu bar are links to other sections of the website. For instance, up at the top of my page, you can see that I have a simple menu for Home, About, and Follow Me (my blog section). These link internally.
However, if you read through my blogs, you will notice that I link to other content that I have previously written. For instance, up at the top, I linked to a page I wrote on backlinks. Or I might link to a page I wrote last year on shopping local (It’s coming up on that time of year again, so when you’re shopping for Christmas presents, keep it local and boost your economy). The point is that I point to other relevant work to enhance the point that I am making in this post.
This has two important functions. First, it is showing that I’m not just spouting off opinion. I’m linking to my biggest expert (myself). I know search engine optimization, and I know about backlinks. So rather than launch into a new explanation, I can point back to where I have already discussed them. In that article you find outgoing links as well backing up the points that I make.
There is another big function of internal links though. One that is important.
Your Content Gets Buried
Google generally puts your homepage in the search results. For instance, if you look for a writer in Billings, MT, you will find this website at the top of the list. But you won’t find the plethora of pages that I have written about being a writer in Billings. Think of it like your house: a lot of people see the front entryway, but not as many see the inner rooms.
When you link to previously written content, you are moving those pages forward. In order to crawl them, Google has to go through a series of links. If they are hidden on page 15 of your blog section, Google has to go through a lot of clicks to find them. They become irrelevant.
When you link to them, Google finds them faster.
Let’s suppose I have a well written blog about doodads, but I haven’t referred to it in a long time. Google comes through the home page, 1 click to get to the blog, 5 clicks to get to the blog page that has the title for my doodad post, and another click to get to the actual post on doodads. That’s 7 clicks away from the home page.
Now let’s suppose I link to my doodad page in a new post. Now Google comes through the home page, clicks the blog page, clicks the latest blog, and clicks my doodad page. That’s only 3 levels away from the home page.
You want to have all of the work on your website 3 levels or less from your home page. It makes your website easier to crawl, ensures that information isn’t being buried, and you create a tightly wound network within your own site. Internal links help you accomplish that.
Sery Content Development Builds Internal Links
When I write content for Sery Content Development’s clients, I link back to previous content as much as possible (without making the links look stuffed). It helps with the search engine optimization of those websites, it helps establish authority, and it helps them with their online marketing.
If you want your business to get FOUND online, give us a call at 406-839-7787, send an email to an SEO specialist, or fill out the SCD contact form. We are in the business of helping small businesses with their online advertising.