Internal Linking Best Practices That You Should Consider in 2022

Despite the fact that it may seem obvious, we frequently overlook the fact that the secret to a website’s success lies on the inside. Every SEO agency knows that in SEO, internal linking is one of the most important things to consider while building the structure of your website. All of your material is interconnected, whether it is in its composition, distribution, or interrelationship. Internal links facilitate more straightforward navigation and a better overall user experience, which is why you should always follow all the latest internal linking best practices.

What is internal linking? 

It is common for link building to be the center of attention when it comes to Google ranking. An internal link is one that directs the user to another page within the same website. This post contains multiple links to other articles on this blog, which you can access while reading this article. Due to the fact that all of these connections are on the same domain, they can all be considered internal links.

Beside internal links, there are also the external links. An example of an external hyperlink is a link to a Wikipedia page outside the SmartClick domain.

Why create an excellent internal linking strategy?

When we talk about SEO link optimization, you must be very clear that the key of your internal linking strategy has to be focused in two directions:

• To make navigation more convenient for the user
• To gain points in the eyes of Google

How to do a complete internal linking audit?

Consider taking a step back and putting together a thorough plan before you begin linking to your most significant material on every page of your website or blog. Remember that Google prefers people who have a strategy rather than those who simply link for the sake of linking.

As a result, you should conduct an audit of your internal linking structure. To put it another way, understand the current position of your site in this regard. Then and only then will you be able to correct what is wrong in accordance with industry standards. One tool for internal auditing links is Ahrefs, one of the most commonly used and renowned search engine optimization tools globally.

The Site Audit tool provides a complete summary of all of the SEO issues that your website may be experiencing; nevertheless, when it comes to internal links, it’s worth focusing on the study of the following:

• The number of inbound links: discovers orphan pages (pages with no links) and issues with no-follow links
• Detection of outbound links: including redirection links and broken links

Another complete alternative for auditing your internal links is to use the Internal Link Report tool, which is available from SEMrush.

How to determine your strategy to be effective and at the same time optimal?

• First and foremost, don’t forget to conduct an SEO audit of your website in order to determine how well your site is performing in terms of interlinking. It will be easier to plan strategic activities to ensure the long-term profitability of your website if you have a picture of the current state of your website.

• You must also put the user at the core of your plan, as previously said. It is critical to provide a positive user experience when surfing your website, and internal linking is only one of the numerous aspects that make this possible. In addition, having a presence on Google and enhancing the SEO of your website is an important consideration.

• Specifically, when we talk about internal linking from a strategic standpoint, we are talking about a process of optimization within a website’s internal navigation that is intended to improve the positioning and classification of that landing page in Google. And, after all, we all want to be recognized for who and what we are. On the other hand, Google does precisely the same thing with your website: it classifies it and places it in search results based on its classification.

• Create an internal linking strategy by following internal linking best practices to ensure your website is placed in the most excellent possible position in relation to the competitors. Identify which material has to be improved and add the appropriate links so that the user may access a variety of high-quality and fascinating resources on your website. Take ownership of your plan and formalize your content!

Below we would like to share with you internal linking best practices that you should consider in 2022.

Internal Linking Best Practices for 2022

Choose the most important content you want to share

First and foremost, choose your most important content, and then pick which of your most important content is the most relevant one and your most thorough and best-written stuff. You want people to find the material you want them to find when they search for topics or goods in which you have expertise.

Because you want Google to understand that this is the most significant material on your site, you must include numerous links to it and use internal linking best practices.

Improve the user experience

In the first place, systematically linking your material leads to a more enjoyable user experience and extracts more value from what you have to offer your visitors and customers.

This article will find various connections to further resources that can help you learn more about the issue and increase your understanding of its significance. If they were not present, this blog post would be far less beneficial to readers, who would be forced to look further for additional information if they desired to learn more about the subject.

Take it one step further: How tough is it to include contextual links in your internal pages and blog posts? It’s simple, quick, and boosts the perceived worth of your website to your visitors.

Drive new and strategic content… and a lot of content!

You must agree that your company’s success depends on the strategic content that you provide. When it comes to disclosure and ranking, these types of content require special consideration. One of the most straightforward and practical methods of enhancing the content is through internal links.

