How to Keep Up with Linking Internally on Your WordPress Site
- Updated on: 2019-08-01
- Read original article here
Interlinking posts on your blog is a good thing. It helps Google to understand more about your site and content.
This is something you want to do carefully, whether it’s pages or posts on your online store, your business site or any other site you have.
If you use Yoast SEO, you probably have stared at the Orphaned content, that is all those posts with no inbound links. I know I do, and I have far more than a handful. While not every post needs an inbound link from within your site, still, it’s good to do when it makes sense.
If you use Yoast SEO, it shows suggestions for posts to link to. Or you could think the other way around, wondering if it might be good to link to the post you are on. Again, these are only suggestions.
Beyond using the plugin, I have found a few other ways. Be warned that these do take time or some thought, but hey, we never said anything would be easy.
Aside from the suggestions that you might get via an SEO plugin, when you are creating a post, keep interlinking in mind. (It’s easier said than done as we often aren’t thinking beyond the creation and existing SEO for the post.)
I force myself to remember recent posts I have written and whether the one I’m working on might be a good fit. But it’s not a guarantee. You may think it is, but once you revisit your other post, nah, not so much. In any case, it’s a good habit to get into.
This is where the Orphaned posts on Yoast SEO come in handy. Peruse those posts. Look at the stats and see if they need a boost. An inbound link from an older and higher ranking post on your site just might do the trick.
Also, look at the high ranking posts that are orphaned. What other posts could you link to it, but also link back, giving that older post some new juice?
This takes time, but if you set a little aside to do it on occasion, trust me, it will be worth it.
As I mentioned before, if a post is an orphan, it just may have been meant to be. Don’t feel sorry for it. In fact, there may be several posts, or even a lot of them that just don’t need it. They are good standalones and don’t need any parental guidance or connection.
This is where you need to really think these links through.
First, you don’t want a site filled with dozens of interlinks that end up killing the content and message of the post or page. Nor do you want to give your reader or potential customer a reason to get distracted. Too many shiny buttons might send them down a rabbit hole, never to return on the conversion side.
So think through your own goals, decide what is best for your site and your visitors, and make a habit of watching out for those linking opportunities.
