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3 easy internal linking strategies for keywords with different search volumes https://selnd.com/2MYCfGI Most savvy business owners and content marketers understand the importance of external links. They’re a crucial ranking factor (as evidenced by new studies year after year, such as this brand new Stone Temple Consulting Study) and they’re a strong trust signal from other high-quality websites. Where a lot of businesses stumble, however, is using internal links to direct link equity to where it will have the biggest impact. Internal links don’t earn you link equity-like external links do, but they’re essential for directing traffic to pages that traditionally attract fewer links or need a much-needed boost in SERPs. In this article, we’ll break down the dos and don’ts of a good link structure, why you need an internal link strategy, and three different strategies you can use to target keywords with varying levels of competition and search volumes. How do you create a good internal link structure?What your internal link structure looks like will vary depending on your underlying goals (as you’ll see later when we dive into the specific linking strategies), but a few elements should always be the same:
Why you need an internal link strategyAccording to CMI’s 2019 B2B Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report, 81% of B2B businesses believe that having a content strategy aligns their team “around common mission/goals and makes it easier to determine which types of content to develop.” The same thing applies to internal linking strategies. The better you understand what you want your link equity to do for your business, the better you’ll be able to use an internal linking structure to achieve your goals. Appropriately used, internal links can be a powerful tool. Creating a clean, consistent internal link structure is an amazing way to:
The very best internal link strategies pull double duty, by influencing user engagement metrics (e.g., page views per session, time spent on site, conversion rate, etc.) and impacting your ranking in SERPs for high-priority keywords. You can facilitate this by considering the customer journey on your site as you plan out which internal link strategy is right for you. Now, let’s dive into the three strategies you can use specifically to target keywords based on search volume and competition level. Internal Link Strategies Based on Search Volume1. Use internal links to boost main page relevance for keywords with high search volumes. When your goal is to rank for a few specific high-volume and high-competition keywords, you’ll need a detail-rich homepage to use this strategy, such as a landing-page-style home page designed to attract, persuade and convert new leads. How to structure your internal links: While your navigational links will still help users find your content and discover new pages on your website, most of your contextual links should link back to your home page through relevant anchor text (e.g., target keywords plus close synonyms). Structurally, this will mean that you’ll have more links pointing to your homepage than to any other page. This means that visitors to other high-quality auxiliary pages on your site should quickly find themselves back on your information-rich home page. As mentioned above, however, if you point to the same URL multiple times on the same page, priority is given to the first anchor text. With that in mind, what some webmasters resort to is restricting access to navigational links for search engine bots at the top of the page to give more prominence to contextual links. What this means: The only goal of this strategy is to help your home page’s rank improve. You’ll be using every opportunity and leveraging every new piece of content to send more organic visitors to your home page. Just keep in mind that all secondary pages and content assets (though they still need to be useful and relevant to attract external links) will not be designed to rank high for keywords—all of that link juice is destined for your home page. 2. Use internal links to target mid-search-volume keywords and drive traffic to key landing pages. When to use this strategy: When you want to focus on driving mid-search-volume keywords to key pages, such as product category pages within an e-commerce website or blog categories within a news-style website. This works best with robust category pages that include a lot of details and comparison regarding the products, blog posts, etc. How to structure your internal links: With this approach, you’ll be using anchor text keywords to lead people to key category pages. In this strategy, your home page’s job is to direct people to the most relevant category page. Auxiliary articles and product pages should also all point back to these pages using medium-tail anchor text, to lead as much traffic as possible back to your category pages. What this means: This strategy turns each category page into an informational hub that users can revisit as they learn new information. For example, a website selling second-hand cars might have a category page for Ford trucks. Whenever they publish new articles reviewing a new model or comparing Ford vs. other, they can link back to their category page using target keywords (e.g., “buy Ford trucks,” “used Ford trucks,” “best deals on Ford trucks,” etc.). 3. Use internal links to target low-search-volume keywords for your bottom-level pages. When to use this strategy: When you operate within a narrow niche and want to drive highly qualified leads to specific bottom-level pages, such as specific blog posts or product listings. How to structure your internal links: Bottom-level pages in this strategy should be quite detailed so that you can include copy and images that can be organically linked to other bottom-level pages. What this means: The goal of this strategy is to get users to see the “big picture” that unfolds as they purchase multiple products or consume numerous pieces of content. For example, you might have a multi-part blog series that naturally lends itself to internal links. Or you might have product pages for power tools that link to product comparisons and DIY home projects that you can build with those tools. The less competition you have for your keywords, the more likely it is that your pages will rank and convert. Just make sure that the keywords you’re targeting are actually being searched for. How to implement an internal link strategyOnce you’ve settled on a link strategy that will help you accomplish your goals, it’s time to assess their internal links and anchor text. For this step, I highly recommend using a tool capable of measuring click depth, links to page, links from page, and metrics, which estimate the importance of web pages (alternatives to PageRank). Luckily, plenty of tools like WebSite Auditor (full disclosure: I work for the company), DeepCrawl, or Sitebulb help webmasters understand, at a glance, which pages have the most link equity to share, what your current internal link structure looks like, and which pages currently attract the highest traffic. Using SEO audit tools of this type, you should be able to filter your URLs by substring and ensure that every page is sufficiently detailed and includes the right anchor text. Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here. About The AuthorAleh Barysevich is Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at companies behind SEO PowerSuite, professional software for full-cycle SEO campaigns, and Awario, a social media monitoring app. He is a seasoned SEO expert and speaker at major industry conferences, including 2018's SMX London, BrightonSEO and SMX East. SEO via Search Engine Land https://selnd.com/1BDlNnc February 11, 2019 at 07:00AM
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