Five SEO Tactics to Maximize Internal Links
Are you using internal links to their full potential? By doing so, you can leverage all the power your search engine optimization (SEO) holds and optimize your site performance. That’s why, in this blog, we’ll provide you with five SEO tactics that can maximize internal links. Let’s talk about placement strategies, the types of links you should include, and how many links will help you build a stronger profile that delivers the best SEO possible.
1. Create a Lot of Content
When you create a lot of content, you’re giving yourself the real estate on which to link to your heart’s content. Content not only offers you the space to include internal links, but it also provides you with content to link to in the future. Ultimately, the more links you have going to more places, the healthier your internal linking strategy will be. But you can’t stuff all of those links into one or two blogs; you have to stretch them over the life of your content strategy, choosing the pages that will best demonstrate users’ needs within certain pages of text.
An internal linking strategy that offers readers a lot of content will look less like an org chart and more like a web. In other words, there are no silos, cycles, or tiers. There are just many links happily placed on anchor texts that take readers where they need to go.
2. Use Anchor Text Wisely
Speaking of anchor text, you need to properly utilize anchor text to ensure the search engines know what you’re talking about and who you’re talking to. Your anchor text should follow these characteristics:
- Keep it succinct
- Make sure it’s relevant to the page you’re linking to
- It should not be overly keyword-heavy
- It should not be generic
Every link should be unique, too. Make sure your anchor text is natural and makes sense in the flow of a normal conversation. It’s not as important to worry about link ratios these days; just be sure not to try to over-optimize, as that can ultimately lead to penalties from Google if the search engine thinks you’re trying to game the system.
3. Add Links Wherever It Will Help the Reader
Step into the shoes of your visitors when you’re creating content. Where would links make the most sense so your visitors can learn more about your brand or the products and services you offer within the fluid context of their conversation with your pages? Try to direct people to pages that have the most authority. In other words, link to the pages that already have a reputation for ranking higher on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
There are online tools to help you determine which pages have the most domain authority so you can create an internal linking strategy around the most valuable pages on your site. On your Google Search Console, you should be able to identify the top pages by going to the Links > External Links / Top Linked Pages report.
4. Trim Low-Value Links
Consider trimming your low-value links. Once upon a time, the idea was to include as many links as humanly possible to get the search engines’ attention. Today, you only need links that are engaging and relevant. If your links don’t fit those two characteristics, people aren’t clicking on them anyway, so there’s no point in including them on your pages.
Links should be helpful to the reader. If the links just exist for the sake of having links, it doesn’t make sense. If they aren’t helpful, get rid of them. It’ll make your content more fluid without distracting your readers by taking them to other pages mid-read.
5. Link from Old to New and New to Old
Do you have a new post that relates to an older, high-value post? Make sure you link to the older post so people can glean the insights you’ve already shared that they might’ve missed. Do you have older posts that could use an update with a link to newer content? Add links to those, too.
On Google, you can use the following search to find mentions of your target phrase that you’ve used anywhere on your site:
site:www.yoursite.com “keyword”
This is a great way to quickly see where you’ve talked about the target phrase so you can insert links into existing pages and blogs.
In Conclusion
The above are five great ways to get the most power out of your internal linking strategies. With a little effort, you can soon build links that make sense to your readers while simultaneously offering up the information search engines need to send visitors your way.
