… starting from the point where the story stopped.
Updating links on old articles to point to new articles
Internal linking isn’t only about linking new content to older content. It’s also about circling back to older content and creating internal links that connect to your newer work.Neil Patel
When I initially added “Add internal links (to future posts)” to my Blog posts housekeeping to-do list, that was my only plan. I didn’t expect to discover so much about internal linking practices and strategies—or realize how mistaken my approach was 1. Now, after covering these insights in the previous two installments, I can finally delve into this topic in the last part of this series.
As you may already know (especially if you’ve read the previous two parts of this article), Google crawls your site by following internal links. Newly published posts often lack internal contextual links 2, making it harder for search engines to find these so-called orphaned pages. If they aren’t indexed, they won’t appear in search results. Adding internal links to your new pages provides more pathways for search engines to reach that content. It’s that simple! A robust network of internal links can significantly aid the indexing process.
Adding internal links to new posts and pages should be part of your SEO routine. You could make it a habit of doing it every time you hit publish.Marieke van de Rakt
I will apply this new strategy only to the most important, informative articles I am publishing—not to my so-called lackluster padding posts, which will hopefully become a thing of the past. More importantly, this has to be natural; I must avoid repeating previous mistakes. The links should make sense and be useful to my readers. In other words, I should link from articles that are related to the one I’m linking to. Easier said than done, right? Anyway, this is a good time to identify my high-value, under-linked (already published) pages!
As you write a new post train yourself to be thinking about what you’re written previously that relates to your new post. As you identify related content start to interlink your posts (you can add links in your new post to old content and/or add links in your old ones to your new content).Darren Rowse
Identifying which articles are best suited to include an internal link to my newly published article will be an interesting task 3. However, doing this will prompt Google to crawl my new posts more rapidly and potentially more often if there are several links. Additionally, if these new posts receive links from several older posts 4, they will also gain more link value, and Google will consider them more important. This should increase their chances of ranking higher in search engine results.
Pro tip: Adding internal links to new articles speeds up indexing. Linking a new article from a top-performing blog post also boosts its chances of ranking higher, as internal links help distribute page authority across your site.
“Okay, this makes sense. But why do you want to do this to all your old posts? You should work the other way around: identify articles that are related to the new one and add links in those old posts.”
“Yes, if I only cared about SEO. But as emphasized throughout this series, my goal with this Blog posts housekeeping journey isn’t solely SEO-oriented.”
“Still, you should give your blog some SEO love and ensure some internal links point to the newly released post.”
“I will! However, I want my visitors to have more chances to find and read the most relevant articles, even when reading older posts. That’s why I’ll stick to my original plan, along with adopting this new habit.”
Internal linking helps visitors navigate through your site’s web pages easily by showing them where they can go for more information if they want it. It also improves search engine rankings since internal links help with SEO indexing – which means that along with improving navigation for users, this strategy also makes Google happy!Mark
Directing visitors to important posts will ensure they have the best experience possible.
Still one problem to address…
What techniques can help differentiate links to my most important posts from others? For example, this post starts with a link to the previous part of this article, which is part 2; I might prefer to emphasize the beginning of the story rather than the middle. Additionally, I may need to link to my less significant padding posts for the sake of storytelling. So, how can I still use links for these without breaking the rule of promoting high-quality content only? How can I ensure the most important pages and articles receive more link value than less valuable posts?
By adding the rel="nofollow" attribute to the link tag, the webmaster is telling the search engines that they do not want this link to be interpreted as a normal, juice passing, “editorial vote.” Nofollow came about as a method to help stop automated blog comment, guestbook, and link injection spam, but has morphed over time into a way of telling the engines to discount any link value that would ordinarily be passed.Chima Mmeje
Spoiler: not that easy, unfortunately!
If I had stopped my investigation at Moz’s “Internal Links SEO Best Practices” article, I would have had no hesitation. Especially after reading the following statement: Links can have additional attributes applied to them, but the engines ignore nearly all of these, with the important exception of the rel=”nofollow” tag.
Of course, I didn’t stop there. I repeatedly encountered the advice: you’ll want to leave most internal links as ‘followed’ links
or the more assertive: nofollow links are rather senseless in internal linking for SEO.
However, the last nail in the coffin was this excerpt from another article 5 on the same topic:
You used to be able to prevent losing link value to unimportant links by giving them a nofollow tag. A nofollow tag asks Google not to follow the link, so no link value is passed. Now you might think: “I’m going to nofollow less important links to give the most important links more link value.” While this worked in the past, Google has become more competent. Now it seems that the link value for those nofollow links doesn’t automatically flow to the other links on the page. The nofollow link will be counted as a link, and the link value will be lost. Therefore it makes more sense to have fewer links on a page instead of nofollowing some of the links.
