Internal Linking: Recouping Your Site’s Hidden SEO Value

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Synopsis – As one of the basics of search engine optimization, link building is a key component to ranking well in search engines. But one aspect of linking that many search marketers overlook is the power of internal links, leading to many sites not taking advantage of these means of effecting solid positioning.

In his article “Internal Linking: Recouping Your Site’s Hidden SEO Value,” Chris Boggs discusses the benefits of paying attention to each and every opportunity to build links between the pages of your website. Chris begins his analysis with a solid example of a site that has maintained number one ranking for a very competitive term since 2005 primarily by an intricate web of internal links.

There are two main areas where one can concentrate efforts to improve the status of internal linking on a site. First, Chris identifies a number of components related to navigation links, including aspects related to drop-down navigation, customized navigation, and dynamic issues and CMS (for large-scale ecommerce sites). Second, he discusses the issue of benefits of anchor text linking and best practices related to such links.

Chris concludes his article with a discussion of advanced internal linking considerations and the controversies of nofollow and hidden links.

The time to explore internal linking opportunities is during initial design or re-design of a site. As Chris points out, internal linking is an excellent example of a process that may prove to be too costly to implement as effectively once your website is live, so its importance cannot be overstated.

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