Internal Linking - Emily Gertenbach on Collaborator.pdf

1. How To Find Internal
Linking
Opportunities
with Emily Gertenbach of
(e.g.) creative content
Collaborator

2. What is Internal Linking?
●The process of
connecting
pages on your
site
●Improves
crawlability +
indexing
Collaborator

3. Internal vs. External Linking
Internal links
●Domain → Domain
●Share link equity between
pages
●Reduces depth to find key
information
●Builds context
●Improves UX

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External links
●Your domain → Other
domain
●Share link equity between
unrelated domains
●Build profile as a
respected industry source
●Create brand awareness

4. Internal Link
Placement
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Headers and Footers
Landing pages

Sidebars
Long-form content

5. Collaborator
1.Do be
strategic
Place links
where they are
most needed
2. Do plan
anchor text
Spell it out
whenever
possible vs.
"view" or "read"

3. Do stay
relevant
Both with
audience
interests and
context

4. Don't
stuff links
Too much of a
good thing
becomes bad

Best Practices For Internal Links

6. Tools for
internal
link
auditing
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Visual element

7. Collaborator
Visual element
Tools for
internal
link
auditing

8. Collaborator
Visual element
Tools for
internal
link
auditing

9. Collaborator
Visual element
Tools for
internal
link
auditing

10. Collaborator
Visual element
Tools for
internal
link
auditing

11. 1.Identify pages that need more internal links
2.Find the best pages to link to or from
3.Prioritize linking opportunities
4.Optimize your existing content
5.Monitor and adjust your linking strategy
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12. Crawl the
website
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show SF crawl settings for robots.txt here

13. Crawl the
website
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14. Open the
Links Report
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15. Collaborator
Pages with
no internal
outlinks
Pages
without
internal
inlinks
Pages
without
internal link
anchor text
Pages
without
descriptive
internal link
anchor text
Pull this data

16. Collaborator
Internal
nofollow
links
Pages with
high crawl
depth
Pull this data

17. Organize your reports
Adding links
●Pages with no internal
outlinks
●Pages with no internal
inlinks
●Pages with high crawl
depth

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Improving links
●Pages without internal
link anchor text
●Pages without descriptive
internal link anchor text

18. Collaborator
1.Identify pages that need more internal links
2.Find the best pages to link to or from
3.Prioritize linking opportunities
4.Optimize your existing content
5.Monitor and adjust your linking strategy

19. Identify
your top
keywords
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show SF crawl settings for robots.txt here

20. Locate high
value
pages
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show SF crawl settings for robots.txt here

21. Find more
targets
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show SF crawl settings for robots.txt here

22. Collaborator
1.Identify pages that need more internal links
2.Find the best pages to link to or from
3.Prioritize linking opportunities
4.Optimize your existing content
5.Monitor and adjust your linking strategy

23. Build out your map
List of pages that need links,
with direction (to/from)
●Pages with no internal
outlinks
●Pages with no internal
inlinks
●Pages with high crawl
depth

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List of pages that have high
value and relevancy
●Pages that already
perform well in search
●Pages that have high
conversion potential

24. Collaborator
Get organized

25. Set your progress goals
Bandwidth
●Number of pages to
update
●Team size
●Available time

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Priority
●Orphan pages
●One link in/out
●High crawl depth
●Relevance to your core
business model
●Conversion opportunity

26. Collaborator
1.Identify pages that need more internal links
2.Find the best pages to link to or from
3.Prioritize linking opportunities
4.Optimize your existing content
5.Monitor and adjust your linking strategy

27. Collaborator
1.Use
relevant
anchor
text
2. Use
keywords as
anchor text
3. Rewrite
sentences
as needed
4. Check
links for
tracking
codes
Best Practices For Updating Content

28. Remember, when creating new content:
Think about links from the
start
●Include suggested or
required internal links in
your content briefs for
writers
●Plan out where you'll
place links to the new
content when it's live

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●Set limits on links per
page
●Train your team on linking
and anchor text best
practices

29. Collaborator
1.Identify pages that need more internal links
2.Find the best pages to link to or from
3.Prioritize linking opportunities
4.Optimize your existing content
5.Monitor and adjust your linking strategy

30. Track the results of your work
Set up a keyword report
●Add any new or current
keywords you're using as
anchor text into a
keyword tool for tracking
●Watch for increased
traffic/rank
●Give it 3-6 months

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Watch Google Search Console
●Are new pages driving
traffic to your site?
●Are impressions going up
for new pages and terms?
●Are clicks going up or
down for new pages or
terms?

31. Examples
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32. Adjust your strategy
Tweak anchor text:
●If you find you're ranking for
terms without the right
search intent
●Heat mapping tools show
you that visitors are clicking
a new link and then leaving

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Revamp your content:
●If traffic volume / keyword
rank isn't improving over
time
●If previously "high value"
links start to fall in the
SERPs

33. Always remember to redirect!
When…
●Removing a page
●Editing the URL
●Changing the subfolder
●Migrating to a subdomain

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Because if you forget…
●Internal links will break
●You lose progress
●Have to start again


* tip: redirecting a lot of links? Revisit
your internal link strategy and make
sure pages include some non-redirects,
too, for good measure

34. Thank you!
Drop me a line at:

www.egcreativecontent.com
www.linkedin.com/in/egertenbach
Collaborator