One of the most important areas within search engine optimization is link building. Most people interpret link building mainly as the creation of inbound links; however, this is only part of the
strategy. Internal links, in many cases, can be just as important as inbound links as they help your site get indexed better, assist in “tying” your website’s page(s) content together, passes link juice to other pages and helps to achieve a better overall navigation structure of your website. The search engines give special consideration to a website that has a natural balance of interlinked web pages to include, but not limited to the home page, main and sub pages and the site map.
From a search engine’s perspective, they want to send searchers to the most relevant and comprehensive websites regarding subject matter. They also realize the website itself needs to be structured logically from a content development and navigation standpoint in order to be most effective. What am I getting at? It is not just about creating web pages with header and footer links; the pages content needs to be structured with a similar mindset. Some of my techniques are: Providing one anchor text link within the copy to an existing page (on our site) which is talking about a similar subject. Another good tactic is to periodically link to your home page as it is typically the most important page on your website. Finally, as you are developing page content such as a weekly blog post, you can create a series of blog posts about a particular subject and eventually link them together once your final post is completed. Not only does this tell the visitor they are reading good subject matter, the search engines realize it to and will reward you for it with higher rankings.
About the Author: Rhett DeMille, the owner of PalmettoSoft, is a leading search engine optimization consultant located in the Charlotte NC and Charleston SC areas.
