internal linking

The latest #ContentWritingChat was all about SEO as we talked about the importance of internal linking. In this chat, some amazing tips were shared regarding this tactic and how you can use it in building your own website’s online presence. If you’re ready to learn more about it, keep reading for the recap! #ContentWritingChat Recap: Internal Linking & Its Importance in SEO with Sarah Danks Join us for #ContentWritingChat on Tuesday, June 6th at 10 AM Central Time with @ThinkSEM! pic.twitter.com/XOUOS7Vit2 — Express Writers (@ExpWriters) June 3, 2017 Our guest host this week was Sarah Danks from ThinkSEM. She’s their Digital Strategist and is no stranger to a great Twitter chat. In fact, if you’re a regular participant you’ve likely noticed Sarah in our chat before, as she typically joins us every week. It was great having a regular participant step into the guest hosting role and she shared some fantastic advice with all of us. Q1: Why are internal links important? To kick off the chat, we asked everyone to share why they felt internal linking was an important part of SEO. Here’s what a few of our participants said: A1: The World Wide Web is all about connections. What’s related to this content? What else is relevant to my search? #ContentWritingChat https://t.co/MJNwGN1WzR — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) June 6, 2017 Aii: And it doesn’t get more relevant than showing the relationship between pages on your own website! #ContentWritingChat — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) June 6, 2017 As Sarah pointed out, the web is all about connections. Internal linking allows you to to connect pieces of relevant content to one another. You’re able to show the relationship between pages on your own website, which is a great way to keep them on your site longer. A1 If SEO is a house, internal linking is the framework of the house. It moves your “traffic” from room to room onsite. #ContentWritingChat — Julia McCoy ? (@JuliaEMcCoy) June 6, 2017 Julia’s response is really a helpful way to think of internal linking. It helps to move traffic from room to room onsite. This basically means it keeps people from moving from page to page once they’ve first landed on your site. It’s key if you want to keep someone digging into the depths of your archives. A1: Internal links spread your authority and ranking through the site and builds structure! #ContentWritingChat — Jeff Higgins (@ItsJeffHiggins) June 6, 2017 Jeff knows that building up those internal links is a good way to increase your authority with your audience. And who wouldn’t want that?! A1. They help make you a credible, reliable source by showing readers that you’re the authority! #contentwritingchat — Kristen Dunleavy (@KristenWritesIt) June 6, 2017 Kristen also mentioned it’s a way to show you’re a credible and reliable source and builds your authority. A1: Makes it easy for everyone. Without these, people will go elsewhere for answers and info. #ContentWritingChat — Jeremy Murphy (@jeremypmurphy) June 6, 2017 By providing internal links, it also makes it easier for your readers to find more relevant content. As Jeremy pointed out, people will go elsewhere to find what they’re looking for if you don’t give it to them. So, if you have more content you know they’d enjoy, link to it! A1: Internal links help guide your audience through your site to other valuable/actionable content #contentwritingchat — Elizabeth Greenberg (@BettaBeYou) June 6, 2017 Elizabeth feels internal linking helps guide your audience through your site and leads them to other valuable, actionable content. Keep that in mind when adding links to content so you can be sure you’re sending them somewhere worthwhile. Q2: How do internal links affect overall site structure? Now that you know the importance of internal linking, you should also know how it’s going to affect the overall structure of your website. Here are a few responses we received in Tuesday’s chat: A2: Internal links are a major part of website architecture. A well-linked site is easy to navigate.#ContentWritingChat https://t.co/R2ISQMC1eI — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) June 6, 2017 A2ii: Conversely, if the linking between pages is sparse it will be difficult to find related content or even convert.#ContentWritingChat — ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) June 6, 2017 As Sarah pointed out, a well-linked site is easy to navigate. This is great for visitors to your site because you want everything to be accessible. There’s nothing worse than a site that makes it difficult to find what you’re looking for. Also, if you’re lacking when it comes to links, it makes it harder for readers to find related content. It can also make it more difficult to get them to convert. A2) It offers flow & stability. Internal linking saves the users from thinking where to find additional content. #ContentWritingChat — Jason Schemmel (@JasonSchemmel) June 6, 2017 Jason said internal linking offers flow and stability. Instead of forcing your reader to figure out what to do next or where to go, you can direct them to additional content. Don’t leave it up to them, otherwise there’s a greater chance they’ll leave your site. A2: It helps create a hierarchy of your content and allows users to flow from broad content to more specific content. #ContentWritingChat — Pinpoint Laser (@PinpointLaser) June 6, 2017 This is another important thing to consider! Linking helps create a hierarchy of your content. Through those links, a reader can flow from broad content to more specific content that’s still relevant. A2) Done correctly, Internal linking helps customers more easily find relevant information on their topics of interest. #contentwritingchat pic.twitter.com/batd9sXPaV — Jeff Reno(e) ? (@Renoe) June 6, 2017 Jenn knows internal linking is going to help customers easily find the relevant information they’re looking for while on your site. Make sure you’re taking advantage of that by directing them to the next page you think they’d be interested in. A2: Internal linking is like a roadmap… you can subtlely lead your viewer where you would like them. #contentwritingchat pic.twitter.com/lXEy22t4Q0 — Sarah Nelson (@Blogging_Geek) June 6, 2017 Think of … Read more