SEO can be a tricky thing to master. But one area that’s often overlooked is internal linking. Internal linking is the process of linking to other pages on your own website. It might not seem like a big deal, but it can actually have a big impact on your SEO. In this guide, we’ll go over some internal linking techniques that can help boost your search engine rankings.

First, let’s talk about why internal linking is important.

Internal linking is a big deal for SEO. Essentially, it helps search engines like Google and Bing understand how your website is laid out. They use the internal links to figure out which pages on your site are the most important. This can actually help them decide which pages to show in search results. Plus, internal links also make it easier for people to navigate your website. So, it’s a win-win for both search engines and users.

When a search engine crawls your website, it follows these internal links to understand the structure and hierarchy of your site. It uses this information to determine which pages are the most important and relevant to a user’s search query. So, by using internal linking, you’re essentially telling search engines which pages on your site are the most important and should be given more weight in search results.

Additionally, internal linking also helps users navigate your site more easily. When users are reading a blog post, for example, and they see an internal link that looks interesting, they can easily click on it and be taken to another relevant page on your site. This improves the user experience and can lead to longer engagement on your site.

Internal linking techniques to boost your website SEO

Use descriptive anchor text

When it comes to internal linking, one important tip is to use descriptive anchor text. Anchor text is the visible text that you click on when you’re following a link. So instead of just using generic text like “click here” or “read more,” you should use anchor text that accurately describes the page you’re linking to.

For example, instead of saying “click here to learn more about tomato fertilizers”, you can say “Check out the best tomato fertilizers for a healthy harvest”

Here are a few examples of descriptive anchor text that you can use for internal linking:

1. • “Find out how to choose the right running shoes”
   • “Learn the top 10 tips for healthy eating”
   • “Check out our guide to traveling with kids”

Using descriptive anchor text not only makes your internal links more informative, but it also helps search engines understand the context of the page you’re linking to, which can help improve the visibility of that page in search results. And it also makes it more user-friendly, as it gives the user an idea of what to expect when they click on the link.

Link to your most important pages

Let’s say you’re running a website and you’ve got a bunch of different pages, but not all of them are equally important. Some pages are like, super crucial to your business or contain really valuable information. To help search engines understand which pages are the most important, you want to make sure to link to those pages from other pages on your site.

For example, you’re running an e-commerce website and you’ve got a bunch of different products on there. But, some of those products are way more popular than others. To make sure search engines know that those products are super important, you wanna link to them from other pages on your site, like your homepage, or product categories page.

This way, search engines will understand which pages are the most important and will be more likely to show them in search results.

Link to new content

When you publish new content on your site, make sure to link to it from other pages. This will help search engines find and index your new content more quickly.

Here’s how it works:

1. When you publish new content on your website, you can use internal links to link to that new content from other pages on your site.
2. By doing this, you’re telling search engines that your new content is important and relevant. It also helps to increase the visibility of the new content.
3. Additionally, it also helps users find the new content more easily. If they’re reading an older blog post and see a link to a new post on the same topic, they’ll be more likely to click on it and explore the new content.

Here’s an example of how you can use this technique for an ecommerce business.

• • If you’re an online clothing store and you’ve just added a new collection of summer dresses, you can link to that new collection from your homepage, or from other relevant pages like the “dresses” category page.
  • If you’re an online furniture store and you’ve just added a new line of outdoor furniture, you can link to that new line from other pages like the “outdoor furniture” category page or the “new arrivals” page.
  • If you’re an online beauty store and you’ve just added a new skincare line, you can link to that new line from other pages like the “skincare” category page or the “new arrivals” page.

Use breadcrumb navigation

Breadcrumb navigation is basically a way to show the user where they are on your website and how they got there. It’s a little trail of links that goes something like “Home > Clothing > Men > T-Shirts.”

Now, from an SEO standpoint, using breadcrumb navigation can be really helpful because it gives search engines more information about the structure and hierarchy of your site. It also makes it easier for users to understand where they are on your site and how they got there.

Here’s an example of how you might use breadcrumb navigation on an ecommerce website:

• Home > Clothing > Men > T-Shirts
• Home > Electronics > Smartphones > Samsung
• Home > Home & Garden > Kitchen > Cookware

Utilize sitemaps

A sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your site. Make sure to create a sitemap and submit it to search engines. This will help them find and index all the pages on your site.

When you create a sitemap, you can include internal links to different pages on your site. This helps search engines understand the structure of your site and which pages are the most important. Plus, it also makes it easier for users to find what they’re looking for on your site.

But, what does it look like in practice? Here’s a couple of examples of how an e-commerce business could use sitemaps to boost their SEO:

• For an online fashion store, the sitemap could include links to pages like:
  • Women’s Clothing
  • Men’s Clothing
  • Kids’ Clothing
  • Accessories
  • Sale Items