This may not come as a huge surprise, but you’re probably not even coming close to maximizing the value of your internal links. You’ve got a lot of balls in the air (it is 2020, after all), and let’s face it, all that internal link stuff can be hard to interpret and act upon. It’s easy to lose sight of the dynamic role internal links can play in your site’s overall relevance, but Google’s numbers don’t lie – internal links matter. Fortunately, there are some tips that can help you dominate those links and elevate your site performance in the process.
Engaged to be Linked
Your internal links should be engaging, which is easy to say but more difficult to actually make happen. What you don’t want are random links that are nothing, but afterthoughts and that will never move the needle in the direction you want to see it move. When a potential customer lands on one of your pages, he or she does so for a reason – and the goal is for your internal links to fortify this reason and keep that guy or gal visiting your site for a longer, more robust search. While your links may boost your SEO values, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity if you’re not actively engaging your site’s guests. You have something valuable to offer – or you wouldn’t be in the SEO game – and internal links can provide your customers not only with a more enriching online experience but also with more reasons to go all in and pull the trigger on those purchases. Take note; Google is also paying attention.
Objection! Relevance?
When it comes to internal links, topical relevance is king. Using relevance as the yardstick for linkage allows you to build a logical infrastructure that supports its own dynamic growth, that provides visitors with an enriching experience that enhances their knowledge base, and that gets the right kind of attention from Google. The bottom line is that more topical relevance passes more value, and Google has plenty of tips out there for helping you gauge your pages’ engagement metrics as they relate to relevance.
Use Your Context Clues
Upping your internal links game is about far more than liberally peppering your pages with links. Instead, it’s about providing context that makes your links organic to the pages they populate (rather than simply being plopped on a page). Good content isn’t a matter of cutting and pasting other good content into your work. Good content involves massaging pertinent information and other quality content into your piece – and the same is true of the internal links you provide. The role that internal links play is bolstered by the context that supports them. This context may be compelling narrative content, an eye-catching image, or a combination of the two, but the goal here is to draw your readers in, and weaving creative context around your internal links can help you get there.
No Unique Link Left Behind
Some sites get very busy creating exact-match and partial-match anchoring text, but this can be an overly technical approach that stifles narrative flow. A more modern, minimalist tack is to make sure the links you add are unique and are written in natural language (rather than in some clunky assortment of words that Google seems to like at the moment). In the end, your visitors are reading and interacting with your content, and the idea is to engross them, which is difficult to do with canned links that stick out like sore thumbs. Using unique links also helps you avoid the all too common trap of over-optimization, which Google doesn’t take kindly to. While there are link ratios you can consider, if you focus on keeping your internal links organic and unique, you’ll be on the right track.
Trim the Fat
While incorporating new links that hit their marks is an excellent plan, you should also put some careful thought into trimming those low-value links that you still have hanging around. When your links become too numerous, it dilutes the overall value of each. In other words, those links that aren’t doing much aren’t a neutral variable but are actually dragging your top-performing links down in terms of value. Retire those tired, old links, and make it your mission to make all of your internal links pop.
To Recap
You have internal links, but it’s unlikely that they are giving your site their full value. To help keep your internal links working for you and as vibrant as possible, keep all of the following in mind:
- Pay attention to your internal links, but don’t let all the complicated metrics, ratios, and values get you down. Google has some helpful tools out there, and a driven digital marketing expert can help you regain focus and master your link game in no time.
- Make your links integral to your content. Gone are the days when having some keywords and a link or two slapped on a page got you the online attention you were looking for. Just like your content, your links should be offered up with context that drives your message, should be precisely relevant to the matter at hand, and should engage the reader. It’s a tall order; a digital marketing expert can help.
- Stay on top of your links by weeding out the ones that don’t carry their own weight and by continuing to hone those links that hit all their marks.
Link Up with a Digital Marketing Expert Today
If you’re ready to take on your internal links, the dedicated digital marketing experts at The Web Guys are well prepared to help you dig in. If you’re not ready, we can help with that, too. The bottom line is that your internal links are integral to your online game, but with our focused guidance, maximizing their usefulness doesn’t have to be overwhelming. We’ve got the internal-links chops you need, so give us a call at (317) 805-4933 or connect today.
