SEO Link Building Strategy: Internal Linking

It can be confusing to keep track of all the different search engine optimisation strategies, both on- and off-site. Writing great content is essential, but so is understanding how to optimise it for search engines. Page rank passing and exact-match anchor-text hyper-linking are two aspects of SEO that are strongly correlated with internal links. The articles will explain what it all implies.

Why is it important to have internal links, and what are they?

The concept of internal links is self-explanatory. Anchor text-based internal links connect several pages inside a website. Anchor text is the highlighted and underlined text that links to another page. It’s part of an SEO internal linking plan, and you’ve probably seen it a million times before without realising it.

Can Internal Links Improve SEO?

In all certainty, yeah. Your site’s overall SEO efforts will benefit from a methodical approach to building internal links.

• There are a few good reasons why you need an internal linking strategy for SEO.

• Google can better understand the topic of a page with the help of internal links.

Linking to a page using a targeted keyword in the anchor text increases the page’s chances of ranking for that term.
Internal linking is a top strategy for page-level ranking criteria, according to research from Backlinko.
So, let’s break that down. What this means is that you should look for pages on your site that have a high page authority and link to sites on your site that have a lower page authority. If you want to get more eyes on a new website or blog post, you should get a link from a page that already has some established authority. Your new page’s authority will increase as a result of this transfer of power.

Although not explicitly stated, site usability is also included as a ranking criteria in the Backlinko article. The area of Google Analytics devoted to behaviour metrics assesses the site’s usability.

Examples of behaviour metrics are:

Bounce rate

Session Pages Average
The Typical Visitor’s Time Spent Online

Good measurements for behaviour could leave you wondering what they are. Metrics for success in one field may not be applicable to another, but there are universal highs and lows that can be used as a guide.

Connected: Content, Search Engine Optimization, and Public Relations

Recommended baseline averages for behaviour metrics:

Bounce rate

You may calculate your site’s bounce rate by looking at the percentage of visitors who only looked at one page before clicking away.
Because you want people to take some sort of action after landing on your website, the bounce rate will be high.
A bounce rate between 50 and 60% is considered acceptable for all other websites and blog posts. If your bounce rate is over 60%, you should be concerned but not panicked. A score above 70% indicates an area for development. Bounce rates can be reduced with the help of conversion rate optimisation (CRO) studies and calls to action (CTAs).

Sessions Per Page

Pages per session is an indicator of how many pages a user really viewed during their session, much like the bounce rate.
More than one page every session is ideal. Your goal should be to be among the most popular 2.5 pages. Over three pages per session is excellent.

Time on site

Anything over a minute and a half is considered excellent. You’d like they hang around and take a look around. Meaningful, user-friendly content, as determined by Google.
A lower bounce rate can be achieved by increasing pages per visit and duration on site through proper internal linking. That’s why you need to utilise anchor text that makes the user want to click on it. Your internal link to the landing page you want people to visit should be near the top of the page.

How to Construct a Plan for Internal Linking

Several methods are presented that can be used to construct an effective SEO internal linking strategy. As a bare minimum, you should have a keyword strategy for your root category pages.
The next step is to keep tabs on the anchor text and internal links you’re using. Maintaining order requires a tracking tool, such as an Excel spreadsheet or a Google doc.

Content clusters are another method for constructing an all-encompassing internal linking structure for search engine optimisation.

Linking Within Your Own Work

It’s simple to add an internal connection. To create a link, select the words you wish to hyperlink and press “command + k” (Mac) or “Ctrl + K” (Windows). This keyboard shortcut can be used in Gmail, WordPress, and online documents. If you’re having trouble with highlighting and shortcuts, you can always enter the link in the code, which is a bit more technical.
Internal linking best practises

When creating internal links, there are a few things you should and should not do:

• When creating a link, make sure the anchor text includes relevant keywords.
• When linking to many pages, each link should contain a unique anchor text.
• Don’t bury the lead keyword; put it front and centre.
• Avoid using cliches like “click here” as anchor text.
• Keep the footer link count to a minimum. Too many links on a page can be the outcome of this.
• When making internal links, make sure the anchor text is relevant.
• Avoid using the same anchor for many links.

Concluding Remarks

To sum up, there are many ethical search engine optimisation strategies, and one of them is creating an internal linking structure. Google favours user-friendly websites that feature informative long-form articles with optimised anchor text and internal linking. Avoid spamming techniques and don’t overload your content with links.

A service like Linkio can automate anchor text planning and keep your link building efforts organised if you’re serious about SEO management.