Google uses web crawlers to find and index the important pages of a website. However, if you have lots of pages (or a limited crawl budget), Google might only crawl a certain percentage of the pages. That’s where internal links come into the picture. Internal linking is a part of an on-page SEO strategy that makes it easy for Google crawlers to discover important content on your site. Browse through the blog to learn in detail some insights about internal links.
Internal linking strategy is a powerful technique for content marketing because they help Google to better understand site structure and which pages on the website are most significant. Thus facilitating the flow of PageRank around your site.
Internal links and their purpose
An internal link is a hyperlink that connects one page of a website to a different page on the same website. These are different from external links, which are links to the pages on other domains or websites. The purpose of Internal linking is to help Google find, index and understand all of the pages on your website. They help in
- Easy navigation around the web pages
- A better understanding of the hierarchy and architecture of the website.
- Spread page authority to relatively important pages of your site.
The basic theory is that internal links provide clear paths for crawlers and users, thereby strengthening the overall value of the website. They are very useful for establishing SEO-friendly site architecture and spreading link equity around the website.
Impact of too many internal links on SEO rankings
Generally, the more internal links a web page has, the higher the chance that users and Google crawlers will find it. However, this is the time to think smarter, because it is the quality of the links, not the quantity, that plays a vital role.
Too many internal links can negatively impact the rankings of the website. Google’s John Mueller also says that excessive use of internal links throughout the website is bad for SEO rankings.
Let’s say there are too many links that are linked across every single page on the website, then Google will not be able to comprehend the structure of the site and cannot figure out which page is the most essential one. Another problem is using excessive internal links will dilute their value and make your page look spammy. Don’t simply link for the sake of linking.
Therefore, too many internal links do more harm than good and reduce the opportunities to be present on the search engine results page, which directly impacts the site rankings.
Right number of internal links
As a general rule, it is good to add four internal links on a page of 1500 words. Famous SEO bloggers aim for 3-4 internal links in their blogs of 1,500 words or more. Adding 10-20 to a page for a 1,500-word-blog is also a good number. There is no limitation on the number of links on a page. As long as you’re citing links that are of value and relevant to the context, it isn’t bad for your site’s SEO rankings.
Strengthen the overall SEO of your site by distributing the internal links throughout the site, which improve dwell time rather than simply pointing more links at the homepage.
Audit existing internal links before adding more to your site. Putting main internal links high up on your page makes users click and spend more time on your site. This provides a good user experience by improving user engagement.
CONCLUSION
Internal linking is basic, yet crucial for any website to rank higher on Google SERPs because they help crawlers reach important pages of your website. At the same time, if there are too many internal links, Google might not understand which page is essential and will not be able to give the same priority.
To watch the latest Google SEO Office Hours, please check out the video below:
Durga
About The Author…
Durga has a master’s degree in engineering. Technological advances in digital space interest her a lot. Digital marketing is her forte and she passionately follows latest trends in the digital marketing space. She has written many trending articles on various social media platforms. Her areas of interest include SEO Optimization, structured data, SMM, Keywords research and analysis etc. She is focused, resourceful and dedicated.