Have you written fancy new content for your landing pages, followed SEO best practices, but still not seen decent results? When your organic traffic is still not improving, it can be hard to know what to try next.
It's time to think about your internal linking strategy. Of course, there's no magic formula. But in this blog, I’ll show you a topic cluster strategy that’s bagged us some great results.
Why are internal links good for SEO? Here’s three main reasons…
They Help Search Engines.
When internal links are used between related pages, you show Google that 'Page A' is related to 'Page B'.
This helps Google understand the context of your pages. A solid internal linking structure also helps search engines find and index pages.
They Pass Authority.
If you've read a single SEO guide - you'll know all about the importance of backlinks.
Let's say you've got a page with 10 high-quality backlinks - and another with none. The page with the backlinks has more authority.
By adding an internal link from the stronger page to the weaker one, you'll pass on some of that authority.
They Help Users Navigate Around a Site.
Internal links improve user experience - they make it easier for people to get around a website.
Our goal is to get people to stay on a site, have a look around, and take action.
Showing users related, helpful content is a great way to do this!
How To Create Topic Clusters & Build an Internal Linking Strategy
I’ve stressed the importance of strategically adding internal links, but what does this even mean? Here's an outline of how we build a topic cluster strategy at Breakout Media…
Step One: Identifying Your Site’s Pillar Pages
These are your main pages about broad topics. 99% of the time, they'll have the highest search volume, think words like:
- Houseplants
- Mortgages
- And Wedding dresses
Your pillar pages should link to related, more specific pages such as:
- Easy care houseplants
- Fixed term mortgages
- Summer wedding dresses
These usually have less search volume and, therefore, less competition.
Hopefully, you've already completed keyword research. This should be one of the very first steps in your SEO quest! Now, you need to look at this list and identify your pillar pages.
Step Two: Create topic clusters using internal links.
The next step is working out where these pillar pages should link to.
Let's say you've identified a pillar page which is 'Mortgages'. Some clusters for this page could be:
- Re-mortgaging
- Help to buy mortgages
- And First-time buyer mortgages
Once these pages are written and live on your site, you must add internal links from the pillar page. Make sure to add a link from the cluster page back to the pillar too!
Step Three: Create supporting pages.
This is a perfect opportunity for blog ideas, another crucial part of your SEO strategy.
Let's use 're-mortgaging’' as our example cluster page. We could write blogs answering questions like:
- What is remortgaging
- How long do remortgages take
- Can I remortgage to buy another house
Supporting pages target super niche keywords - ones that are easier to rank for!
Make sure they link back to the cluster page and main pillar page. It all helps boost those high-volume, high-difficulty keywords!
Step Four: Choosing the right anchor text.
Anchor text is the clickable bit of text that takes you to another page. It indicates a page's topic to Google - and users!
SEO-friendly anchor text is:
- Brief.
- Relevant.
- And Optimised.
Keeping these things in mind - it's time to assign anchor text to your pillar and cluster pages based on keyword research.
So, now you know why internal links are vital for SEO success, and you've got the knowledge to begin your internal linking strategy! Thank me later.
How does internal linking help SEO? Here’s what we’ve seen:
At Breakout Media, we're always looking for ways to get better, faster results for our clients.
This is why we view a solid topic cluster structure as one of the many backbones of an SEO strategy.
Of course, nothing is ever black and white in SEO. Creating an internal linking strategy highlights some quick wins, but the process can be pretty lengthy.
You may need to write lots of new content to implement your strategy.
But it can be so worth it.
We started working on an internal linking strategy for this client in January 2023. And here's what we've seen since:
Keywords ranking in the top 100 have increased from 127 to 239 in 5 months. That's an 88% increase.
Organic sessions increased 250% over the past 3 months vs last year! And they've received 135 calls and form fills - a 50% increase in conversions.
Would you also love to double your organic conversions and almost triple your traffic?
Follow the steps in this post, and let us know how it goes!
If it all seems a bit much, give us a call. Like what you see? We've got plenty more tips up our sleeve. Keep up to date by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Or why not take things to the next level and watch our FREE webinar - 'What is SEO and why you should be doing it'.
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