Internal Links: Establishing Site Architecture

What are internal links?

Internal links are hyperlinks that point to a subpage within the same domain. In other words, internal links point to another page on the same website.

Why do you need internal links?

Internal links fulfill a few different purposes. They provide site architecture by linking web pages to each other and creating pathways within your website. These pathways are beneficial for users and for search engines like Google. Internal links allow Google to crawl through your website content easily, and helps the Google crawl bot make connections between subpages. The anchor text used on these links can also tell Google bots why certain pages are relevant to search terms. Internal links are a critical piece of your website’s search engine optimization (SEO).

For users, internal links provide a way to navigate the website. Having the appropriate internal links on each of your web pages can keep a user on your website longer. This in turn can lead to positive user behavior on your website, which will be relayed to search engines and help with rankings.

What makes a good internal link?

• Ideally, internal links should be at the start of a page so that a click is more likely.
• The anchor text of an internal link should offer insight into what the user can expect once they click.
• The internal link should expand, add to, or match the topic of the page it’s linked from.
• The quantity of links on a page should be limited to a helpful amount and not be overdone.
• Internal links should not be in the footer or sidebar.