Internal linking of site pages is based on the principle of convenience and usefulness to the user. Don't put links as an end in itself. If there are no clicks on them, they will not matter to search engines. Before implementing the recommendations, think about it on your resource, whether the links will help users, whether it will be convenient for them to go to other pages and why they should do it.
Step 1. Develop a structure
Even if your project has been running for almost ten years, try to reevaluate its structure. How convenient it is for users to be on the site. Whether the pages are deeply nested, whether the site navigation is understandable. Design trends change every 3-5 years, see how outdated the resource is and how you can improve it.
Create a new site structure. Based on user requests: why do they come to the site and what they are looking for in the first place. Break your site down into categories. Determine which pages will now be primary and which will be secondary. Try to nest your site up to three clicks. Think about how you can get to all important categories from the main page.
Create a new structure with a mind map. Use the services XMind, FreeMind, iMindMap, etc. Distribute the structure in the map: center - categories - articles / products. If the resource is very large, create a mind map for each category.
Step 2. Distribute the page weight
Each page on the site has its own weight. The more weight, the more meaningful the page is for search robots. You can determine it using special programs. For sites with up to 2 thousand pages, use the free Page Weight Lite version. Be sure to check the "Use robots.txt" checkbox and disable the weight of external links. The program will calculate the page weight and provide the results in the form of numerical values: weight, number of incoming and outgoing links.
Based on the data received, select the pages that will be donors. They will transfer their weight. And who will be acceptors - they will gain weight. They can also be selected automatically using programs and services, but we recommend that you analyze the site yourself. This will improve the quality of the linking of the site pages. Here, too, it is appropriate to think about the user, which material will be more convenient for him to read first, and which - later.
Let's say the site contains travel articles. There is a page with the key "How to buy cheap tickets". This is a high-frequency key, and it is logical to make the page an acceptor, letting donors start up pages for it with articles about travels "Fly to Norway", "To Greece for 3 days", "Planning a vacation in Thailand in advance" and the like.
Another example - the site has several pages that respond to the user's request "What to take with you on the road." These are the articles “What to take with you on the train trip”, “What to take with you on the road from food” and “What to take on the bus trip”. It turned out that the articles were written for low-frequency queries and also blur the low-frequency master key. All pages to some extent duplicate each other and have little weight. Therefore, we recommend combining them into one article in order to accumulate weight on one page.
Step 3. Choose a set of keys for each page
Internal site linking works well when there are relevant keywords and thematic links on the pages. If you put links on a travel resource about children's recreation in the articles "The most unassuming resorts in Europe" and "How to get off in Ibiza", then the linking will work weakly or will not work at all. The main reason will be the lack of conversions, because the keys have different target audiences.
Also, the text about children's rest in such materials will look foreign and unrelated to the main topic. Due to the inconsistency of the subject matter, search robots may consider the link as link spam. Therefore, form groups of articles related to one set of keywords. Leave the main key to the acceptor, and distribute the rest between donors.
There are two ways to find keys to pages. The first is to collect a semantic core and select pages for it. The second is to take all the pages of the site and find the most relevant keys for them. The Key Collector program will help you with this, which can work in both directions.
If there is no Key Collector, then select it manually via Yandex. It will take longer, but the result will not be worse. Use the document operator “site:”. Enter the search string key, operator and resource. Yandex will select the pages of the site in the search results that are most relevant to the given query. For more information about Yandex operators, see the article "". The operator also works for Google. You need to specify the main mirror of the site. Find out in Yandex.Webmaster which domain is the main mirror: with or without www.
When the search engine shows the search results, follow each link and see the key. It is highlighted in bold. Link to the highlighted word, if appropriate in the context of the article. If not, find a topical paragraph where a link to another article would look appropriate. It often happens that the key is there, but in the texts of articles it is not. This happens if the site was originally created without taking into account the keys and future linking. Then you will have to find such pages manually using a sitemap or administrative panel. Find pages whose titles are thematically relevant to the key, and add there the relevant text and the desired link with the key.
Step 5. Add links
Pages selected. Now you need to do the correct linking of pages. All links are divided into two types: anchor and non-anchor. All links in the page code are written as follows:< a href=”www.site.ru ” >text< /a >The word "text" is what users see on the pages. These are words and phrases that are underlined on sites in the form of links. You can make a link just text, keys, site address, images. If a link includes keywords, it is called an anchor link. If not, then bezankornoy.
