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Importance of Internal Links
Link Popularity Exchange Article by Mick Liebner

Internal links as the name implies are links that point to pages within your own web site. Internal Links are important for two primary reasons.

1) INTERNAL LINKS help search engines and visitors find your content.
2) INTERNAL TEXT LINKS describe what the link points to.

Did you notice in number 2 that it says TEXT LINKS in CAPS?

Internal links are the most under utilized opportunity to add relevance to a web sites pages. An example of an internal link is the oft-used text link HOME, which points to the home page of webmaster’s sites that have yet to discover that they could get more benefit from the text link with descriptive text instead of “home”.

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Yes, internal links can be very powerful indeed. Simply switch that HOME text link that appears on tons of pages within your site and change the link text to a keyword phrase that reflects upon the page content. Hmmm... something in the title of the home page would be nice. After all TITLES have your important keywords, right? I bet the TITLES don’t say HOME! Hey, can you blame the search engines for thinking your link text goes to a page about HOME or MENU or FAQ or CLICK HERE. Why not get a free ranking boost and make your internal text links count! Use keywords in those LINKS! Take control and tell the engines what you want them to know about the pages that links point to!

OK, back to the power of INTERNAL LINKS. You have an opportunity within the framework of your own site to cast votes and tell the search engines which of your pages are important AND what the pages are about by using descriptive LINK TEXT. One simple change like replacing HOME in text links with a search phrase could tip the scales in your favor and boost your ranking!

Not using keyword rich TEXT LINKS on your site? Are all your links embedded in JAVA or perhaps stuck in IMAGE LINKS?

Do you have links that say CLICK HERE or ENTER???

I say RUN don’t WALK... open your HTML editor fast and replace your DUD TEXT LINKS, IMAGE LINKS and JAVA LINKS with keyword rich text links. You have the power to tell Google what your pages are about by utilizing DESCRIPTIVE LINK TEXT.

Take a close look at the top ranking sites for your keywords and phrases and I guarantee you that they utilize descriptive link text within their web site. You should too! And if they are NOT!!! Kaboom! You have an opportunity to sneak up ahead of them in the rankings.

While we are on the subject of INTERNAL LINKS I ask you: do you have any pages deep within your site that you would like to have rank high in the search engines? I am referring to sub pages perhaps... a directory or articles that have many pages buried within your site. If you want the search engines to NOTICE those pages you need to cast VOTES for them by spreading the links on your most popular pages. Think about it from the perspective of a search engine spider. If there are zero or very few internal links to those web pages, is it possible that they could have IMPORTANT CONTENT? Not likely. If those pages were important there would be INTERNAL LINKS to them. EXTERNAL LINKS as well, but since we’re on the topic of INTERNAL LINKS why not vote for these pages with links and let the search engines know you want rankings for these pages too!

A site map is a good start, but you also need to place KEYWORD RICH TEXT LINKS on several if not many of your web sites pages and cast your votes. Simply copy and paste a bunch of your secret links onto several of your top pages. They won’t be a secret much longer!

Mick Liebner lives with his Jack Russell Terrier Milo in sunny Sherman Oaks, California and is constantly writing articles on webmaster tools and resources as well as working on ways to make his numerous web sites better. Among his web sites are aMillionAndOne.com, WhoIsHotNow.com, LinkPopularityExchange.com and CreativePower.us

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