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External links are links that are not on your domain that are pointed to your domain. Google looks at the linking relationships between sites to determine where sites will be ranked. This is why it is important to get links to your website from other quality sites, the other sites transfer some value to your site. The problem is that too often all the time and money put into search engine optimization is spent on this area. Internal linking should not be overlooked.

Internal links are links from within your domain to other pages also in your domain; these also contain some link value. Internal linking increases site usability for visitors, makes pages on your website more visible, and helps to boost your page rank with the search engines. Essentially site visitors appreciate this effort and so do search engines so it's a win win for everyone.

There are two types of internal linking, site navigation links and content links. Site navigation links direct visitors around to the major pages on your website. This type of linking is typically found on the top or side navigation of a website. Content links are a part of the content of the website. As a visitor is reading the content these links take them to pages that are specifically about the topic they clicked on and allow the visitor to learn more.

In order to have a better link value distribution with internal navigation you want to minimize the number of links you include on one page. As an example, let's say you have a link value of 100 on your home page. You have 5 leads on the homepage to other pages on your site, which is a relatively low number. With a value of 100 divided between 5 sites, and considering some value loss or decay, each page would then have a value of 17. If you only had 1 link on the homepage then the page to would get a value of about 85. If you have 25 on the page the link value for each of them would be about 3.4.

The more links you have on a page the lower the value. As the link value goes down, the ability for those pages to rank in the search engines, with no other SEO help, also goes down. This means that you really need to consider the number of links that you're putting on one page of your website. You want to send the value of your page to the pages that are most important to rank. From your homepage you should link to only the most important pages on your website to help increase the rankings of those pages.

When you have numerous links to other websites, or numerous links to other blog posts you are diluting the link value to your most important pages, the pages that will bring in the traffic from search engines. Other links should be included on the site map or on subpages. Keep the bulk of the value pointed to the important pages.

TIP- Review the links that you have on your homepage and remove links to non-revenue generating pages. When you move these links to other subpages you will increase your chances of the important pages ranking better in the search results.

Additional internal linking search engine optimization tips:

• Anchor text for internal links in content should be keywords that are relevant to the page they are linking to.
• Bullet lists linking to other pages on your site are a good way to use internal links.
• Sitemaps and footers offer more opportunities for internal linking.
• Limit the number of outgoing links on your website. Those sites then lower the SEO juice going to your pages.
• Build specific pages for your keywords and your products.
• Blogs are helpful in navigating to topics on your website. Content in blog posts should connect and lead to related products or webpages.

At seo-st-louis.com learn search engine optimization tips and tools from those in the industry and find ways to increase your website's online presence and improve your reach.