Monthly Archives: July 2022

Internal linking for SEO: Why and how?

This entry was posted in SEO on by .

Internal linking plays an important role in search engine optimization, or SEO, as it helps the search engines index and understand your website. The best type of internal links are those that are relevant to users and search engines alike, help users navigate your site more easily, and help search engines better categorize your content. This guide will walk you through what internal linking is, why it’s important to SEO, and how you can implement it on your website.

3D illustration of computer keyboard with the script Internal Links on two adjacent buttons, and two links of chain connecting these butons.

What is internal linking?

Internal linking is simply using your content to point readers directly to other pages on your site. Rather than having someone land on a single page and then try to go elsewhere, internal links make it possible for visitors to get where they want without ever leaving your site. Internal links provide much more value than external links, which only direct people offsite, so using them as part of search engine optimization is a great idea. Here’s why you should use internal links for SEO services.

Let’s start with something simple: navigation menus. Many sites rely solely on navigation menus at either the top or bottom of each page, but if you’re trying to improve SEO rankings, you need to be more creative about directing users around your site in an organized way that will appeal to search engines like Google.

 

Things to remember about internal links

Some internal links are even more important than most external links when it comes to search engine optimization. These canonical pages have only one URL, so they’re easier to crawl and index. If a search bot sees multiple versions of a URL from different domains (i.e., on linked sites), then it could think that those versions represent duplicate content or spammy tactics designed to inflate search rankings. When you link to your own site from within, you’re showing Google that these pages are part of your website and not someone else’s. The same goes for links within social media posts—they help Google determine which URLs should be included in its index.

 

How to add value with your internal links

When we link to pages within our site, we are directing people to a valuable part of our site. We have complete control over what that valuable part contains. So why not add something extra? By adding a description or additional information about an internal page, we are giving value to both new visitors and return visitors who might be interested in another aspect of your site. This can also help search engines decide which results are most relevant for a particular search query.

 

The dangers of too many internal links

Having too many internal links isn’t just an annoyance—it’s a potential search engine killer. When you start to hit high numbers of outgoing links (aka, internal links), you start to create what we call link ambiguity. If Google detects too many of these kinds of links on your site, it may interpret that as

8 Must-Haves For Your Content Guidelines: What Your Writers Need To Know For SEO Success

This entry was posted in SEO on by .

Why do you write content? Is it to keep your readers interested and engaged? Or to impress search engines with the volume of your website’s content? No matter what you hope to accomplish, you can only achieve your goals if you know exactly what they are and how to tell if you’re succeeding or failing to reach them. This article discusses the essentials you need in your content guidelines so that writers understand what they must do, and so that readers know what they can expect when they click on links from your site.

#1 – Keyword Research
Identify a primary and secondary keyword for each piece of content you’re creating. The main idea of your content should be incorporated into these keywords to ensure high SERP rankings. This is also a great opportunity to promote backlinks from other websites through interlinking your content. When writing, don’t forget to include an H1 title tag that includes your business name and keyword!

#2 – Link Acquisition
Links are backlinks from other websites to your website. Search engines view links as a vote for that website’s authority. They treat them as votes in their PageRank algorithm and use them to determine search engine rankings.

#3 – Metadata
I probably shouldn’t have to tell you how important SEO is for your website’s traffic and page rank, but just in case, I will. You need your writers to include a few standard keywords, like SEO Company Ventura or SEO Company Ventura County. Ensure that their on-page optimization (optimization of content for search engines) meets or exceeds Google’s standards.

#4 – Naming Conventions
The Most Crucial Part of On-Page Optimization – Naming conventions are perhaps one of the most critical elements of a website. Proper naming conventions will ensure that your content can be found by search engines for years to come. The trick is that you have to consider both human readability and search engine optimization (SEO) when creating names for your website’s pages, posts, categories, tags, etc.

#5 – Image Requirements
When writing your posts, be sure to use at least one image. This can be as simple as using a photo from Flickr or a creative commons licensed photo that is attributed to Creative Commons. Just because you’re not sharing revenue doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have an eye on search engine optimization (SEO). While many people often think of keyword density when they consider their SEO strategy, it is also important to ensure that your content looks friendly and user-friendly.

#6 – Distribution & Curation Guidelines
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an important part of your content marketing strategy, but there’s a difference between having content that ranks well and having high-quality content. With regards to creating great content, here are some must-haves for your distribution and curation guidelines. #1 – Include A Link Back To The Original Source: When you share someone else’s content on social media or link to it in an email newsletter, be sure to include a link back to their site. This will not only help them gain traffic from your post, but it will also give them credit for their work—which can help boost their search rankings. It’s easy to forget about including a link when you get caught up in sharing something cool, so make sure your writers know that links are important! #2 – Don’t Forget The Image: Adding an image is one of the easiest ways to increase engagement with any piece of content. It’s also really simple to do if you use Google Drive as your CMS platform; just create an image using Google Drawings and insert it into your post.

#7 – Publishing Schedule
We realize you can’t be on your computer 24/7, but we do expect that when it’s time to publish, you’ll be there. We want to know what days and times you prefer for publishing so we can plan accordingly. If you are available every day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., let us know that in your guidelines! This way, if our writers have an idea at 1 p.m., they know they can send it over without worrying about whether or not you’re online. Also make sure to include how quickly you need articles back after sending them off—is it two hours? Three days? A week?

#8 – Branding Elements & Repurposing
This means that, if you’re a retailer (or any business really), certain aspects of your content will be evergreen and can be repurposed over time. Every once in a while, go back through your content guidelines to see what aspects are evergreen and that you can use again. Once you find these topics, add them to your editorial calendar so they’re included as a permanent fixture in future content rounds.