What are Internal and External Links?

To craft a comprehensive and successful SEO strategy, you need to understand the difference between internal and external links.

They both act as a crucial element in how search engines index and rank web pages. Understanding the difference between internal and external links, and how to use them effectively, can significantly improve your website’s visibility, authority, and user experience.

Here is an explanation from Tony Peacock about the difference between internal and external links:

What are Internal Links?

Internal links are hyperlinks on one page of your website that link to another page of your website. They are named internal as they link to pages within the same website.

For example, if you are writing a blog post and within it, you link to another page on your website, that is an internal link.

What are External Links?

On the other hand, external links are hyperlinks on one of your pages which point to a page on another website. The clue is in the name once again as they are links to an external source.

An example of this is linking to another website that is discussing a related topic to the current blog you are writing.

This may seem counterintuitive as it will result in users leaving your page and being directed to another, but linking to trustworthy websites ensures that you are considered a trustworthy website by Google too. This boosts search rankings immensely.

Why is Linking Important For SEO?

Both internal and external links are integral to SEO in different ways. Here’s why they matter:

1. Enhance Crawlability and Indexing

Including internal links helps search engines crawl and index your website more efficiently. This is because they make the pages within your website easily accessible, allowing search engine bots to find and index all of them. Indexing is the key to getting pages to rank so the ability for crawlers to analyse and understand all of your pages, will boost your chances of ranking.

As well as this, external links signal to search engines that your content is connected to other high-quality content. This can raise your site's ranks by assisting search engines in understanding the context and relevance of your website.

2. Boosting SEO Authority

Linking is a great way to boost your website’s authority as internal links can also send page authority to important pages. By linking from high-ranking pages to pages that aren’t performing as well, you can pass on some of the page authority, helping to boost their rankings.

In particular, external links are most useful to boost authority. When you link to reliable sites, it can increase your site's credibility. This is interpreted by search engines as evidence of your content's relevance and depth, which can improve your SEO performance.

3. Improving User Experience

User experience is improved through internal links as they guide users to other relevant content on your website. This helps them discover more useful information about the topic at hand, leading them to stay on your website longer, and reducing your bounce rate. This sends a positive signal to search engines that visitors are enjoying your content and hence, it should be ranked higher.

Furthermore, by incorporating external links to respected websites with high-quality content, you are providing more value to your readers. When they understand other website’s views and tips on a topic, they are able to form a clearer understanding with other perspectives in mind. This can build trust and credibility, making your content more useful and authoritative.

4. Increasing Site Visibility

When it comes to making your content easily discoverable for consumers and search engines, internal links are crucial. When you link to related pages, you lead visitors through a well-structured content journey. This keeps them engaged which can lead to increased page views and therefore, greater site visibility.

Additionally, including external links to authoritative sources can increase the chances of your content being discovered by new audiences. When you link to reputable sites, it can encourage those sites to notice your content and potentially link back to you in the future. These backlinks can significantly enhance your SEO by driving referral traffic and boosting your site’s domain authority.

5. Raising Conversion Rates

You can utilise internal links to direct users toward key conversion points on your website, such as product pages, signup forms, or contact pages. By directing users to pages where they can take action, you can improve your conversion rates.?

A great way to do this is to include a call-to-action at the end of your content within which you have linked helpful pages for visitors to find out more information about your business and ways to contact you.

External links can also indirectly improve conversion rates by building trust and credibility with your audience. Users are more likely to believe your suggestions and act on your website when you link to reliable external sources since it gives them confidence that the information in your material is reliable.

How Lumen SEO Can Help

We at Lumen SEO can take care of your whole SEO strategy, including keyword research, link building, content writing and technical SEO.? You can learn more about what an SEO agency, like ours does, here.

If you like the sound of working with us, we offer free, no-obligation SEO audits on business websites. To claim yours, simply enter your details here and we’ll get a free SEO audit to you within 7 days. It will include the strengths and weaknesses of your website along with the top three aspects you should focus on improving, in order to enhance your business’ ranking.

For a friendly chat about the SEO services we provide here at Lumen SEO, contact our SEO consultants today. Alternatively, you can message us on either our LinkedIn or Instagram pages.

Written by Viktoria, for Lumen SEO.