When relinking, try to make your pages look natural and maintain a 50% to 50% ratio between anchor and non-anchor links. Large giant sites on the Runet have an anchor-free link mass of 40 to 55%. Do not use "curves" and explicit keys as the link anchor. Insert them in their natural form according to the rules of the Russian language. For every 2000 characters of text, it is permissible to add 2-3 links. If the link is not anchored, then correctly write the text next to it. It should make it clear where and why the link leads.
Step 6. Remove "bad" links
Try to understand if the site is showing signs of search engine and link spam. These are spam phrases in the text of links, an overabundance of keys on pages and internal links. Deal with hanging pages separately. These are pages to which links lead, but there are no links from them. We recommend adding links to them in accordance with the topic of the pages or removing the links completely. Check your site for cyclic links where the article links to itself. If so, delete.
- duplicate pages;
- hard-to-see links that are designed exclusively for robots;
- Broken links;
- cyclic links, when the page links to itself;
- extra links in the footer;
- links closed in robots.txt file.
Crib
Correct site linking helps users and search robots. It shows the structure of the site, facilitates fast indexing, makes navigation easier and improves behavioral factors.
Determine the page weight using Page Weight Lite. Decide which pages will be donors and which will be acceptors.
Choose a different set of key phrases for each page. Use Key Collector or search engines. Use the “site:” operator to work in search.
Optimize pages for the selected keys. Check title, h1, image tags.
Remove circular links, "broken", closed in the robots.txt file, unnecessary in the footer, visually impaired. Deal with hanging pages and takes. Check if there are signs of search and link spam in the form of an overabundance of keywords and internal links.
The material was prepared by Svetlana Sirvida-Llorente.
Hello, friends!
Re-linking site pages is one of the many internal factors that can really help a site to move forward by linking pages together.
Therefore, I decided to write a very detailed guide on this topic and analyze most of the most common questions. It will not do without very cool information that will help you understand the deeper meaning of linking.
Tasks and where effective
Re-linking of site pages is one of the strongest factors involved in the ranking of search results. It is the linking (linking) of the internal pages of the site with each other in order to distribute the static weight between the documents and push the visitor to proceed to study other materials through internal links.
Internal linking can play into the hands and towards the pessimization of the site (decrease in positions). Therefore, it must be approached carefully and wisely. In no case should you be afraid, since everyone will have to work with it. Another thing is "how to work?", By hand or in automatic mode? I will consider all these points further.
Effective in the following cases:
- Finishing requests to the TOP - when there are already pages in the TOP 10-20, you can push them to higher positions by placing links on them from other documents in order to add static weight to them;
- Comprehensive promotion for a large number of requests - having made a competent link between the pages of the site with each other according to the necessary anchors, after the resource is reindexed, they will begin to rise to higher positions. In the case of low-frequency queries, it is more than realistic to get into the TOP without buying external links;
- Drive traffic to profitable pages - Each site has priority landing pages that are profitable to direct visitors to. These could be pages with affiliate links to sell someone else's products. It is logical from pages with a large number of visitors to put a link to such a page so that more visitors can see your offer.
The basics
The basics include 3 rules that you must learn before starting to practice.
- Internal linking is most effective when it is clickable. That is, the link provided in the document should not be for a tick in order to add static weight to the document. If it is provided only for this, then over time the effect of such a link will diminish. If the link is clickable, then search engines understand its importance and usefulness. This link has a tremendous effect;
- The best anchor for linking is the keyword anchor of the page you are linking to. This will allow you to add weight for the right keyword and the page should go up in positions exactly for the required key. But it is very important that the anchor in the text is not at the expense of the readability of the text;
- Incorrect linking often leads to pessimization of the site - as I said above, instead of pluses, you can also get minuses in the form of lower positions. Therefore, it is worth adhering to some important rules.
Ways to build linking
Now it would be possible to delve deeper into the schemes, but they are not so important, since they are rather difficult to implement and in most cases you will not succeed. The most competent option is the circular option, in which all pages are linked in a ring and form one chain.
From the picture above, you can see that each previous page links to the next, and the last one links to the first.
