Internal networking in SEO: Definition & optimization tips

Internal networking strategy: Prerequisites

What is internal networking?

One internal networking strategy of a website refers to all the internal links connected under the same domain name (be careful to distinguish Internal links and External links). Take the example of a link on our Sales Odyssey home page to our “marketing” and “sales” offer pages:

Or via our article on Speed Boat method and its link in the introduction:

The internal mesh allows seafaring from one page to another in a single click!

However, internal networking in SEO goes beyond this simple function. It encompasses the creation of semantic cocoons that reinforce global coherence and the structure of the site, thus influencing user experience : whether through the main pages of a website or through secondary pages, such as articles by Blog, these links are essential.

Internal vs external networking: What are the differences?

When it comes to natural referencing, it is important to distinguish between two categories of networking:

1. Internal meshes : These links represent connections between pages in the same domain, integrated as anchors in your textual content. They play a key role in site design and ensure effective internal structuring. A good internal networking should both make it easier for users to navigate and help search engines understand the architecture and hierarchy of content. This improves the user experience while optimizing the internal referencing of the site.
   It is often said that these links transmit “link juice”, that is, they redistribute authority between connected pages.
   For example, by adding internal links to a page that receives little organic traffic, it will gain visibility and authority in the eyes of search engines thanks to the “juice” transmitted through these links, thus improving its accessibility for Internet users.
   
   
2. External meshes or backlinks : These links come from other domains and point to your site. They fall under the Netlinking, a crucial aspect of SEO, but constituting a complex field in its own right. External linking includes not only backlinks, where other sites link back to yours, but also links from your site to others. These links are essential for SEO because they are seen by search engines as indicators of the credibility and authority of your site.

Why is internal networking for your website important?

Structuring a site & optimizing the authority of the pages

When the search engine robots browse a website, they use internal networking to go from one page to another. Each internal link influences the PageRank of targeted pages, giving them a share of authority that can improve their ranking in search results.

Optimizing the SEO of website content

Internal networking is a key factor in the process of robots exploring the pages of a website, as it facilitates the indexing of these pages. When robots discover internal links, they are guided to new pages, which are then added to the search engine index. At the same time, these robots periodically revisit older content, which allows them to keep the indexing of pages up to date over the long term.

Improving user experience & lead generation

The purpose of internal networking is to guide effectively Internet users on a site, improving the user experience and therefore lead generation. For example, a CTA to a contact page makes it easier to navigate. This strategy also improves performance indicators (KPIs) such as the time spent on the page and the bounce rate, thus strengthening your SEO ranking and attesting to the quality and relevance of your content.

How to create a good internal network in 5 steps?

Step 1: Audit of the internal network & site structure

During the creation of a website, it is essential to start with a thorough analysis of keywords : whether for the main pages or if you count create content with high added value, like a blog. This step allows understand the needs and the interests of your target in your field of activity. Based on this information, you can then develop your content around topics that appeal to your potential customers.

These topics will become the foundation of the semantic cocoons of your site, thus influencing the optimal structuring and interconnection of the various content pages.

For optimize internal networking During the redesign of your website, start with Audit the existing and structure the site:

1. Internal networking audit : evaluate the current network of your site to understand the number of links received by each page, identify redirects, broken links and identify optimization opportunities.
2. Structuring the site : Think about the ideal architecture of your site. Create a plan that includes the current pages and the ones to be developed. Organize links logically, starting from the home page.

Step 2: Identify and optimize the main pages

In the vast world of the Internet, each search engine limits the time allocated to exploring websites. This limitation, called “crawl budget”, requires clever management to maximize the efficiency of your site's indexing. How to proceed?

The key lies in strategic direction from search engines to the essential pages of your site through thoughtful internal networking. This ensures appropriate indexing of priority content. To do this, it is imperative to identify accurately Which pages should be preferred in this networking strategy, such as service pages, product sheets if you have an e-commerce site, and other landing pages.

This approach aims to optimize the use of the crawl budget and to promote a significant presence in search results.

Step 3: Placing the links & their anchors

There are two essential aspects to establish a link correctly:

• Son location on the page,
• Son semantic framework.

The location refers not only to the nature of the link (whether structural or contextual) but also to its position in the content, whether in the introduction, the body of the text, above or below the fold line, among other criteria.

As for the semantic framework, it concerns The text surrounding the link, an element that search engines attach great importance to. This attention allows them to understand the relevance of the link and to assess the target page in its appropriate context. To optimize SEO, it is therefore recommended to integrate an internal link within a paragraph dealing with a subject similar to that of the target page, in order to reinforce its contextualization and relevance in the eyes of search engines.

