INTERNAL LINKING

Internal linking is part of onsite optimisation and can be effective for both large and small business SEO.

Internal Linking for Small Business SEO

The purpose of internal linking is to create greater ‘authority or importance’ for your major website pages, being your home page and your services page(s).

How Internal Linking Works

Internal linking is used to let Google and other search engines know which of the pages on your website are most important.  Internal linking is also important in allowing a visitor to your website to find all the information that they are seeking.

One way you do this is by providing links on less important pages (such as blogs) back to your home or service(s) page that you really need to get to rank in order to generate traffic to your website and revenue for your business.

For a visitor to your site, having internal links allows them to easily discover additional information on your website that they may be interested in.   An example may be that a potential customer, after doing an internet search, lands on one of your service pages.  This page should provide them with all the information that they require regarding that service.  However you may provide a link on this service page to a related service that the customer may also be interested in.

Positioning of Internal Links

If you position your internal links towards the top of the content within your webpage they are more likely to be clicked on as many website visitors will not read the full content of each page.  The more that internal links are clicked on, the higher the search engines will rank these links.  Sometimes though you may not want a potential customer to leave a website page before they have obtained certain information you provide on the page.  In this instance it is better then to have the links further down or even at the bottom of the content.

Sidebars, Navigational Links and Widgets

Sidebars, navigational links and widgets can be very effective in improving your website’s SEO and rankings.  Importantly too they make your website more user friendly and allow your potential customers to find the information that they want, which in turn should make them more likely to contact you regarding obtaining services or products from you.

Anchor Text Within Hyperlinks

It is always best to provide the links (hyperlinks) on text that is relevant to the link.  The text therefore functions as a link title.

The image below shows how the text that the hyperlink is placed upon relates to the information that that link will provide.

Through The Ranks

Through The Ranks is me, Karen Thorogood.  I am an SEO Consultant based in Brisbane specialising in small to medium sized business SEO.

Whilst I am often busy I am always happy to take calls (Phone 0411 403 511) from local businesses exploring the idea of SEO for their websites.