The great advantage of such a scheme is the even distribution of static weight between all documents, which will allow uniform promotion in the PS. It will not be such that some pages have a lot of weight, while others exist just for the sake of appearance.
The disadvantage is that when at least one page falls out, the entire circuit breaks and the static weight is lost. Therefore, a purely circular linking cannot be achieved. We will also have to make other connections that will link documents with other schemes, so that when a page falls out, the weight is preserved and the page is "in action".
Well, now to the methods that you need to use to link pages to each other with links. First of all, it is worth understanding that there is manual linking and automatic linking.
The manual method is implemented by putting links on each page either with html tags or by means of the engine (for example, WordPress) using the functions on the formatting panel in the page editor.
Both manual and automatic internal linking should be on the site and need to work together. But what goals do we pursue for each type? We begin in more detail about each method of construction below.
- The manual way of tying by the meaning. Includes linking when it is really necessary and has logic;
- Automatic method using linking plugins. They link pages by relevance, that is, by similarity. In my opinion, here are the 2 most successful solutions:
- Plugin
- Plugin
For both, I wrote detailed instructions with video tutorials. Both options have the ability to select styles for the similar post block at the end of each post. At the end of the article, you can see how this block looks for me with the Yet another related posts plugin plugin.
Such automatic linking is the most effective, since it has the highest click-through rate and the pages are not linked anyhow, but by the highest percentage of similarity.
By the way, the Related posts plugin has a very cool functionality that allows you to change links in a given bokeh of similar posts. Thus, you can experiment and make those links on each page of the site that will be most clickable. It is very important.
- The next option is manual linking by relevance based on search engine suggestions. This method is the most correct and most time consuming. It means searching for the most relevant pages of the site for a specific keyword and putting a link on it to the required document. In practice, it looks like this. You go to the desired search engine (under which you link the pages) and enter the address of your site with the desired key phrase, for which you should find the most target (relevant) pages for further linking.
The first link will always be the article itself, to which we want to link. We look at the following pages. They will be sorted by relevance in descending order. The snippet will highlight those phrases and words that can participate as an anchor when we add links. But we need the exact occurrence of the keyword, that is, in the form as it is, without changing the endings and diluting in other words.
In the image you can see that I am highlighting individual words that are included in my key phrase. In this case, I need to go to this page, from which we will link, and slightly change its content so that the key is in a direct entry. This can be achieved by adding or changing existing proposals, or at the end of the article add a line with the recommendation of an article.
This option is very good, since such a link is present at the end of the material at the border of the visitor making a decision about further actions on the site. After reading the material, he decides whether to leave the site or stay. We are pushing him for one more material on the topic. If it is possible to put a link inside an existing text, then do it without question, but then make sure that the key phrase was inside the text without compromising readability.
- The next construction method is random (random) internal linking. It is implemented, as a rule, with the same plugins. I once had a vivid example of such an implementation and I described it in an article about. There is a variant of implementation, when the links are put in a random way and each time the page is accessed, the block of similar records changes. This variant is suitable for.
- First, install one of the plugins for automatic linking. I gave examples above with links to detailed instructions on how to configure them;
- Secondly, when you publish at least 100 texts, start looking for the most relevant 3 documents for each page in order to leave a link from them in the form of an anchor with a keyword in the direct entry. To find relevant pages, use the output of the required search engine (site: site.ru keyword).
Common mistakes
- Link from the keyword of the page. Quite a difficult point. You write each article under the keywords and use them a certain number of times on the page, making an analysis of competitors. If the average number of keys is 3 after analyzing competitors, then the text does not need to include a link from one of these used keys, since after that it will not be involved in determining the relevance of the page. If you need a link from such a keyword, then add a part of the text with the same key and make it a link;
- More than one link from a page to the same document - you shouldn't put several links to the same page. A damping effect will occur and less weight will be transferred. Only one link per page;
- Overloaded pages - there are too many links to one document within the site. Such a page will have too much static weight, which could be distributed more evenly and give a more powerful leap in search results to more pages;
- We forget to pump fresh documents - the site should never stand still and as the articles grow, the linking should be refined. New articles should also participate in it. This is the most time-consuming process, since when new materials appear, you have to turn to old ones.
