Internal Links

Unlike backlinks, internal links can use individual keywords as anchor text. Analyzing and improving the internal link structure is part of internal optimization within search engine optimization.

Purpose and purpose of internal links

Internal links serve multiple purposes at once. Handy for both Google & Co. as for users.

For Search Engines: Assuming that only a subset of all URLs on a medium-sized website are linked by external backlinks, it is clear that internal linking structure plays a role here. When a Googlebot or other crawler visits a website, it follows the links it finds according to the instructions in the robots.txt file. The anchor text is also read and interpreted here. Internal links provide information to the bot and provide the crawler with up-to-date links to subpages within the domain. For example, based on the frequency of internal links and their link texts, a bot can recognize why a particular subpage is more relevant to a particular search term, even without an external backlink pointing to the page.
For users: Internal links are visible to users, e.g. As main navigation or in the breadcrumb structure. This speaks to the main benefit of internal links for users: navigation. At the same time, links to the website provide an opportunity to highlight other topics or additional content. Users also stay longer on the site. This user signal can in turn positively influence a site's ranking in the search engine. A classic example of a successful internal link is Wikipedia, where a visitor to an article is redirected with a single click to an appropriate sentence to find additional information.

This is what makes a good link structure

With the help of internal links you can optimize the thematic assignment of the subpages and the user manual. To make link building meaningful, webmasters and SEOs need to pay attention to the following aspects:

Ideally, internal links should not be in the footer or sidebar.
The ideal place for internal links is at the top of the page so that the relevant link can be clicked.
The anchor text of an internal link should consist of the main keyword of the landing page, or give the user and search engine a clear idea of the link's purpose.
Internal links on a website should be distinguished from the rest of the text in italics/bold and/or underlined.
Internal links must be relevant to the topic of the reference page and increase, expand or supplement the topic by creating a link.
Users should also follow internal links.
The number of links used on a page should be limited to a reasonable number per subpage to convey the optimal number of links.
The destination of the link must always point to the same keyword in the domain.

The difference between internal, inbound and outbound links

While search engines such as Google have implemented appropriate spam filters for backlinks through search algorithms, this limitation does not apply to internal hyperlinks. This means that today, for example, hard keyword links for external links should be avoided in order not to be penalized by Google.

For internal links, it is especially important to use keywords in the link text so that search engines can better target the website.

Unlike outbound links, you don't have to worry about internal linking issues like bad neighbors because you can link to any URL in the domain anywhere in the domain.

Frequently asked questions about internal links

How many internal links should a website have?

For a long time, the rule was that you were not allowed to find more than 100 links per URL. But there is no real limit. However, Googlebot's crawl budget is limited by the number of internal links in a URL. Essentially, the more crawl budget available for a URL, the more internal links it can establish.

Is there a Google penalty if I only use internal links with keywords?

No, unlike inbound backlinks, there are no restrictions on internal links. In fact, direct keyword links should be used.

Not enough links in main navigation?

The main categories of a website are usually accessible from the main navigation. To link to even the deepest directories, internal links must also be defined in the content.

Are internal links also useful on smaller websites?

Even on smaller websites, internal links to subpages need to be logical and structured to take advantage of rankings.

How do you create internal links on a page?

Internal crosslinks in a single page app can be created using anchor links. Depending on the type of link text, these links may appear as rich snippets.

Can search engines also read internal links in JavaScript?

Search engines can sometimes read JS, but in general, links in a script are not considered internal links.

What happens if I redirect a link to a URL?

If an internal link points to a direct link, it will not initially be considered an error. Two things to note: the link loses some link juice, though not much, and if the redirect is permanent, the status code is 301 (not 302 or 307).

Links on your own website that lead to your other pages on the same website.

Links on your website that lead to other pages on your website.

These are hyperlinks between two sites on the same domain. This is a great way to help users navigate a website and get redirected from one logical destination to another. It also helps Google bots to index the website better. It is also a good SEO tool as it helps increase the authority of certain pages.

Literal Meanings of Internal Links

Internal:

Meanings of Internal:

Into something.
In organism.
It deals with the internal affairs of a nation, state or other political community.
Working with non-public affairs of a company or other organization.

Sentences of Internal

We've seen the inner compartments.
His bleeding was internal.
The nation suffered from internal conflicts.
An internal investigation has been conducted.

Internal Links - How To Discuss