I am often asked, usually in a whispered voice, “Do you have any good tricks?”
“Yes, look at your site”, I say.
Good content solves most SEO problems. That same idea applies to on-site link building. There is no doubt that link building is a huge factor in gaining search rankings. However, many web marketers forget to practice quality link building tactics on their own site.
We have all seen sites that force links into the site in order to boost search rankings. These are very transparent, even to the average user. However, with quality content the internal link building is natural. Great content naturally lends itself toward great quality inbound links.
Below are some general guidelines for internal link building.
Write Content First
It is important not to force content on to a page, in order to fulfill link building guidelines. Every site should have something to say. If you do not have anything to say on your site, then you do not deserve the good rankings you are after.
“How can my site be ranked higher?” I am asked.
My answer is always “Why should you be ranked higher?”
That usually makes web editors step back and take a second look. “Just because”, is not a good answer. And before they begin telling me the reasons they are better then the next site, they are stopped with … “Don’t tell me. I don’t care. Tell your customers”.
In other words, write good content on your site. Content is subjective, but ProBlogger.net has some great ideas on Writing Good Content.
Hyperlink keywords
After creating great content, the links will naturally flow. From this point you should be able to go back and hyperlink to internal pages.
It is okay at this stage to change text to emphasize specific keywords. However, do not change the text to where it jeopardizes the user experience.
You will find if the copy is well written that the links naturally pop out of the content.
Not only are these inbound links good for search engines, but it makes much better user experience. It gives the user a direction to go and helps them work through the site easier.
Do not “Click Here”
When adding the links, be sure not to commit the ultimate SEO sin. “Click here” provides no value to users or search engines. Those types of links immediately indicate an unprofessional site and insult the customer. Users know what a link is, they know where to click. There is no need to instruct them where to click.
Instead of telling those consumers to “click here” describe the link. Let customers and search engines know what the link is. Describe the page it’s going to with a link title.
A well internal link structure is the backbone of any quality website. It’s important to make sure internal link building is more than a site map. It can be difficult to get partners to create quality links. However, internal link building is easily controlled and should be treated as a high priority by anyone who wants to improve search rankings.
Tags: Link Building, SEO
February 18th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Great piece, John - the dreaded “click here” is the bane of my existence. I absolutely loathe it and it’s very hard to convince people (read “clients”) that everyone knows what a link looks like on a webpage.
~Carrie
February 18th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Unless you want to rank high for “click here” searches, you’d better work on your internal linking. Good post John!
February 18th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Nicely said - why link build when your site is a dog’s dinner? If you have a fairly authoritative site, with some decent links and some good rankings, spend a month on your internal linking structures before you go for another external link.
For me, it’s a constant shift. Some time getting the odd link, some time linking up content to content on site.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:53 am
Good stuff. Looks like I a good summary of your recent ResortQuest webinar. We launched a Tahoe Vacation Blog last year, and have been kind of stumbling along trying to get good content. We just commissioned one of our employees to write a review of every Tahoe Ski Resort. He’s happy because he gets to spend a day skiing at each resort before he doing the article. We’re happy because he’s a good writer, and good photographer, and we’ll hopefully get some really good content. Thanks for all the tips John! - Jeff
http://www.tahoesun.com
March 17th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Thanks John for the post, really good stuff… I would seem that so many people are concentrating on the search engines and not the customers… LOL… Working against themselves really.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Mike,
Thanks for the comments.
If done correctly, you can please the consumers AND search engines.
I am not a big fan of creating content specifically for search engines. It’s really just common sense in most cases. Users want to see content just as much as search engines do.
Users do not need to be instructed “click here”. They know how a link works. It’s less insulting to the consumer to tell them where they are going instead of just instructing them to click.
-John