Scheme for linking to other pages
Here I will give a few tips that should be used together to make the linking work.
- 3 links at the end of each post by the automatic linking plugin;
- Manual placement based on relevance from search results. Try to use no more than 10 links from the document, as a large number of them interfere with readability;
- We refer to one document by 3 links. This is ideally so as not to pump too much;
- After the pages reach the TOP 10-20, we add 1 more link to them to add weight. After re-indexing the site, we check the positions. Was there an effect?
- Check the click-through rate of your links whenever possible, since click-through = efficiency. If the links are inoperable, replace them and again track the statistics of clicks;
- As you accumulate texts, update the linking.
At the end of this material, I would like to give a couple more tips that will certainly come in handy.
- First, try to set up tracking of statistics on clicks on the provided links. Links should be present for a reason, but have an effect;
- Secondly, track the statistics of the traffic counter for search phrases. There are many transitions from the search not for the main keywords, but for additional (diluted, modified). If there are such bold queries, then also pump them up with internal links with the appropriate anchors;
- Third, try to make click-through rates at all costs. If these are manual links, then links in the first paragraph work well, as well as at the very end of the text. If it is a block of automatic links (similar posts), then make them attractive. Don't make a simple list of links. Make miniatures as it grabs attention. It is also logical to place links next to images, which also throws itself into a manhole.
For now, friends! This is the material that came out. I hope that you will use all the information in the article when you link your materials on the site. I hope that I laid down a deeper meaning for you and now linking for you is something more than the simple linking that we see on most resources. At the end of the article, a video on the topic from specialists.
All friends! If you have any questions or edits, then write them in the comments. Until next time!
Best regards, Konstantin Khmelev!
Many webmasters and SEOs are familiar with the concept of linking. This term means the placement of internal links from one page of the site to another in order to transfer more weight to more significant pages. However, when working directly with the site, many questions arise, and the main one is: “What is a competent linking?”, Implying the fact that there is also an “illiterate” one. Let's try to understand the literacy of the internal linking of site pages.
User point of view
From the user's point of view, competently linked pages of the site make it possible to easily and simply navigate the site, saving the visitor's time to find the necessary information.
The crawler's point of view
Navigation is also important for a search engine spider in order to understand the structure of the site. However, internal links also affect the anchor list generated by bots and the static page weight ().
A competent linking can be called the one that optimally combines compliance with all three requirements:
- Navigation... Its convenience and minimum levels of nesting of any page of the site.
- Static weight... The most significant pages should be the most influential.
- Reference weight... The text of the link on the donor page should make it clear the topic and meaning of the content on the acceptor (both for the bot and for the user).
Let's take a look at each of these points.
Site navigation with competent linking
A site with more than one page has navigation, with the help of which users and search bots wander around the resource, studying it in detail. If the navigation is composed correctly, then any page of the site is no more than 2-3 clicks from the main page, since the higher the nesting level of the page, the less attention is paid to it due to its inaccessibility. With proper navigation on the site, there are no pages that cannot be reached by navigating through its internal links.
The easiest way to create good navigation is to place a menu of sections (subsections) that contain links to informative pages:
On complex sites (including portals), it is advisable to use techniques such as "breadcrumbs" and "tag cloud". In this case, even the oldest pages will be no further from the main page than in 3 clicks.
Why is it so important to have a minimum of page nesting levels? The fact is that with a high level of nesting, you can wait a long time for the indexing of pages, without waiting in some cases. The priority of such pages is low, and even if they get into the index, they will be updated very, very rarely.
Static weight distribution
Agree that the most significant website pages that you promote should have the most weight! With the help of linking, you can direct the static weight to a particular section, home page or other pages of the site.
Where to direct the weight depends on what type of queries you are promoting the site for. If this is a high-frequency (high-frequency) request, then most likely it is highly competitive, therefore it is better to optimize the main page for it, it usually has the maximum internal static weight, since all pages in the menu link to the main page.
With medium-frequency queries, it is better to promote second-level pages, you can put links on them from the main and internal pages, increasing the static weight of the sections.
You can also correctly distribute the weight on third-level pages for low-frequency queries, referring to them from the sections and the main page.