Step 4: Taking “link juice” into account

“Link juice” or “link juice” plays a crucial role in SEO. This term refers to the way in which the authority of a web page is transmitted to others through links, whether internal or external. This concept is closely linked to PageRank, Google's algorithm that measures the importance of pages based on incoming links and their quality.

To illustrate, consider page A linking to page B: all of its authority is transmitted to B. If A is connected to two pages, B and C, each receives half of this authority. When connected to three pages, B, C, and D, authority is divided into three equal shares between them. The objective is therefore to structure the network of internal links in such a way that the authority of the most influential pages is optimally distributed to those that require a strengthening their reputation.

Step 5: Development of a semantic cocoon

The semantic cocoon is an advanced strategy for structuring content on a website or blog. At the heart of this approach is the idea of organizing content around a central theme, with a main page acting as the core around which the other theme pages are arranged. These related pages are carefully linked together by internal links, creating a dense network, or “cocoon”, which reinforces the relevance and authority of the site on the subject in question.

Let's take an example with this simple representation of a cocoon for a website blog:

To understand the depth of this method, it is crucial to become familiar with the concept of silos in the web domain. Let's imagine the site as a set of large silos or categories, each dedicated to an area of major interest. From these silos, deploy Tree branches increasingly specific content, detailing various aspects of the overall theme. This organization, known under the term of “Siloing”, helps to structure the site in a logical and hierarchical manner.

And for the most valiant among you, the next step is to take an interest inentity-based SEO which is an extension of the concept of semantic cocoon. The difference is that it is the entities that are at the heart of the method and not really the keywords.

How can you strengthen your internal network? Tips & Examples

5 best practices for your internal networking

Monitor nofollow links

It is important to know the different types of links, because not all have the same impact on the visibility of a page:

• The so-called “dofollow” links contribute to improving the visibility of a page in search results.
• “Nofollow” links tell search engines not to follow it or to give it little importance.

To transform a “dofollow” link into a “nofollow” link, simply add the rel = “nofollow” attribute. Links with the nofollow attribute are generally used to tell the Google algorithm to ignore them, which means they don't contribute to increasing the visibility of the linked page. ‍

Optimizing URL structure

To work on your internal networking and the navigation of your site, you must follow these principles to optimize your URLs:

• Simple and descriptive URLs: Use clear words that reflect the content of the page, without superfluous elements like dates. This makes it easier for users and search engines to understand and remember.
• URL stability: Avoid changing your URLs frequently to maintain the trust of search engines and increase your SEO performance in the long run.
• Breadcrumb threads aligned to the URLs: Integrate breadcrumbs that follow the structure of URLs to help users find and navigate the site easily, while strengthening SEO with clear internal links.

Check for 404 errors

It is essential to deal with broken relationships, in other words, the links leading to 404 errors, which generally indicate pages whose URLs have been modified without updating the corresponding links: both for internal and external links in passing.

There are various tools like Semrush or Sistrix that can help you fix or remove outdated links. Managing 404 errors is crucial because a faulty link can not only frustrate Internet users, leading them to leave your site, but also damage your SEO on search engines.

Strengthen the accessibility of pages

Remember one of the essential rules of accessibility when working on your internal networking: each page of your site must be reached in less than three clicks.

This approach will make it easier for Google robots to explore your entire site, while allowing users not to stray into the depths of the site without the ability to quickly return to the main sections.

Tools/software to analyze your internal networking

As part of a rework of your internal network, here are some tools that could facilitate your work:

• Gephi is a free tool for visualizing your site's crawl data in .csv format. After importing the data, you will get an overview of the structure of your site, easily identifying key pages and groupings.
• Screaming Frog is software that crawls sites to examine their internal links. It is particularly effective in detecting the layout of the site, detecting broken links, analyzing how authority is distributed, and facilitating the correction of redirects.
• Majestic SEO is a tool that focuses on the analysis of relationships and authority. It provides detailed information about internal and external links, as well as the quality of backlinks. This can help you assess the strength of your pages, identify the most influential pages, and improve your internal networking.
• Visualization tools : Using visualization tools, such as mind mapping software (Freemind, Coggle, Mindmeister, Miro, Canvas, etc.), makes it much easier to set up your internal networking. These tools make it possible to visualize the architecture of the site, helping to organize the pages in a coherent way.

Conclusion, to achieve a good and efficient internal network It is important to plan it: it should be addressed as early as the design phase, even before creating the site and writing your first articles. Not only does it improve the user experience, but it also plays a critical role in SEO. The implementation of a well-thought-out internal networking strategy can positively influence the visibility of your site on search engines!

At Sales Odyssey, internal networking is something we eat every day, and it allows us to design websites And content strategies sturdy. We attach great importance to details, and that's what makes us strong!