Actually, both perspectives are valid; they don’t contradict each other. Moreover, links tagged with nofollow are interpreted slightly differently by each search engine. It’s not just about Google! So, should I apply the rel="nofollow" attribute to my thin content pages when I have to link to them anyway?
Nofollow links use the rel=“nofollow” attribute to communicate to Google that the authority should not be passed to the linked page.Luke Harsel
Exactly, by adding the rel="nofollow" attribute to links pointing to less important or thin content, I am telling search engines “not to follow these links,” thereby signaling that they should not pass any link equity. That’s my point; I don’t want to provide any value to the aftermath of my lack of time. In fact, whenever possible, I will try to make these thin content posts fade into oblivion (see the second part of this article).
“If you really want to get rid of those, why not delete them altogether?”
“Because it’s an approach with far-reaching consequences (e.g., broken links).”
“So, instead of using nofollow, you should give them a noindex tag.”
“It’s not that I don’t want these posts to appear in search results. I just want to promote my high-quality content instead.”
Jumping ahead to the next article topic: TL;DR: you should use clear and descriptive anchor text for high-value links that accurately reflect the content being linked to. What about using the reverse approach? For links that are purely for storytelling or context, I could use more generic or less optimized anchor text.
<a href="https://example.com/informative-post">Read more about internal linking strategies</a>
<a href="https://example.com/part1">See part 1</a>In keeping with the same idea (also covered in the coming post), the placement of a link is very important. TL;DR: you should place high-value links prominently within your content, where they are likely to be most beneficial to readers. What about positioning lower-value links in less prominent locations, such as within parenthetical remarks or footnotes?
…as mentioned in my previous post on <a href="https://example.com/informative-post">internal linking strategies</a>.
…(For more context, <a href="https://example.com/part1">See part 1</a> of this series).Now, while implementing these little tricks might help maintain a balance between engaging storytelling and effective SEO, the best approach is to minimize the number of links to less important posts. To sum up, I should ensure that my post predominantly contains links to valuable, informative content, and only sparingly includes necessary links for narrative continuity.
The rel attribute (the return)
As already introduced in my article about external links best practices, the rel attribute, which defines the relationship—hence, “rel”; short for relationship—between the page the link is on and the page it is linking to, is like a secret doorway to the inner workings of web technology.
In the aforementioned article, I covered the following values: external, noopener, and noreferrer. I even mentioned the nofollow value. So, what more could I add? No, there is no such thing as rel=”internal”! And, no, I will not explain the noindex value further (see above). Instead, I will enlighten you (as it happened to me through my readings) about the sequential types.
The sequential types indicate that the current document is part of a series or sequence and provide information about the relationship between the linked resource and the current document. They are particularly relevant for user experience, accessibility, and SEO purposes.Brandon Evans
prev and next
The HTML Living Standard defines two sequential types: prev and next. These values indicate the relationship of the linked resource as the previous or next document in a series, respectively. In doing so, they provide important contextual information for search engines, assistive technologies, and users navigating the series.
- prev
- Indicates that the current document is a part of a series, and that the previous document in the series is the referenced document.
- next
- Indicates that the current document is a part of a series, and that the next document in the series is the referenced document.
I’m sure you’ve encountered these before, just as I have. They are commonly used for pagination or navigation within a series of web pages. If your site has paginated content, such as multiple pages for a single category, each link to the next or previous page will use rel="next" and rel="prev" tags. These tags indicate the relationship between the paginated pages, helping search engines understand the sequence of pages. This concept also applies to each post on my blog. If you scroll down to the very end of this post, you’ll notice a “PREVIOUS” header with a link to the previous article (just below). And if this post isn’t the last one I’ve published, you’ll also see, on the right, a “NEXT” header with a link to the next chronological post. If you right-click on these links and select “Inspect,” you can see the rel attributes for yourself.
If you have content that is split across multiple pages, such as a multi-page article or a product listing, include “next” and “previous” links at the bottom of each page. This helps users navigate through the content seamlessly and encourages them to continue reading or exploring.FasterCapital
Indeed, rel="next" and rel="prev" indicate that the current page is part of a series and encourage the user to move forward or backward within that sequence. This is perfect for guiding users through multi-page content seamlessly and maintaining a cohesive narrative. For instance, consider the first sentence of this post:
… starting from the point where the <a href="https://blog.cogitactive.com/website/mastering-internal-linking-contd/" rel="prev">story</a> stopped.Utilizing these two sequential types—rel="next" and rel="prev"—is an excellent strategy for linking to the next or previous part of a series. This approach will not only guide my readers seamlessly through the content but also provide search engines with valuable context about the structure of my content. It’s an effective way to maintain the narrative flow while clearly distinguishing between different types of links based on their purpose and value. This can enhance both SEO and user experience. Right?