If you have only one request for promotion, try to have as many links to the promoted page from your own internal pages of the site. Competent linking in terms of redistributing static weight implies its maximum concentration on the pages being promoted.
Reference weight
It is clear that links that lead to the pages being promoted must have keys in the anchor, but there is a small trick here that is overlooked by some optimizers. Imagine that third-level pages (articles, news, blog posts, etc.) are linked to each other, and there are also links to them from the main sections. In total, for each article we have at least 2 links: one from the section, the second from another article (there may also be links from the main page or several from the pages of articles). It will be wise to use the key for each link in a different case.
Thus, competent linking means the optimal combination of its three components: competent navigation, competent weight distribution and competent placement of anchors.
Re-linking is linking pages of one site or different resources with hyperlinks. The word itself comes from the English word link, which can be translated as a link or link. If you correctly make the internal linking of the site, you can increase the positions on the promoted queries without extra money.
By using the internal potential of your site, you deprive yourself of any danger associated with building unnatural link mass.
What is interlinking for?
Internal linking consists in linking the pages of one resource with hyperlinks. Moreover, such linking is understood not as a single placement of links from page to page, but a system of links, their combination, which ensures the integrity of the entire resource.
Relinking is applied:
- As a tool for increasing the relevance (correspondence) of site pages to a query in search engines - each such link "tells" the search robot that this page meets a specific query;
- In order to increase the static weight of pages (it increases with the number of links to the page), which is important when promoting a resource in search engines;
- To speed up the indexing of new pages on the site. Let's say a search robot enters a resource page, finds a new link on it and follows it, indexing the article and entering it into the search engine database;
- To improve usability, that is, the convenience of using the site. It will be easier for the visitor to find similar materials, navigate the internal content of the resource.
Linking pages can be used within one site (internal or paginated linking) or between different sites (external linking).
Types of internal site linking
- Contextual;
- Through;
Contextual linking- this is the most convenient option in terms of SEO effect and benefits for visitors. Links installed on the pages of your site have an effect comparable to purchased ones. However, in addition to being useful, such links will help your site improve and. Correct internal linking of site pages contributes to user retention on the site, increasing the number of viewed pages and the time spent on the site.
Through linking- links to the same pages are located on all pages of the promoted site. One of the varieties of "pumping" the promoted pages of the site. The essence of end-to-end links is to increase the weight of the promoted pages. The main disadvantage is that, unlike contextual links, end-to-end links do not bring significant benefits to website visitors. Users will click on these links, but not massively.
Examples of internal page linking
SEO-optimizers use special techniques to make internal linking optimal and effective. For example, the most common are:
- Placement of links in the text of articles;
- Re-linking within the page by anchors;
- Compilation of lists of links at the end of articles;
- Drawing up a sitemap;
- Handling 404 error pages;
- FAQ creation.
Linking the text of articles- that is, links leading to other pages of the site are individual words or expressions that are part of the general semantic intent of the articles. This method is most effective in terms of SEO, and, in addition, it works to improve the usability of the site.
Re-linking within the page by anchors- at the beginning of the page, the content is created and when you click on one of the items, it transfers it to the corresponding heading.
Making lists of links at the end of articles- a list of similar materials at the end of the article you are currently reading.
Sitemap creation- in this case, a page is created containing links to all other pages of the resource. Due to the large number of transitions located on it, the page with the sitemap cannot have much authority. But its presence among other pages of the resource significantly speeds up its indexing.
Handling 404 error pages- if the robot could not find a page on the site - that is, followed a link that leads to a non-existent (deleted, changed) page - it is advisable to provide him with a link to the page relevant to the missing one.
Creating a FAQ- these are pages with questions and answers that allow you to additionally link specific keywords.
Internal site linking rules
It is best not to use many links on one page (optimally no more than 50), since the weight distribution occurs across all outgoing links. Close unnecessary links from indexing so that they do not interfere with your promotions in the top pages. This is very important for proper weight transfer. Close the section with tags from indexing so as not to produce and confuse search engine robots.
By following these simple rules, you can most intelligently distribute static weight between the pages of your site.
Automatic internal linking
This type of linking does not require a lot of time and effort from the webmaster: it is enough to configure all systems once and periodically check their work. And although it will not give such an effect in search engine promotion as manual linking, it is indispensable in terms of increasing user activity.
