Optimize Internal Linking can be complicated. The topic is often associated with many ambiguities and uncertainties. In this blog post, you will learn how to optimize and use the internal link on your website – with practical tips and tricks. So nothing stands in the way of your SEO success with great side architecture!

Your site architecture is very important for your SEO performance. This not only shares with the Googlebot how your site is structured but Pagerank will also be passed on, which represents relevant signals for Google. In addition, she helps your user: with navigation. So Googlebot and your users have: inside it is much easier to find your way around your website if you work with a strategy for your internal link.

Note: This blog post is for advanced readers: who want to work with their internal links. If you want to refresh your basic knowledge of internal links, I can recommend my blog post on Internal linking & SEO.

Pagerank and Internal Links

You have heard of the Pagerank. It was named after one of the two founders of Google: Larry Page. He was developed by him and Sergei Brin, the other founder. With this value, Google URLS and domains evaluate. Each URL gets a value between 0 and 10. A URL with a high Pagerank has a high degree of trust. The value was visible to everyone. In the past, the larger the Pagerank of one side, the better this page was linked by internal and external links.

The more left a website is, the higher its PageRank. The highest Pageranks had pages like Wikipedia.org. Nowadays the Pagerank is no longer visible but is still used by Google for calculation within the algorithms. Therefore, the Pagerank still plays an important role in the ranking of your site.

Optimize Internal Linking: the right concept

You must work with a concept that suits your website. Based on your offered products, services, and so on, your site should be structured accordingly. Get thoughts on whether your website is well thought out and logically structured.

You can solve this by dividing them into topics. Is that already the case? Great, then the Googlebot and your users can find: Inside on your website. Isn’t it at the moment? No problem, you can work on your side architecture at any time. In this diagram, I show you an example of how internal links can be built up:

The homepage should refer to the categories with links. These in turn link to their subordinate topics. The topics link on pages, as shown in the graphic on the left. In addition, topics can still link to each other if a reference is useful. The link between topics is relevant if they are similar issues or if the topics complement each other. In this way, a link can be useful if topic 2 is up to recovery boxes and topic 5 is A trolley with which the boxes can be transported. In this way, you can further improve your internal link structure and offer your user: offer added value inside.

Use Internal Links

After you have a concept of how your website should be linked internally, it is now about using the links effectively. With a good concept, you can link your underside so that Google considers it more important and better ranks them. Tips and tricks from practice, how to create a good concept, and what you have to pay attention to, can be found at the end of this blog post.

For example, if you link an important page both in the menu and on other pages, Google will give it a higher value than if it is only linked from another side. Always make sure that your most important pages are linked very well internally and that no pages have too few links, otherwise, they will receive little attention from Google. Unfortunately, there is no optimal number that you can orientate yourself.

Read Also: Master the Art of Crafting Powerful Eye-catching Headlines for Your Blog Posts

Controlling Internal links and establishing Internal links

Now you know how to use the site architecture for yourself. So that she can work effectively for you, you have to control your internal link. This means that you regularly check whether pages have sufficient inlinks and can be noticed by Google.

Inlinks and backlinks

If you optimize your site architecture, you can build internal links. This means that you create more links for pages that are better to be integrated into the internal link. Depending on what pages these links assume, they have different weights and pass on different numbers of Linkjuice.

Not only internal links but also external links (backlinks) pass on link power. Since this article is about internal links and their optimization, the backlinks are only addressed for the sake of completeness.

To the left of the homepage are the most important and most valuable. Make sure to install sufficient links, but not to fill pages such as the start page with too many links, otherwise, your most important pages will also get less Linkjuice or Link power.

Read Also: THE 7 BEST BACKLINK CHECKER TOOLS & SOFTWARE 2022

LinkSilo

This is where the left letters come into play. You should not link all pages to all other sides, but only on thematically relevant pages that fit into the left-wing Silo structure.

An important relevance signal is the targeted linking of the pages with each other within a topic, the silo. The internal links that link the pages strengthen the underside of the corresponding silos, which creates internal link power. The individual sub-pages in turn refer to the overarching sides of the corresponding silos, which creates a clear structure for the Googlebot.

Advantages of an Internal Link Strategy

In contrast to the concept, which contains the current state with a reference to the target state, the strategy describes the necessary steps to the target state.

If you use your well thought -out strategy for your internal links, you may have some advantages and your competition ahead.

• You can effectively control Linkjuice and its distribution.
• A good internal link strategy not only makes work easier for the Googlebot, but your users are also easier to find on the inside.
• With internal links, you can control crawling. So your more important pages from Google can be found faster and get more attention.

Link Correctly: Tips & Tricks

Finally, my tips and tricks come for your optimization of internal linking. If you keep these 9 points in mind, you can effectively control the distribution of the link juice.

Be careful when using “noindex”

Make sure that relevant URLs are not placed on “noindex” for the website. Pages that should not be indexed do not pass on link juice in the long term because Google will no longer follow them at some point. John Müller announced this in a video and on Twitter. With this method, the internal link can be controlled well, but relevant pages can fall out of the index during poor management of the tag. In addition, the Googlebot no longer follows the links on the side, which loses Linkjuice.