There is a caveat, though. Google abandoned these two sequential types quite a while ago. So, how can this help search engines understand the relationship between pages in a multi-part series? First, they may still be helpful for other search engines. Second, as you may have understood by now if you follow this blog, I don’t do this for SEO, but for real people!
It’s worth mentioning that although Google no longer uses next and prev links for indexing purposes, they are still valuable for other search engines and assistive technologies. Therefore, it’s recommended to continue using these values to enhance accessibility and provide a consistent user experience.Brandon Evans
first and last
Similarly, I discovered two other values in the article “HTML rel Attribute: A Comprehensive Guide” by Brandon Evans: first and last. They are supposed to indicate that the linked resource is the first or last document in a series, respectively. Accordingly, they should be quite useful for indicating the boundaries of a sequence or providing quick access to the initial or final content.
However, there is a bigger problem here. Since HTML 5, the rel attribute no longer accepts them as valid values. They are not listed in the aforementioned HTML Living Standard indeed. Apparently, these values were deprecated because they were used rarely and inconsistently.
Therefore, I won’t implement these two!
Conclusion: my new to-do list
Don’t go overboard, though. Internal linking done in a clunky and thoughtless manner leads to annoying your audience when it’s overdone or irrelevant.Kali Bizzul
In the first part, I uncovered the profound impact that internal links can have on both user experience and SEO. I discussed the importance of high-quality content and how linking to your most valuable posts can enhance both user engagement and search engine rankings. I explored the essentials (i.e., best practices) and advanced strategies (e.g., the topic cluster model) of internal linking. These strategies collectively contribute to a more navigable, engaging, and search engine-friendly website. The focus of the second part was on creating a logical site architecture, ensuring a seamless navigation experience for my readers and search engines alike. In the third part, I delved into the realm of HTML with the rel attribute, highlighting the need to balance storytelling with effective SEO practices. Throughout this series, I’ve consistently emphasized that the ultimate goal of internal linking is not just to boost SEO, but to enhance the overall user experience. By adopting best practices in internal linking, you can ensure that your content is both accessible and valuable to your readers.
After going through this writing process, my to-do list has certainly grown bigger—it’s no longer just about “Add internal links (to future posts).” Here’s my comprehensive new to-do list:
- Identify the most important articles: focus on the key articles (beyond just the archive pages) that I want my audience to discover and read
- Add links in old posts to posts published afterward (my original intent)
- Prioritize my archive landing pages (over standalone articles)
- Intentionally orphan non-informative posts (i.e., try to drain non-informative posts of any links)
- Use the correct rel attribute (next, prev, nofollow) when required; apply nofollow sparingly.
- Work on my anchor texts (this will be the topic of the next article).
The idea is that links should genuinely enhance the reader’s journey, making it easier for them to find related information. I should also pay particular attention to embedding links within the narrative where they make the most sense, enhancing the story rather than interrupting it. This approach keeps readers immersed while guiding them to additional valuable content.
Prioritizing the quality of my links over the quantity will undoubtedly enhance my readers’ experience and improve the overall effectiveness of my internal linking strategy. I hope this new approach will provide a solid foundation for a better user experience and consequently improve my blog’s visibility to potential visitors, helping even more people. Yet, the best advice is perhaps…
To get the most out of internal linking, it’s important to create high-quality content and find ways to include internal links where they’re natural.Neil Patel
Coming Next: Anchor text matters
1 In short, I was linking for the sake of linking, prioritizing search engine optimization over providing valuable information to the reader. ^
2 Of course, the post likely has a link from the category or tag archive page, or maybe even from the homepage if you have the Recent Posts widget like I do. But that’s about it. And remember, according to Marieke van de Rakt, Head of Strategy and former CEO at Yoast, if a page is linked to from the homepage, sitemap, or category and tag pages but lacks contextual links (i.e., those in-text links placed within the main body of page content), it’s still considered orphaned content. ^
3 I have mentioned this a couple of times, but I think I need to create a content inventory. Typically, this is a list of all the old posts that you have on your blog, as well as a quick look at how they fit into your business.
I don’t have a business (and I don’t have any metrics other than SiteGround’s Traffic tool, which seemed useless last time I checked), but I can still create such a list, especially for my more in-depth articles. ^
4 Luke Harsel—Content Lead at Semrush—recommends aim to point to at least two or three internal links to every new piece of content.
^
5 Edwin Toonen (2023) Internal linking for SEO: Why and how? Yoast. ^