Automatic linking includes several types of work. The most basic:
- Sitemap creation... A high-quality site simply must have its own map - it allows users to easily navigate the sections and navigate the resource. Examples of implementation: on the Joomla platform - joomla sitemap, on WordPress - sitemap for WordPress.
- Conclusion of similar articles- under each article, the output of links to materials similar in topic or content is organized. Site visitors click on them, thereby winding up the behavioral factors of the resource, and this has a good effect on the position in the search results. For each type of engine (content management system) there are separate extensions that allow you to create an automatic display of similar content. However, this method has its drawback - there is a heavy load on the server.
- Automatic contextual links- one of the best methods of website promotion in search engines, which is the placement of internal links with key anchors (text content) right in the body of the article.
- So called Bread crumbs- internal links at the top of each resource material that show the user the path to the main page. For example, if there are many subcategories or articles on a site or blog, the visitor can easily get lost, and using this method, you can see your entire path. Such links are excellently indexed by search engines and bring their weight to certain pages.
Manual internal site linking
Manual linking is a rather laborious and time-consuming job, but it gives the most powerful and long-term effect. The most important thing to remember is that new content should link to old content.
There are several types of linking:
- annular;
- carousel.
Donut involves the creation of a vicious circle of links, with the transferred weight increasing as the “rings” increase.
The second, carousel option, is the distribution of weight from the main page to sections, then to subcategories and materials (as they say, "top to bottom"). When choosing a linking, it is important to keep in mind the existing structure of the site, as well as the general promotion strategy. Already using these factors, you can achieve a good result in promoting low-frequency requests to high places.
An important nuance - if you need to give many links to one page, it is advisable to dilute the anchor with different words, but so that it looks more natural. For example: "pie recipe", "meat pie recipe", "meat pie recipe", etc.
Correct linking of pages
Correct linking of site pages differs from incorrect linking, just like the headphones that are in your pocket, and the headphones that you, swearing, nevertheless unwound.
It's the same with linking on the site, if you don't think about it, it will be very difficult to unwind. So, correct linking is linking within the framework of a rigid scheme with a clear separation of the meaning of each page. Not the key query, but the meaning, since the key queries determine the meaning of the page.
In order to create a page structure, you must:
- collect a detailed semantic core;
- create a general structure of the site pages;
- create a logical structure of the site pages.
And then you will succeed competent linking of pages based on the logical structure of the page, which is based on the overall structure.
Basic linking schemes
The linking scheme depends on the goals set. In this case, the number of pages on the site can be any.
It is necessary to choose the scheme of internal linking in such a way that the internal link weight of the site is used to the maximum. High-frequency queries are usually promoted to the main page, medium-frequency queries to the second nesting level (section page), and low-frequency queries are promoted to the third nesting level and below (services and product pages).
The main rule to remember: there is no universal linking, since the choice depends on the promoted queries and the topic of the site.
Relinking for high-frequency requests
The essence of the scheme
The weight from all pages of the site is concentrated on the main page, which is tailored for high-frequency queries. For example, you can add links from the home page to second-level pages (medium-frequency queries). From the second-level pages back to the main page and the third-level pages (low-frequency queries). From the third level pages, you need to direct the weight through the links back to the main page.
The main page will be able to compete for high-frequency queries, but the pages of the second and third levels will have little weight and it will be difficult for them to compete even for low-frequency queries.
The essence of the scheme
Most often, this scheme is used for second-level pages. In this case, links should be placed from the main page to the pages of the second level, and from the second to the third and vice versa.
Suitable only for incorrect requests that imply a product group. If, for example, users are looking for "buy a laptop" without a specific brand, then this scheme is ideal for an online store.
The essence of the scheme
In this case, the maximum weight must be transferred to the pages of the site at the lowest level. At the same time, external links are much more useful not to the main page, but to internal pages. All materials need to be linked with each other.
Local linking schemes
Ring
The most popular and simpler linking scheme. In it, the pages are linked in sequential order and closed in a ring. The weight is distributed to the promoted page, the rest of the pages are auxiliary. Each page links to the next one. The trick is that the last page should always link to the first.
The circuit has a significant drawback. If 1 page is dropped, then the link is broken and all pages lose weight. Accordingly, the scheme loses all meaning.
