You make these internal links mistakes?

So do you? Do you make these internal links mistakes?

What do you mean, Luc?

What are you referring to?

Let me tell you...

First, what is an internal link?

Internal links connect pages on the same website, your website.

It is important to know the difference between internal links and external links.

Internal links help your visitor to navigate your website to relevant content to the article they are reading. An external link leads to another website, not yours.

It also can increase search engine rankings since you help them understand the way you build your website.

Another benefit of this is that it helps with indexing. If you have a post that refuses to index, make sure one of your other posts links to it.

That way, the next time the search engines crawl your website, it can follow the link and discover your unindexed post.

Don't "click here" or "learn more"

According to the 2021 Web Almanac, which is the HTTP Archive’s annual state of the web report, 16% of the tested internal links did not have descriptive anchor text, but generic anchor text like “learn more” or “click here” which is a missed opportunity from an SEO perspective and also bad for accessibility.

It does not tell your visitors and search engines where they are being led to, and if the information applies to their query. Search engine bots won't see the connection between the current page it is crawling, and the targeted page. You need to tell them and your visitors about what they will find.

Two examples:

1. To find out how more about how I can help you learn chess, click here
2. Find out more about how I can help you learn chess in 7 easy lessons

In the second example, you have told the search engines that you have a useful post about how to learn chess in 7 easy steps, which may answer a search query.

Your reader sees immediately what info he or she will get when clicking that internal link.

Both things you don't do when you use non descriptive links like "click here" or "learn more" as in example 1.

So you know

When people first land on one of your pages, they quickly scan it before reading it thoroughly, to see if it will help them find the information they need.

If all the links simply say "click here" or "learn more", they won't stop and hover over each one to see where it leads, they will simply go elsewhere, to another site.

If, however, there seem to be some interesting link, they are more likely to click that one and stay longer on your website.

All the best,

Luc

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