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What is Internal Linking and How Does it Benefit Your SEO?

Internal linking is a crucial element in the grand scheme of search engine optimisation (SEO). It’s a strategy that, when executed properly, can significantly enhance the visibility and ranking of your website on search engines.

Written by

Will Robertson-Brown

November 2023

What is Internal Linking?

Internal linking refers to the process of hyperlinking words or phrases within your website’s content to other pages within the same domain. These links serve as navigational aids, guiding visitors seamlessly from one page to another, thus improving the overall user experience. But internal linking isn’t just beneficial for the user; it also plays a pivotal role in enhancing the SEO of your website.

Are Internal Links Good for SEO?

Yes, internal links are indeed beneficial for SEO. They help in distributing page authority and ranking power throughout your site, ensuring that your web pages are indexed properly by search engines. This equitable distribution of link equity not only boosts the SEO of individual pages but also enhances the domain authority of your entire website.

Additionally, internal linking aids in establishing a hierarchical structure of your site, making it easier for search engines to crawl and understand the context and relationship between different pages.

How Many Internal Links Per Page for SEO?

While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of how many internal links should be included on a single page, a balanced approach is key. Overloading a page with internal links can be detrimental, as it can appear spammy to both users and search engines. On the other hand, too few links can result in missed opportunities for boosting your SEO.

A good rule of thumb is to include internal links whenever they are relevant and add value to the user’s experience, ensuring that each link contributes to a cohesive and intuitive site structure.

How to Add an Internal Link in WordPress

Creating internal links in WordPress is a straightforward process, and it can be accomplished in just a few steps:

Step 1 – Edit Your Post or Page: Start by logging into your WordPress dashboard, and navigate to the post or page where you want to add an internal link.

Step 2 – Highlight the Text: Highlight the text you wish to turn into a link. This should be relevant anchor text that gives users and search engines an idea of what the linked page is about.

Step 2 - Internal Linking

Step 3 – Insert/Edit Link: Click on the ‘Insert/Edit link’ button in the WordPress editor toolbar (it looks like a chain link).

Step 3 - Internal Linking

Step 4 – Paste in the Page or Post: In the pop-up box, paste the URL in making sure it is the correct URL and that it doesn’t have any 301 redirects or noindex tags on it.

Step 4 - Internal Linking

Step 5 – Click ‘Add Link’: Once everything is set, click the ‘Add Link’ button.

Step 5 - Internal Linking

Step 6 – Update Your Post or Page: Don’t forget to update or publish your post or page to save the changes.

What is the Difference Between ‘Follow’ and ‘No-Follow’ Internal Links?

The difference between ‘Follow’ and ‘No-Follow’ links is a critical aspect of SEO that often confuses many. In essence, a ‘Follow’ link is a standard hyperlink that passes on link equity from one page to another, aiding in the improvement of the target page’s ranking on search engines.

A ‘No-Follow’ link, on the other hand, is a hyperlink that carries the ‘rel=”nofollow”‘ attribute, instructing search engines not to pass on link equity to the target page. ‘No-Follow’ links are typically used when linking to untrusted content or in user-generated content to prevent spam.

You should always use ‘Follow’ links when doing internal linking on your site, it is very rare you will ever use ‘No Follow’ links when linking internal content together.

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