In an improved version of the "ring" scheme, the pages link not only to the promoted and to the adjacent one, but also to each other. Thanks to this, the loss of one link in the chain does not bode well, the system will continue to work properly. But the scheme assumes the participation of at least four pages.
Star
Classic scheme. All pages in it are linked to each other.
This scheme is perfect if the promoted page simply does not exist or if several are promoted at once. With this method of linking, all pages of the site will be 100% independent from each other, and indexing (of high-quality content, of course) will significantly accelerate.
Hierarchical diagram
It is this linking scheme that operates on most of the Runet resources. On the one hand, it is more complicated than those described above, and on the other hand, it is very logical. For example, one page of the resource links to 2 others, which link to 2. As a result, these 4 pages link to the very first page. Thus, the page being promoted receives the maximum possible link weight, plus a sufficient number of links with the required anchors.
The hierarchical scheme of internal site linking is a reliable method. However, there were some difficulties. The main annoying problem: if any page fell out of the top of the hierarchy, this can significantly reduce the effectiveness of the scheme.
But there are still more advantages. For example, this technique allows you to promote any number of pages.
Relinking for a specific type of site
Corporate small page resource
On such sites, it is customary to focus the link weight on the main one. Pages of the second and third levels should link to the main page, which, in turn, will be inserted links to them. The second way: the main page of the site + the page of the second level is promoted. All third-level pages in such a scheme will link to second-level pages and to the main page. The method is relevant for sites selling services and corporate resources.
In the case of online stores, product pages are most often promoted. These are usually third-level pages. All pages of the first and second levels link to pages of the third level. At the same time, all pages of the third level are linked to each other along the ring.
Second option: both product pages and sections in which the product is located are promoted. In this case, the link weight is distributed between the promoted sections and pages with the presented product.
In conclusion, we can only summarize that for competent linking with maximum benefit for promotion, three rules must be observed:
- Well-tuned website navigation
- Using a suitable linking scheme
- Accurately selected link anchors
Promote your site correctly and do it comprehensively!
Internal linking is a subject of constant controversy. Some experts argue that building the correct site structure and distributing the weight of internal links is an extremely important mission, while others believe that this is a waste of time. I am an adherent of the first option, and you will understand why after reading this article.
So, internal linking is the process of redistributing static link weight with the formation of the necessary concentration on landing pages. Link weight consists of two parts: anchor (semantic, semantic) and static (trust) weight.
If you have taken care of filling the pages with relevant content, purchased high-quality links, and the site's positions do not grow as you would like, you should pay attention to the correctness of the internal linking. The first thing to do is to find a suitable scheme for requests of all types of frequency. There are an incredible number of such schemes, but we will consider the most common and available ones.
Faster site indexing by search robots.
Free movement of visitors through relevant pages (a little, but it helps to improve the PF).
Correct redistribution of the static weight of the resource and the ability to point to more relevant pages.
Simple site navigation, saving time, quickly finding the information you need are important factors for a modern user. Otherwise, it will simply go to another site.
It is important for the robot to obtain information about the structure of the resource. Competent correct interlinking of site pages is compliance with several requirements:
convenient navigation with a minimum level of page nesting;
static weight distribution - the most important pages should have more weight;
distribution of link weight - the anchor should correspond to the topic of the page to which it links.
Navigational- links to make it easier to read large text. Relevant for long pages with a large amount of content. An example of such a linking can be seen in any Wikipedia article - the menu at the beginning of the article allows you to quickly go to any section, and not search for information on your own throughout the "sheet".
End-to-end- repeated reference blocks. For example, this is a site menu that is present on all pages of a resource. These internal links are the most important for a search engine crawler - and their weight is higher.
Auxiliary or helpful- links that are placed at the bottom of the page. For a blog, these can be links to articles that are relevant to the topic, for an online store - to related products, etc. The purpose of these links is to improve user factors.
Basic steps when doing internal linking
On a website with a history, you need to study the linking system in detail and destroy all inappropriate links.
Identify the pages that need to be increased in weight and create a keyword list for them.
Optimize site pages (text, photos, meta tags) by keywords.
