How to Win SEO Gold: Internal Linking

Hi friend,

Sandra from Avalanche here, weighing in on internal links and why you need them.

Over the course of my career in SEO, I’ve had clients ask multiple times why they need to use internal links to other parts of their website. I understand why they’re asking—to the typical client though, it might not make much sense. Why use internal links when the user can just click on other parts of your website?

In actuality, website users tend not to think like that.

Internal Links Are Like Gold for SEO

External links are more like silver or bronze: Still valuable, but not as much.

Part of the reason why search engines place such a high value on internal links is because they know users love exploring websites that are organized and easy to navigate. While external links can show you know what you’re talking about, internal links help you get something more valuable: Link equity.

Link equity is the factor that enables search engines to determine your level of authority through your content. When Google deems a page on your site to be a good source of information, it puts a lot of link equity into that particular page.

By linking that page to other pages on your site, you can distribute link equity even further.

How to Stick the Landing with Internal Links

However, internal linking takes some finesse—like Simone Biles combining one of her signature flips with some artistic dancing during her floor routine.

You can’t simply drop a plain link onto your page and expect to rake in the link equity. Associating your links with meaningful text, such as relevant keywords. Google highlighted how to do this in a video about internal linking last week.