Frank Schulte-Ladbeck

We leave our website’s url all over the net to build links, but we forget how important it is to build links internally.

I was running SEO SpyGlass to examine my links and that of my competitors. After running a report on semrush, I thought upon my site’s architecture, and how different users move via internal links on that site. External link building is improtant, and new site owners are geared towards building those links; yet they forget that internal links within their own site can help them out. One fact which struck home when looking at the semrush report is that pages are ranking well for a given term; however, these were not always the page or keyword that I wanted to emphasize. I began considering how I want people to move through my site, and how they actually might wish to use the site.

    You will rank high for keywords that have nothing to do with the true intent of your site. This could be because you mispelled a word (one site I was analyzing was doing well with the term “flood plane” instead of “flood plain”- apparently many people type in the wrong term). This could be because no one else thought to write about an obscure topic. This has happened to me more than once, because I was answering a question a client asked through a post. More often you will find that you are ranking for a longtail phrase, which is great since these users convert more often.  Once you begin to understand why visitors come to your piece of the net, you may find that they have quite varied reasons for coming to read your work. In my home inspections site, I have three basic groups: real estate investors from around the country; possible clients (home buyers or sellers); and homeowners curious about their homes. My main business focuses on the second group, but I was told once that you never know what opportunities may present themselves, so be sure you are paying attention to take advantage of the situation. The fact is members of all three groups have hired me. For thos coming to the site for information, there may be ways to provide a service that could pay me well. With that goal in mind, I considered ways to make the user experience more pleasant.
    I created a hub page for a specific segment to be the landing page for them. This page has quick links to the most popular parts of the site for that group, then I gave them examples as to how they could use the site to the better advantage. If you think of the site structure, you could imagine a pyramid. The top point is my home page. The base is filled with the articles. The hub page becomes a page between those articles and my home page. My home page could be optimized for keyword A, while the hub page is optimized for keyword B. All articles relating to keyword B should now point to that hub through internal links.
   Internal links could be easier to create than you think. One person I studied writes for a site about marketing, blogging, social media, and using the internet to advance your business. Her business site has zero internal links. Zero. Each post stands alone, so users would have to search to find items on related topics. Many users will not go looking for those other posts. If they were encouraged, they might. Yet this expert misses the opportunity to keep a user on her site to make the sale. This is why I love WordPress. There are plugins which will create internal links for you. A related posts plugin will add posts with similar tags to the end of your article (this is why proper tagging is importnt). There also happens to be a wonderful plugin that scans your post or page to find words related to other posts or pages, called SEO Smart Links. It places the link into the post for you. There you have it. Links from one page to another in your site with no effort.

    You should take the time to handcraft some links on your own. In my example of a hub page, I want all of the pages that I see as related to the keyword B to point back to the hub. In my case, I am trying to have users see that other sections may be of benefit to them. I have a photo gallery that does not contain the keyword B; however, the photographs help users interested in B understand that term better. I place a link to the gallery from the hub page explaining why it is important, then on each page of the gallery, I place a link back to the hub page to make it easier for the user to navigate back to the hub, so they will hopefully explore more of the site. Yes, I could have the page listed in my navigation bar, so maybe the link does not need to be there.
   Providing users with too much information at once can overwhelm them. I like using drop down menus on the free themes that I create, because they help with creating a cleaner look. On sites that I create for a specific person, I prefer to get rid of the automatic page menu creation code. I shape the flow/structure of the site by listing relevant pages where I want them. For some sites, I want TOS pages in the footer; sometimes I want them in the header. I have seen sites with far too much information being thrown at the user. It is better to help guide them to find what they want than to show them everything that you could offer them. Plus, by coding the pages that I want into the menu bar, I can use the phrases (read keywords) that I want for a certain page. To  accomplish this on your site (WordPress), open the header.php in your admin panel. Look for a section with a code class=”nav”. Find something like the following bit of code: <?php menu_items(); ?> ; remove it. Then place the pages that you want dispalyed between the <ul> </ul> elements. This part will contain an attribute indication to the browser to look at your css (stylesheet) file for how you want the navigation bar displayed. So you may see <div class=”nav”><ul>code indicating pages</ul></div>. The code that you will replace the original code with will look like this: <a href=”example.com/my_page/” title=”keyword C”>Keyword C</a>. That creates a link, while making the site more usable through the inclusion of the title attribute.
So what steps should you take for creating a better site architecture through internal linking:
step1: define different users
step 2: how do they use the site, and how could they use the site
              Think about this. Plan out how the site can be made to better serve the user before you start making changes. Work everything out by creating maps or lists or whatever works for you. What you do not want is to be changing the site around a lot in front of the user. Have your plan, then execute it.
step 3: do you need to create a new landing (hub) page, or would a current page suffice
              I add the last bit, because you may find that there is an audience that does not need more than the post that you already have in place. For example, I have visitors coming to my site for flood plain information. I do not want to create a central hub, but thsi page may be what they need. Their experience may be enhanced by other posts that hit upon related topics, which do do not show up in the links created by the plugins, so I could add them to this page.
step 4: go to the appropriate pages to edit them to include a link to your hub page.
               A quick way to find pages on a site that has a large number of pages would be to use the tag cloud or site search. When you go to the page, most developers include an “edit this entry” link for you. Click on the link, and add your link to the page. Update the post, and move onto the next one.
step 5: does the hub page need to be linked from any other page.
               Remember people will have to find the hub page, so you may need a link from the home page or other specific page to your new page.
Any other ideas?

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