Internal Links | Internal Website Link Profile, SEO Friendly Link Profile

Internal links are a core part to any website. The links internally are created to link each page of your website together in a user defined structure. Pages of websites are all connected through an internal web of links. These links are created by the webmaster to direct users through the website to find pages relative to the query, or browsing requirement of the website visitor.

Internal links consist of page based, navigation based, footer based and reference based links. Navigation based links will typically link to the most important and core pages throughout a website, whilst page based links are usually incorporated within content to direct users to anything else that may be relevant. Other links such as reference links are designed to lead the user to a more indepth version of the content.

But a websites internal linking profile doesnt just help the end user, it also helps search engines through navigation crawls of the website. The way in which a website is linked internally can have a large impact on search engine rankings. If a website has a good semantic structure due to internal links, it is more likely that visitors are able to find content that they are looking for, a website with poor internal links may fail in this region, thus causing ranking problems as well as supplemental results.

If a website has a good internal link profile and users can find what they are looking for, than the bounce rate is likely to be lower, whilst browsing times are maintained. At the same time, good structures help the website rank in a more prominent position along with internal pages. Good site structure is also recognised by Google and Yahoo, in this instance, the search listings provide additional links within the search description. These links are known as sitelinks, and are generated when a website has a good sound internal URL structure.

Good linking structures also minimise the chances of internal pages becoming supplemental. This has been known to happen to pages that are barely referenced throughout the website, this is because the perception of unimportance is given to the pages that do not have many internal links.

Using a Good Structure
A good url structure will consist of the home page linking to the most important top level pages, these pages will break down into sub pages that follow a hierachy. If this pattern is maintained consistently, most of the website will interlink with itself, allowing for page rank to be spread across these pages, whilst making the pages more manageable when crawling.

Internal linking also has an impact because search engines can evaluate how the website links internally, to see how relative content is connected between pages and much more. Have a good URL structure benefits the end user the most, allowing them to find what they are looking for without having to scour the website.

Lower Level Pages
Lower level pages will tend to have lower link references, this is because the focus always should start from top to bottom. Ensuring a websites link profile is SEO compliant is essential. Linking to internal pages should be done carefully, as different pages should have independance rather than similarity.

Internal Links Checklist
Use the options below to determine if your title tags are in an SEO Compliant format.

Are your websites main pages easily found from the home page
Does your website have an SE friendly URL structure allowing Google to reach lower level pages
Are your internal links unique, or do you have multiple links to the same page using different anchor texts?

These are just some of the things to note.