5 Internal Linking Frameworks I used to grow to 1.5 million monthly visitors

We receive 1.5 million monthly SEO traffic for our startups. Our success can be attributed to our exceptional content creation and optimization techniques.

However, that’s not all there is to it. We also have a robust marketing strategy that involves link building.

In this blog, I will be sharing five frameworks we use for internal linking.

Here are the five frameworks:

• Carefully designed site structure
• Content hubs
• Internal linking engine
• SEO juice flow
• Audit engine

Before we get into the details of each of these frameworks, let us first understand the importance of internal linking.

What is the significance of internal linking for your website’s SEO?

Internal linking is significant for your website’s SEO because it helps search engine crawlers to navigate and understand the structure of your website more effectively. By using internal links, you can signal to search engines which pages on your site are most important and how they relate to one another. This can help to improve the visibility of your site in search engine results pages (SERPs) and increase organic traffic.

Additionally, internal linking can improve the user experience of your site by helping visitors to discover related content and navigate between pages more easily. This can increase the time visitors spend on your site and reduce the bounce rate, which are both factors that can indirectly impact your site’s search engine rankings.

Overall, a well-planned and executed internal linking strategy can have significant positive effects on both the SEO and user engagement of your website.

In summary, internal linking helps:

1. Pass on authority between pages
2. Google to crawl your website easily
3. Improves user experience of visitors

Now let’s jump into the frameworks in detail.

Framework 1: Carefully designed site structure

Internal linking is an important part of any successful SEO strategy. One of the first steps to optimize your internal linking is to get your site structure right.

Why is a good site structure so crucial?

Firstly, a well-planned site structure helps to eliminate orphan pages, which are pages on your site with no internal links. These orphan pages can harm your site’s visibility and decrease the effectiveness of your internal linking.

Secondly, a proper site structure enables search engines to crawl all of your pages easily and in a structured way. This, in turn, can help your pages rank better in search engine results pages.

Finally, a carefully designed site structure helps to identify sub-folders or pages for which you need to build authority.

So, how can you get your site structure right?

Here are some tips:

• Organize all pages into well-thought-out sub-folders.
• Make sure that every new page you create is placed in the correct sub-folder.
• Your site structure should be like a tree, with similar sub-folders or pages placed at the same level. For example, all categories can be at root + 1 level.

Remember, your URL structure doesn’t have to be the same as your site structure. For instance, your product pages can be at Homepage → Category → Sub-category → Product, but your URL can simply be xyz.com/product/<<product-name>>. This will help you avoid long URLs like xyz.com/<<category>>/<<sub-category>>/<<product-name>>.

In conclusion, carefully designing your site structure is an essential first step in optimising your internal linking strategy. By following the tips outlined above, you can help your site rank better in search engine results pages and improve the overall user experience.

Framework 2: Content Hubs

Once you have planned your website structure, the next step in optimising your internal linking strategy is to identify and create “content hubs”. Content hubs are simply pages that can be grouped together under a specific topic, such as all the blogs you write for a category or all the feature pages for a product.

Why are content hubs important?

Firstly, creating content hubs makes it easier to interlink pages that are under the same topic. This can help increase the visibility of your site and lead to better search engine rankings.

Secondly, content hubs enable SEO juice to flow across pages. This means that if one page in a content hub receives good authority, the goodness is passed on to the other pages in the same hub.

Finally, by creating content hubs, you can help your site gain “topical authority” from Google. This means that search engines recognize your site as an authority on a particular subject, which can further improve your search engine rankings.

So, how can you create content hubs?

Here are some tips:

• The top-level page should be your landing page, such as a list of blogs or a product page.
• All other pages in the content hub should be children of the top-level page, such as individual blog posts or feature pages for a product.

By following these tips, you can help your site become more organised and increase the visibility of your content. Overall, content hubs are an effective way to optimise your internal linking strategy and improve your site’s search engine rankings.

Framework 3: Internal Linking Engine

While adding internal links to your website can be beneficial, doing so without a proper structure or set of guidelines can have little to no impact. To ensure that your internal linking strategy is effective, it’s important to establish guidelines that are followed for every page on the website.

Why is this so important?

Firstly, having a set of guidelines ensures that a uniform internal linking structure is followed across the website. This can help to improve the visibility and rankings of your site.

Secondly, all pages get properly internally linked from the moment they are created, which is crucial for proper search engine optimization.

So, how can you establish guidelines for your internal linking strategy?

Here are some tips:

• Set specific rules for internal linking, along with minimum and maximum thresholds on the number of links for each page.
• Use a sample engine to determine the optimal number of internal links. For example, you might set a minimum of 2 internal links from pages under the same topic, and a minimum of 3 internal links from other parts of the website.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your internal linking strategy is effective and helps to improve the overall SEO of your website.

Framework 4: SEO Juice Flow

Internal linking is a powerful way to distribute the authority or “goodness” of your “power” pages to all other pages on your website. However, it’s important to create and identify these power pages to ensure that your internal linking strategy is effective.

Why are power pages important?

Firstly, links from your power pages can help to boost the rankings and visibility of other pages on your website.

Secondly, it can serve as a powerful tool when you want to promote certain pages or sections.

Creating power pages

• Research topics that people like to link to and create content around them. This could involve doing outreach to other websites in your niche.
• You can also attract links organically by writing on statistics and guides, and ranking high on Google.

Identifying power pages

• Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush to show you page authority and the number of domains linking to a page.
• Sort all pages on your website by page authority. The top pages in the list are your power pages.

Using power pages

• Keep a list of your power pages handy, and use them strategically when you want to boost or promote any page on your website.
• Make sure you don’t abuse the number of links from these power pages, or the authority will get diluted.

By creating and identifying power pages on your website and using them strategically in your internal linking strategy, you can help to boost the rankings and visibility of your website, and drive more traffic to your pages.

Framework 5: Audit Engine

In order to maintain a successful internal linking strategy, it is crucial to periodically review and address any errors. Conducting routine SEO audits can provide a valuable list of action items to improve your website’s performance.

Why is it important to perform regular SEO audits?

Firstly, it can help identify low-hanging fruit opportunities to improve your website’s internal linking.

Furthermore, website errors such as broken internal links or orphan pages can impact your page authority and negatively affect your website’s rankings.

So, how do you conduct an effective SEO audit?

Utilise an SEO tool to perform a thorough site audit and identify potential issues such as orphan pages, broken internal links, and internal links to redirected pages.

It is recommended to set a frequency for these audits and regularly addresses any errors to keep your website functioning at its best. For example, conducting an audit every 2 months can ensure that any issues are caught and resolved in a timely manner.

Conclusion

A solid internal linking framework is essential for improving the user experience and SEO of your website. By strategically linking pages within your website, you can help users discover relevant content, reduce bounce rates, and improve the overall structure and authority of your site.

Through the use of the above internal linking strategies, I was able to grow my website to 1.5 million monthly visitors. However, it’s important to note that implementing an internal linking strategy is an ongoing process that requires constant monitoring and adjustments.

By prioritising internal linking as part of your overall SEO strategy, you can drive more traffic to your website and improve its overall performance.