Tip: Use “noindex” rarely and make sure to check whether your pages with “noindex” should actually not be indexed.

Blocking by the robots.txt

As you know, the robots.txt pages can be excluded from crawling. Make sure that only pages are blocked by robots.txt, which must be excluded. If internally show many links on pages that are locked out by crawling, Linkjuice is lost. You can find more about robots.txt, SEO, and crawling control in the MA Khan blog post.

Tip: Check your robots.txt file regularly.

Use of “Nofollow” on important links

You will probably have a problem similar to the pages that stand on “Noindex” on pages that are awarded “Nofollow”. With the “Nofollow” attribute you give the Googlebot the command not to follow a link. So the target page should not be crawled and no Pagerank should be received. The Googlebot does not follow any links on these pages and no Linkjuice is passed on.

The “Nofollow” attribute is used to integrate URLs like advertising because they should not receive a PageRank. Sometimes SEOs try to manipulate the Linkjuice with Nofollow by distinguishing it internally on the left. If from 10 links 2 on Nofollow, the Linkjuice of these two “Nofollow” links is not distributed to the other eight but simply fizzles out in Nirvana. You should never use NOFOLLOW internally because so-called Pagerank Sculpting is not sensible.

Tip: Make sure “Nofollow” is only used in absolute special cases and check your internal link regularly.

Internal broken links: 404, 410, 403, 500

Internal links on error pages with the status codes

• 404 (the page was not found),
• 410 (Gone, the content was deleted by the server),
• 403 (forbidden, no access rights) or
• 500 (“Service Unavailable” due to a server error)

you should avoid it. Not only for users: It is annoying inside when an error page appears, Linkjuice is also lost!

Avoid broken links by either revising the corresponding page or with a 301 forwarding the Googlebot and your users: Use the inside to the corresponding page.

Tip: Check your status codes regularly and correct the mistakes.

Links on canonicals, 302 or 301 forwarding lines

The status codes 302 and 301 are forwarding.

• 302 forwards are temporary forwarding and do not pass on SEO power.
• The 301 forwarding is permanent and passes on the SEO power.

You should use permanent forwarding instead of temporary forwarding so that you do not lose SEO power. Similar to 302 forwardings, canonicals are. They contain the same or very similar content as the URL to which they refer. Duplicate Content can be prevented by awarding the “Canonical” from another page.

These references do not pass on SEO power, as the 301 forwarding does. Like your forwarding, canonicals should refer directly to the correct page to avoid forwarding chains. Advance chains unnecessarily cause many forwarding that negatively affects the loading time, can cause a loop, or can no longer be set correctly due to the lack of clarity.

Tip: Make sure that no forwarding chains arise and work, if possible, mainly with 301 forwarding lines to pass on your SEO power. Link not to canonized pages, but to the original side.

Link in the text

Work often with cross-references in the text! Google likes to see it when the main keyword is linked to the anchor text. With the link title and the surrounding text, you can give Google more information about what the linked page contains.

Do you already know the exciting example with the word “here”? If not, then you can find out what happens in my blog post on Internal links & SEO if you google the word “here” and why links in the text are so important.

Tip: Google has a very positive link in the text. Make sure that the anchor text is relevant and gives an outlook on what the GoogleBot and users await: inside the URL.

Number of links on the pages

There are often many links to be found on the homepage. No wonder, because she has the most Linkjuice. A link from the homepage is more valuable than a link from the other site. Make sure that there are not too many links from the homepage because your most important pages get less link juice.

Tip: Make sure that the most important pages are linked from the start page and regularly check that there are not too many links from the start page. You can do this by reducing the links in the navigation, for example.

Short and crunchy click paths

Have you ever heard of the thesis that each page should be accessible from the start page with a maximum of three clicks? You can find out what the click paths look like on your website with a click path analysis.

With SEO tools like Ryte, you can analyze your click path length. Even if very short click paths are probably not possible on very large pages, you can orientate yourself on the 3-click fist of the fist. Too long click paths pass a little to Linkjuice. Therefore, your pages should be well networked and the Googlebot and the user: can be reached quickly inside.

Tip: Make sure that all your pages can be reached with a maximum of three clicks from the start page.

Important areas of a page should be easily accessible

The last point is already mentioned. Here I want to point out again that the most important areas of your site for the Googlebot and the users must be linked as well as possible and can be easily accessible. Your most important pages should be linked from the homepage and can be accessed in other ways – such as from other subpages.

Conclusion

In conclusion, implementing effective internal linking strategies is a crucial aspect of optimizing your website for SEO. By incorporating content analysis and keyword analysis into your approach, you can identify the most valuable pages and articles, and strategically link them together for a seamless user experience.

Optimizing internal linking with relevant anchor text and appropriate keywords enhances the visibility and relevance of your content, boosting your website’s search engine performance. So, take advantage of these best SEO tips and start optimizing your internal linking today.

Conduct the power of content analysis, perform keyword analysis, and unleash the true potential of your website. By doing so, you’ll pave the way for improved organic traffic, higher search engine rankings, and increased online visibility. Don’t wait any longer—implement these strategies and elevate your SEO game to new heights.