If you want to rank high and Google search engine results pages (SERP), you need to understand the value of link building. In this blog post, we will explain how and what to link on your website. Hyperlinks should be internal and external.
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What is link building?
Link building is the process of hyperlinking words on a web page on your site to other web pages on your site or web pages on external websites. The more links you have on your website, the more Google considers you an authoritative, trustworthy and smart voice on the internet.
Google and Bing like one when you hyperlink to websites that aren’t your own. It shows you aren’t afraid of the competition. It shows you keep up with your industry. It shows you know your stuff – both the stuff within your business (i.e. internal links) and stuff in the world outside of your business (external links).
What is an internal link?
Internal links are hyperlinked words on a web page that, when clicked upon, lead readers to other pages on the same website. When you connect one page on your website to another page on a website, you’re essentially creating a door for visitors to walk through. It’s like a door, arch or doorway in your house. People must walk through them to get from one room to another.
When Google and other search engines crawl websites, they see how many doorways you have on your website. The more doorways you have, the higher they rank you in search engine results. They see you have a big house, and they like that.
How to use internal links effectively?
You should follow certain steps when hyperlinking words to internal pages on your website. You should never use terms like “click here, read more, or call us.” You should link words – within a normal sentence – that describe the page on your website that you are linking to.
We just shows you how to hyperlink internally in that last sentence. You don’t want to use too many internal links, nor too many too few internal links. You should probably use about three to five internal links for every 1100 words of content. 
What’s an external link?
An external link is when you hyperlink certain words on your website to a web page that you do not own or operate. This shows Google and other search engines that you have thoroughly researched the content on your website and have evidence from other websites to back up what you’re saying.
Google and Bing see how many links to other websites you have on your website. If you link to a lot of different websites, Google and Bing, will rank you higher in their search engine results pages.
How to use external links effectively?
Just like internal links, you should follow certain practices when linking to external websites. Hyperlink phrases within a sentence, not words like “read more or click here.” You should also link to websites that are high quality. These websites often end in .edu (education sites), .gov (government sites) or.org (non-profits). Don’t hyperlink to your competitors.
That said, it is also good to link to news organizations or independent bodies that study or write about your industry. You should probably use two external links for every 1500 words.
How to tell if spending all that time linking words is working?
To figure out if hyperlinking to your own web page is in other pages is worth the time and hassle, you must invest your time into researching analytics. The good news is that some analytics tools, like Google analytics for, are free. We can install Google analytics onto your website and gather and explain analytics reports to you. These reports will show you where each of your web pages rank in google. It will also show you how links are affecting your ranking position in search engines. Analytics tell you a bunch of other things like how people are finding your website, what device they’re looking at your website on, and how much time they’re spending on your website. You’ll be able to see if they click on any of the links on your website.
Installing Google analytics and explaining Google analytics are two of our main services for small and medium-sized businesses. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll be able to understand analytics on your own.
Why should I link to other sites?
Don’t worry that links drive traffic from your website to other websites. It’s natural for people to move from website to website. That’s why it’s called surfing the web. So, since people are going to do it anyway, you may as well make linking work for you by trying to control what websites people visit. You want them to learn more about your products and Industry so why not direct them to websites that include information about your products and services? People will always read the news online. So why not direct them towards news articles related to your industry or products or goods?
Should I have links open in a different window?
If you are worried about visitors leaving your website for a website you link to, here’s a solution. When you link to another site, the content management system or website builder will ask you if you want to open the web page in a new window instead of replacing the website the user is looking at. Choose yes, open in a new window. That way, your website will be a tab in the browser. To get back to your site, they’ll just be able to click onto the tab, rather than having to click the back arrow. Tabbed browsing allows a user to have multiple web pages open within a single window. When a new tab opens, users can still see their earlier tab at the top. That makes toggling between tabs easy for users. The tabs are neatly arranged, so users can multitask efficiently.
It’s the difference between having a pile of papers on your desk and having papers scattered on the floor of your office.
Another reason hyperlinks help: increasing time spent on your website
From a traffic perspective, opening external links in new tabs forces visitors to remain on your website for longer periods of time. Opening external links in a new tab could reduce your bounce rate, i.e. how fast people leave your site, and increase the time spent on the site. The longer people stay on your site, even if your tab is just open in the browser, the more likely it is that they’ll interact with your site in some way – whether it’s reaching out or buying something. Seeing your name in their browser definitely increases brand awareness. Without realizing it, your brand’s name is slowly being lasered into a user’s mind.
Why do search engines like hyperlinks so much?
Remember what www stands for – world wide web. It can’t be a web if we don’t have strings, i.e. links, from one website to another.
That’s why search engines reward websites that have links by ranking them higher in SERP- those websites are staying true to the internet’s original mission. We get it if you forgot this. The internet was invented was a long time ago. But the internet was to connect ideas, places and businesses. So do that through hyperlinks.
Hyperlinks boost what Google calls your “EEAT” score. EEAT stands for expertise, experience, authority and trustworthiness. If you take the time and effort to link to other sites, you’re proving to Google that you are experienced, an expert, an authority and trustworthy. Who wouldn’t like a company like that? That’s why Google places you higher in their results – which are essentially recommendations to Google’s friends, i.e. regular users. 
Managing Links for SEO and SERP
Embedding and tracking internal and external links impacts your website’s SEO, SERP and user experience. Generally, internal links should open in the same tab, while external links should open in new tabs. If linking and interpreting links sounds like a pain, we can handle the process for you.
SEO Design Chicago offers web development, analytics and design services to help you create an attractive and effective website for your business. We have hundreds of satisfied customers. We can also help you with SEO and link building so that your website gets more backlinks and increased credibility. Contact us today to get started.
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