Dictionaries define internal linking as the action of forming a network to distribute objects or people in a given space. It’s a somewhat technical area of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) that makes a website, whatever its design, a showcase that search engines can find easily or not when we search online.
Let’s try to give a simpler definition. Then we will explain why it is essential to build connections between the components of your website. Finally, we’ll give some actionable ideas for improving the organic performance of your website.
What is internal linking?
There is no shortage of definitions of internal linking. Yooda.one states that “internal meshing, or link meshing, refers to the organisation of links within a website. An internal link is a link that connects two pages on the same website“.
This final point is crucial: we aim to link two pages on the same site. The second page should explain the first page in greater detail or offer additional information.
To achieve this, structure your message in an educational manner. This approach benefits both the reader and the Google bots that crawl your site.
In recent years, Google has prioritized customer experience, commonly known as User Experience (UX). As a site visitor, I need to grasp the subject matter clearly, logically, and simply.
At Search Factory, internal linking refers to how links from one web page connect to other pages on the same site. Specifically, it involves integrating hypertext links into content that point to specific pages within the site.
Effective internal linking enhances navigation and improves user experience. It also plays a vital role in search engine optimization (SEO) by helping search engines understand the site’s structure.
Why create internal linking?
This is what we understand as internal linking: links connect pages together to form the overall architecture of your site. Well thought-out meshing improves the user experience for your potential customers and makes navigation easier, while boosting your natural referencing.
Understanding Google’s E-E-A-T Criteria
Google constructs its search algorithm based on the E-A-T criteria: Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This means Google’s bots evaluate your ability to present yourself as an expert (Authoritativeness) and create a coherent, trustworthy discourse (Trustworthiness). Authority derives from the quality of your content creators, who must be recognized and respected in their fields.
For instance, if I write a blog about Périgord cuisine, I must justify my expertise. Having experience as a chef in a Sarlat restaurant, being a food critic for a national newspaper, or publishing a book would signal strong expertise to Google.
Since 2022, Google has added another “E” to form E-E-A-T, which emphasizes Experience gained from third-party reviews or comments. In the culinary example, positive online reviews from numerous customers would significantly enhance the Experience aspect.
If you want to dive deeper into this topic, you will find content on E-E-A-T at the bottom of the page.
How do you create internal linking?
To achieve effective internal linking, an agency would start by auditing existing content and links, to propose a link grid. In practice, the focus should be on selecting the most important pages first. Google, Bing, Yahoo, or Yandex crawlers will prioritise these pages, depending on the company’s regional operations.
You then need to build a coherent set of content that will cover a theme broadly and comprehensively. This is known as the “semantic cocoon”, an SEO strategy developed by Laurent Bourelly.
You can optimise the architecture and internal linking of a website by semantically classifying content into mother, sister and daughter pages. In other words, the daughter pages explain the content of the parent pages in greater detail.
One of the primary benefits of internal linking is to explain the structure of the site to the bots. It works with various search engines, starting with Google. You can use Figma to rough out the work before using a spreadsheet to link parent and child pages.
It is the logic of the table that you should retain rather than its operational scope. Obviously, it is easier to build such a matrix at a time when you haven’t developed the site yet.
This table illustrates how a strong parent page links to its child pages, enhancing its attraction power. The child pages benefit from the organic traffic generated by specific keywords.
Incoming traffic to the strong page (often a parent page) redistributes to one or more associated pages. The more associated pages you link, the less traffic each page receives. It’s all about dosage.
Inspired by Greek mythology, where Ariadne gave Theseus a thread to escape the labyrinth, the breadcrumb trail helps users navigate the site’s structure.
The breadcrumb trail proves particularly useful on e-commerce sites or those with many pages, like Amazon or eBay. For example, on Amazon, when users view a product, the breadcrumb trail displays the main category, subcategories, and the product itself. This feature allows users to retrace their steps or navigate to related sections easily.
According to a study by Nielsen Norman Group, the breadcrumb trail significantly enhances user experience by providing clear visual cues. It not only aids navigation but also improves search engine optimization (SEO) by offering internal links and organizing information logically.
By incorporating a well-designed breadcrumb trail, websites can improve user engagement, reduce bounce rates and increase the effectiveness of their online presence.
In conclusion
Highlighting related or similar articles or content is also interesting, as this technique is part of creating an effective and relevant semantic cocoon. As is often the case, what’s simple works well.
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