Thread by @darth_na

17/🧵
Part 2
🚨::: Internal Links - What, Why, When, Where and How ::: 🚨

(Part 1 =

https://twitter.com/darth_na/status/1451591561460998150

)

The second Thread covers the 2 bits you are likely more interested in:
* SEO
* Optimisation
of Internal links.

Please Retweet

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#SEO #InternalLinks

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:: SEO ::
Finally - the bits you’ve been waiting for!
SEO aspects of Internal Links:
* Crawling
* Indexing
* Ranking
* Hybrid

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Crawling :
SE’s (can/do/may) use links for URL discovery - they note the destination of the URL and add it to a crawl queue.

(They may also note “patterns”, and attempt to “guess” URLs, sometimes looking at JS etc. to do so.)

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Indexing :
Links also contribute towards Topicality (Relevance, via Link-text/Image Alt Attrib.).

But it’s not just the Destination URL they hold influence for!
The “content” of the link may also influence the Origin page too!

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Ranking :
The most well known aspect of Links (Inbound/Outbound and Internal) is of course “PageRank” and “Authority”.

Internal links pass value, similar to InBound and OutBound links,
and aid in distributing the value of InBound Links to other pages.

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Then we have hybrid influences, such as;

Crawl priority :
This can be influenced by how “important” a page appears to be, including the quantity of Internal and InBound links, the “depth of linkage” (how many clicks from X to Y), and the “value” of the linking pages.

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Canonical selection :
Though you might indicate a preferred URL via the Canonical link element (CLE),
Google may choose a different URL if you have duplicates/highly similar content.

This may be influenced by ILs (quantity, value, prominence etc., as well as IbLs).

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As you can see - Internal Links play a Massive role in On-Site Optimisation.

(No, I have no idea why so many SEOs ignore/forget this!)

And this leads us to ... Optimisation!

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::: Optimising :::

Optimising Internal Links is not as straightforward/simple as it sometimes seem (or some people suggest).

There are multiple (possible) facets of Internal Links to consider, which can make things more complicated (if you want to "optimise").

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Link Features :
* Visibility (or requires User Interaction)
* Number of links to the same destination
* "Link text" of link
* If there are multiple links to the same destination (Menu + In-content etc.)
* Number of links on the page (Internal, Internal+OutBound)

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Link Features (Cont. 1) :
* Number of pages linking to destination
* Value of linking page(s)* Type of Link (In-content, Nav, Contextual etc.)
* Visual position of link (page)
* Visual position/order of link (within type/block)

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Link Features (Cont. 2) :
* Styling of link (bigger/bolder, smaller/weaker etc.)
* Variant Destination URL (and canonicalisation!)
* Hierarchal position of linking page (click depth/ease of reach)
etc.

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When you consider some of those, you can see why there is no singular "best practice", as it can (does!) depend on the site/page, content type/purpose, design/structure of the site etc.

So, when you see people
"link to at least 5 other pages"
(subtweeting),
it's BS!

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So, rather than "hard and fast" tips, here's a bunch of loose ones for you to think of, to help guide you.

1) Limit your "link blocks"
Some pages make sense to have "recent" or "hottest" links etc., others do not!

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2) Consider converting Non-Contextual to Semi-Contextual
See if you can use "recent" or "popular",
but in a contextual way (recent products of type X when on the Category X page, rather than non-category items being listed).

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3) Remember, non-permanent links may cause fluctuations
If you use non-permanent links (contextual, non-contextual (or semi) links), these tend to rotate/change over time!
Ranking benefits may slowly decline over time (good for getting initial crawl/index though! :D).

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4) Don't use "dumb" automated links!
a) Try to manually select at least a few "contextual" links that appear after/next to main content
b) Avoid auto-linking "keywords" (47 links in the same page to the same destination is stupid).

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5) Use informative "Link Text"
Do not use dummy/stub content, such as "click here".
If possible, use a bit of context, not just "the keyword".
Consider using the main Heading or Title of the destination, or a variation of it.

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6) Don't vary "Link Text" (A) (too much)
a) If you link to the same destination 2+ times,
the link text should ideally be identical (else the user may think it's for different pages).
b) Unless you are using Fragments (inc. scroll to text),
then variation makes sense

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7) Don't vary "Link Text" (B) (too much)
You will likely link to Page X from multiple other pages.
All of those links should ideally have the same/highly similar "link text".
(Do NOT have 20 internal links, with 5+ very different link texts)

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8) Don't "hide" your links (if you can help it)
If you are linking from Page A to Page B,
it should be to help the User go from A to B.
Hiding links in interactive blocks may not be ideal

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9) Consider the User Journey/Stage flow
Depending on the nature of the site, you may have multiple pages that cover each separate stage of the consumer journey (or should have!!!).
Make sure you interlink each stage to the previous/next stage

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10) Less is more!
The more links, the more the page value may be divided (less value through each link).
So clearly, the fewer links, the more value that may pass to the destination.

11) Don't skimp!
Tip (10) does Not mean you should skip logical/helpful links!

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12) Assign appropriately
Not all pages have equal value to the business/site.
Ideally, you want more links to "action" pages than "supporting" pages.
Thus Products should have more links to them than the care page or buyer guide (you do have those pages, right?)

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13) Watch your Pagination!
Sometimes, the default Pager setup is a bit sucky, and may lead to an unnecessary number of links.
If so, consider limiting to X number, including First, Last, Previous, Next and a few pages either side of current.
(Use a Jump to page form to!)

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14) Avoid "NoFollow"
Seriously - there are very few cases where the use of the nofollow rel attribute is required on Internal Links.
It does Not conserve PageRank or such (G fixed that a decade ago!)

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15) Avoid "blocked" pages
Not always avoidable, but linking to pages that aren't crawlable (robots.txt disallowed), or indexable (noindex meta-robot or x-robot header) means the value basically gets wasted/lost.
(No, nofollow won't help "conserve" that value!)

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16) Consider the "PageRank"/Value of the page
The more "value" the page has, the more value that is meant to pass through the links.
This means you could potentially concentrate that value, or spread it out amongst more pages (depending on value, goals and destination(s)).

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17) There is no "best number" of Internal Links
As per (16), there is no "optimum" or "minimum" number of Internal Links you should have.
(Seriously, 5 links minimum? Get off the bus!)

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18) Push new and/or deeper content via Important/Prominent pages
Some pages will have a lot of "link value".

You may/can get new pages crawled/indexed quicker,
or get more bot attention to "deeper" pages by linking from stronger/prominent pages.

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19) Mind your Canonicals!

domin,tld/directory/page?x=1&y=2&z=3
domin,tld/directory/page?z=3&x=1&y=2
domin,tld/directory/page?y=2&z=3&x=1

All of these will (typically) show the same content,
they are the same page.
Unless you're a bot.
Then it's 3 different URLs!

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20) Link to your preferred Canonical
In some cases, there are legit reasons to have duplicate pages, or variants.
You may use the Canonical Link Element to point to your preferred version.

But if you then go an link to a different version,
G may choose that instead!

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21) Old to New
Quite often, you will see new articles, with links to previous pieces.

Yet you will then notice that they do not go back, edit the older pieces, and link to the newer!

Do it!

Link your old to new, benefit from in-content, relevant links!

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50/* (For @clorinda__ :D)

22) New to Old
Tip (21) does not mean you shouldn't link to older content. In some cases, it makes perfect sense.
But, do stop and think.
Ask yourself (or check your data!) if the older page serves any business or user purpose.
(possibly merge?)

Okay ... is that enough,
or do people really want a longer thread, with more tips, thoughts or suggestions?

:D