Proceed to linking.
different anchors should be used;
you need to use all of the listed types of linking for the naturalness of the pages;
link anchors should be short and natural, inserted in place and mentioned only once;
be sure to use "bread crumbs" - convenient navigation chains, so that the user understands where he is and what chain he came in;
when placing contextual links, the best solution would be to search for the most relevant pieces of text for the target query - they are contained by snippets that are displayed in the search results for pages when searching the site;
it takes 1-2 months to distribute the link weight within the site.
Before starting, you need to distribute all the pages of the resource into thematic groups: product categories, news, reviews, etc. After that, you need to choose a suitable linking scheme between pages in each group.
Advantages: fast and even distribution of static weight between pages belonging to the same thematic group.
Flaws: the ring will break (in the picture on the right) if at least one of the pages fails indexing. If this happens, the weight distribution will be incorrect. The weight of pages left without inbound links will be reduced.
What to do? The only way out is to create several rings of different sizes for different groups of pages using several linking methods.
In this diagram, all pages within a group refer to each other. The number of outgoing links is equal to the number of incoming links.
Advantages: a large number of incoming links on each page, there is less risk of weight loss when a page falls out of the index: more precisely, the weight will decrease, but not significantly.
Flaws: difficult to organize a layout for a large group of pages.
What to do? When organizing the linking of an online store, a good solution is to make the most popular product recommended on the page with another product. This type of linking will not always correspond to the "Star" scheme, but it allows working with large groups.
The scheme is represented by rings that intersect in a cross.
Advantages: organization of stable links - dropping out of the index even 3 pages will not affect the weight of other pages.
Flaws: manually organizing linking is almost impossible - you need to use automatic plugins and internal linking services.
What to do? For such a linking, it is better to draw up a preliminary diagram so as not to get confused.
To make the linking optimal, you need to use more complex schemes.
The linking scheme in the figure shows a high-frequency request (topmost) on the main page. From him, links go to 2 sections (as many as possible). Sections have subsections that are referenced by both the home page and the sections. Backlinks from both sections and subsections go to the home page. What does it do? Links from subsections return the weight to the main page, increasing it several times.
On the right is a diagram similar to the previous one. In this case, the subsections in this case are additionally "looped". This has reduced almost 2 times the weight on the home page, but this weight loss is offset by the emphasis on subsections.
General advice. The correct organization of internal linking is possible if you clearly understand what queries you are promoting: high-frequency, medium- or low-frequency.
After clustering queries, many are wondering how to build a site structure. One of the most important factors when working on the structure of a resource is the correct level of page nesting. Ideal - if even the most "distant" pages are available in 3 clicks. Here's an example diagram:
1 click - the first nesting level - the main page;
2 click - second level - heading / section;
3 click - third level - section materials (articles, products, etc.).
For small sites with about 100 pages or more, these requirements are easy to follow. Difficulties can arise with a large portal - a media outlet or an online store. The rule will not work here, but the intuitive structure, the presence of a sitemap, setting up "bread crumbs" and, of course, competent internal linking will save the situation.
CNC: what is it and why?
After distributing the pages by nesting level, you need to work on human-readable URLs. In a nutshell, these are links that allow the user to understand where he is on the site. That is, instead of the standard set of meaningless characters, the user, when looking at the link, will see the same breadcrumbs - the path that he made to the page, written in Latin or Russian letters. On popular cms, the creation of cnc URLs is already provided for by the functionality. But on some, you need to install the appropriate plugin for this.
You need to get rid of duplicate content or identical pages without wasting time. Without this, there will be a great risk of being sanctioned. Duplicates are a characteristic element of large sites at the stage of a change of ownership or a certain neglected period in development. If there are duplicates, first of all, you need to close them from indexing in Robots.txt, and then get rid of the generation of unnecessary pages.
This is the name given to the breadcrumbs needed for sites with a large number of pages and a nesting level of more than three. In most cases, a chain is a path to a specific page, starting from the main one. All the constituent elements of the chain are usually separated by hashtags or spaces. Ideally, they should be clickable - so that you can go to any stage of the path in one click. To install breadcrumbs, they usually write a unique code or use ready-made solutions (plugins).
We touched upon the basic elements of organizing the correct structure of the site and the correct internal linking. It will be difficult to achieve the perfect result on your own - therefore it is better to entrust this mission to a specialist.
