3 ways in which internal links affect SEOs

Internal linking has always been a matter of debate for SEO specialists and marketers in general. On one hand, internal linking is an extremely simple concept and on the other hand, the best practices of internal linking get extraordinarily complex. For the uninitiated, internal linking refers to any links from one page on a domain which lead to another page on that same domain. In a way, internal linking is both advanced and simple. Regardless of how basic or complex you think it is, nobody can take away from the fact that internal linking is an important process.

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Strategic internal linking is a powerful SEO technique, especially when it comes to content marketing. Internal linking for content marketing is one of the simplest and straight-forward ways to experience SEO uptick. However, internal links are often overlooked even though they are easy to make and easy to manage.

Through this article, you'll find out why internal linking is an important SEO tactic that deserves its fair share of attention.

Internal linking provides your audience with more material to read

When your audience is reading on a particular subject, they wouldn't mind being directed to other articles on the same subject that might be useful to them. This is where internal linking comes into the picture. For example, if your audience is reading an article on how to write great content, you can always direct them to another article that talks about content. Internal linking also keeps past articles alive and relevant. Thus, internal linking is a great way to promote older content while giving your readers more content to read at the same time.

Internal linking helps move traffic through your website

Just as it is important from the SEO perspective, internal linking is crucial from the users' point-of-view as well. Since search engines rank each page of your website, you have to treat each page as a potential landing page for your visitors. Internal linking drives your traffic down a pre-determined path of conversion. It decreases confusion for the visitor, because they know what the next step to navigate through your site is. Internal linking also makes for happier users as they don't have to travel to your homepage to navigate to another section of your site.

Internal linking increases the time that visitors spend on your website

Internal linking can help you increase the time that visitors spend on your website and lower the bounce rate. If your content offers real value and you've provided relevant links in your article, you are more likely to have visitors linger on your website for a longer time. Tracking your bounce rate is important as it has an enormous impact on your rankings. You can connect your website to Google Analytics to monitor your bounce rate for each of your articles.

Interlinking has a strong impact on Google's algorithm. It also significantly betters your overall SEO performance, from usability to link juice improvements and therefore marketers should give it the importance it deserves.