How do you use internal linking to boost your site's authority and relevance?

1 Why internal linking matters

Internal linking has several benefits for your site development. First, it helps search engines crawl and index your site better, by showing them the structure and hierarchy of your pages. Second, it helps users navigate and explore your site, by providing them with relevant and useful information. Third, it helps distribute your site's authority and ranking power, by passing link juice from high-value pages to low-value pages. And fourth, it helps optimize your site for specific keywords and topics, by creating semantic connections and context between your pages.

2 How to create an internal linking strategy

Before you start adding links to your pages, you need to have a clear and consistent internal linking strategy. This means you need to define your site's goals, audience, and main topics. Then, you need to map out your site's structure and navigation, by creating categories, subcategories, and pages that reflect your topics. Finally, you need to audit your existing pages and identify the gaps and opportunities for internal linking.

3 How to choose the best pages to link

When it comes to internal linking, not all pages are created equal. Some pages have higher authority, relevance, and traffic than others. Therefore, it's important to choose the best pages to link from and to based on certain criteria. Page authority is a measure of how trustworthy and influential a page is, based on the number and quality of external links it has. Linking from high-authority pages to low-authority pages can help boost their ranking potential. Page relevance is a measure of how closely related a page is to another page, based on the content and keywords they share. Linking to relevant pages provides more value and information to your users. Lastly, page traffic is a measure of how popular and visited a page is, based on the number of clicks and views it gets. Linking to high-traffic pages can attract more visitors and conversions to your site.

4 How to write the best anchor texts

Anchor texts, which are the words or phrases used to link one page to another, are essential for both search engines and users. They provide information about the linked page and why it's worth clicking. To ensure that you write the best anchor texts, they should be descriptive, natural, and varied. Descriptive anchor texts should use relevant keywords and phrases to describe the content and topic of the linked page. Natural anchor texts should fit seamlessly into the sentence and paragraph without sounding forced or spammy. To avoid over-optimization and keyword stuffing, you should also vary your anchor texts by not using the same or similar words or phrases repeatedly.

5 How to monitor and improve your internal linking

Internal linking is an ongoing process that requires regular monitoring and improvement. To track and measure the performance and impact of your internal links, use Google Search Console and Google Analytics. The former provides a report on the number and source of links to each page, as well as the most linked pages on your site. With Google Analytics, you can check the behavior flow report to see how users interact with your site and the site speed report to see how fast your pages load. Additionally, tools such as Yoast SEO, Link Whisper, and Rank Math can help you analyze, optimize, and automate your internal linking process. By monitoring and improving your internal linking, you can identify the strengths and weaknesses of your site's structure and navigation, allowing you to make necessary changes.

6 How to avoid common internal linking mistakes

Internal linking can be tricky, and if done improperly, it can damage your site's authority and relevance, as well as frustrate your users. To ensure success, you should avoid common mistakes such as broken links, orphaned pages, and too many links. Broken links lead to non-existent or inaccessible pages, and can harm your credibility and user experience. Orphaned pages have no internal links pointing to them, making them hard to find and index. Too many links on a page can make it look cluttered and spammy, which can dilute your site's authority and relevance. To fix these issues, you should regularly check for broken links with tools like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs. Additionally, link to orphaned pages from relevant and authoritative pages with descriptive anchor texts. Finally, limit the number of links on each page based on the length and purpose of the page.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?