You only need to choose specific blog articles or navigation points, such as the main menu or sidebar, where you want to include the link, and you can even have a call to action (CTA). Furthermore, when you link to new and recently released material, Google crawls it more quickly, increasing the likelihood of your website appearing higher in the SERPs.

Also, always create a lot of content. But you must have a large number of internal pages in order to generate a large number of internal connections, right? An excellent content marketing plan is the first step to a successful internal linking structure and strategy. Without the other, you’re missing out on an essential component.

The more stuff you put out, the more linkable content you’ll have. Your internal linking approach will be more effective if you link to more places.

Pay attention to anchor text

When it comes to reading and indexing pages, Google’s algorithm is becoming increasingly intelligent, evaluating keywords and internal links in great detail. In order for Google to know what the link is about, the anchor text must be included. Consequently, it is preferable to add a link that is contextual and didactic in nature rather than using phrases such as “click here” or “go here.”

Display recommended content 

Internal links can also be included in articles by presenting a selection of recommended content, which can be done automatically using a plug-in or manually in the midst of the article.

This method is also effective since it makes it simple to select only content that is related to the current post in some way, which is beneficial. This is critical because it is counterproductive to focus solely on the number of links. It is vital to pay close attention to the quality of the materials and their relevance to the user’s present situation.

Create a hierarchy of internal links

Contents of your digital strategy will have diverse relevance to different audiences, as we have already stated. A similar statement can be made about the static pages on your website.

Consequently, why should you consider them all the same while developing your internal linking strategy? Creating a well-documented and organized internal link structure is an excellent first step.

As a result, you will always know which material needs to be linked to the most frequently and may even choose which information to place in fixed portions, such as navigation menus that display on every page of your website.

Balance the distribution of links on each page

To link to high-quality content is better than linking to 10 pages that have nothing to do with the topic at hand. In general, it is acceptable to place multiple links on the same page, and it is recommended. For example, a page with 100 links indicates to Google that your suggestion criteria may not be accurate.

Yet another technique to ensure that internal links are evenly distributed around the site is to link to the most recent articles rather than solely to the primary content and pages. As a result, your new material will receive a boost as well.

Two types of links should be avoided in your content:

• Homepage

There are already too many links to the homepage on most websites, and this is a problem. You choose to focus on improving the internal linking SEO rather than increasing the number of connections to the homepage.

• Contact us page

They may write something along the lines of “Give us a call to discover more about our great services!” as part of their mandatory call to action at the end of a post. Then, using the anchor “give us a call,” they direct visitors to the “contact us” page.” If it’s not required, avoid linking to our contact page.

Use the navigation to link to your most important pages

In general, navigation displays the same on all website pages, except the header and footer of the website, which are unique to each website. Some websites also feature sidebars that may have call-to-action buttons.

Google considers the links in these parts to be the most important, and as a result, they may obtain a better ranking on search engine results pages. Not to mention that they will receive more targeted visitors due to the increased visibility. Take advantage of your navigation to direct your customers and potential customers directly to crucial pages on your website.

Internal links should be kept to a fair quantity

In terms of internal linking, we recommend three to four for each post, considering the length of your article. If you produce pieces that are longer than 1,500 words and don’t have a navigation bar containing many links, including 10 to 20 internal links won’t be a big deal.

There is no such thing as a correct number. However, there is an all-important user to consider. Include as many links as you think will be beneficial to the user.

Keep your internal links three clicks away

It is a good SEO practice to have all of your links within three clicks of each other. If a person must click on a link more than three times before being able to view the content, it is likely they won’t click on it. Furthermore, Google is aware of this and will devalue the importance of these connections as a result. It is a relatively easy step that will yield excellent results for your company if you invest in an internal connecting plan by following these internal linking best practices.

The Bottom Line

Your content will not rank if it does not have links to it. The use of an effective internal linking strategy allows you to demonstrate which information is connected and which of your content is the most helpful and valuable to your readers. If you follow the rules in this blog post, both Google and your visitors will better understand your site, which will boost your chances of ranking higher in search results.