{"id":738,"date":"2022-01-14T12:57:40","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T12:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/14\/how-to-add-internal-and-external-links-that-get-clicks-and-conversions\/"},"modified":"2022-01-14T12:57:40","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T12:57:40","slug":"how-to-add-internal-and-external-links-that-get-clicks-and-conversions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/14\/how-to-add-internal-and-external-links-that-get-clicks-and-conversions\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Add Internal And External Links That Get Clicks And Conversions"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Internal and external links have a significant role to play in guiding website visitors to the answers they seek about your products and services.<\/p>\n

Each link should lead your audience to the next relevant piece of content they need to continue their information gathering and\/or customer journey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Links are the lifeblood of the web, connecting each piece of content to the next. Search engines use both internal and external links to determine, in part, which pages are most authoritative on any given subject.<\/p>\n

As such, both internal and external links play an important role in SEO.<\/p>\n

Why Are Internal Links Important?<\/h2>\n

Internal links are used by Google and other search engines to better understand the structure of a website.<\/p>\n

They enable site owners to let their visitors and the search engines know which pages are most important.<\/p>\n

For example, the top-level sections in a website\u2019s navigation (e.g., Products, Services, About Us, Resources) tell the search engines what the site owner believes to be the most important content.<\/p>\n

Search engine spiders crawl the various links within a site to determine its structure, and those pages closer to the top of the hierarchy are naturally considered more important.<\/p>\n

After all, you wouldn\u2019t want to bury your most important content several layers deep within your website where it would be difficult to find.<\/p>\n

Always keep in mind that you are ultimately creating your website and all of the content within it to provide readily accessible answers to your target audience\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n

Why Do External Links Matter?<\/h2>\n

Google and other search engines value links. If you link to an external website, search engines perceive this as an endorsement of the content being linked to.<\/p>\n

External links can be used to cite a source, provide verification for information, and offer further context for the reader.<\/p>\n

Again, Google\u2019s modus operandi is delivering the right content to the right people at the right time. It doesn\u2019t really care where the answers live, so sometimes it makes sense to link to the right piece of external content. You can\u2019t be expected to have all of the answers.<\/p>\n

For example, there may be an excellent article published on a highly relevant and well-respected industry website that directly or indirectly relates to a product or service offered by your organization.<\/p>\n

If the information in this article will benefit your audience by answering additional questions they may have or shedding more light on a topic, it certainly behooves you to link to such an article.<\/p>\n

Where, When, And How Should Links Be Added?<\/h2>\n

When you\u2019re looking at adding links to new or existing website content, put yourself in the shoes of a member of your audience. Think about how they will want to engage with it and where a link might help.<\/p>\n

If you have not already, take a step back to map out your typical customer journey. This will help guide which pieces and\/or types of content you control should link through to other pieces, from awareness to consideration to intent, and on to conversion.<\/p>\n

Do not be afraid to incorporate clear calls to action (CTAs). These are helpful for those customers who are ready to click through to the next logical step in their journey and\/or those who are not ready and may require additional information.<\/p>\n

Today, most customer journeys are not linear. It\u2019s important to provide options depending on where your customers find themselves in their search for answers, products, or services, and you do that with links.<\/p>\n

Are there topical keywords and\/or concepts within your new or existing piece of content that require elaboration or raise questions?<\/p>\n

Do you have additional content to answer those questions (in blog posts or FAQs, for example) or do you know where the answer lies? Can you conduct some research to find it?<\/p>\n

By linking to content that provides relevant answers to these questions via the actual keywords (a.k.a., anchor text), you provide the search engines with an important signal to help tie the questions and answers together.<\/p>\n

Your most prominent links and calls to action can naturally be tied to a button or image, such as a banner, and placed strategically to better catch the attention of your website visitors.<\/p>\n

Visual UX analytics tools like click heatmaps<\/a> can and should be used to monitor how visitors are engaging with your content and which links they are (or are not) clicking on.<\/p>\n

\"AnScreenshot from Hotjar.com, October 2021<\/em><\/span>