Internal Linking
Internal linking is important for both user experience and search engine crawlers, to help them find relevant and important pages. Our SEO Office Hours recaps on internal linking topics cover queries including the importance of internal links for SEO, how anchor text is used as a ranking signal, and how Google handles internally linked parameter URLs for indexing.
For more on internal linking, check out: 5 Internal Linking Strategies to Boost SEO and Drive Organic Traffic
Poor Internal Linking on Mobile May Impact How Google Indexes and Ranks Pages
Poor internal linking on the mobile version of a site could impact the way Google index and rank the site after it has been switched over to mobile-first indexing. You can use tools like Lumar to crawl your site with a mobile user-agent.
Links Not Visible by Default Will Still Pass PageRank if They’re in HTML
Google will only process and pass PageRank for links that are in the HTML, which also applies to links not visible by default.
Internal Search Pages Are Indexed if Google Sees Them as More Useful Than Linked Pages
Internal search pages may be indexed if they’re seen as a way of finding category pages or if they form a clear navigation for Google to find related products/pages. If you don’t want them to be indexed you should make your navigation clearer.
Internal Linking Causes Google to Crawl Canonicalised Pages
Check your internal linking if you see Google crawling canonicalised pages.
Asynchronously/Lazy-loading Content & Links Will Delay Processing & Indexing
When lazy-loading or asynchronously loading content or links, make sure that Googlebot is able to render them. There would be a delay in rendering and indexing this content and processing any links, as JavaScript indexing is deferred.
Include Static A Href Links When Using JavaScript Push Array for Catching Clicks
You need to have a static a href link as a fallback when utilising JavaScript push array to catch clicks.
Sites With Poor Internal Linking on Mobile Probably Won’t be Switched to Mobile-first Indexing For Now
Internal linking is taken into account before Google switches a site over to mobile-first indexing. If a site has terrible internal linking on the mobile version of the site then that site will likely not be moved over just yet.
Google Can Understand International Sites Without Hreflang Guidance
Hreflang is best practice for international sites. However, Google can understand different language versions of a site without hreflang present through internal linking or the URLs themselves.
Significant Onpage Changes Can Impact Google’s Ability to Crawl Page
Rankings in search can change after a migration even if the URLs haven’t changed. This can happen if the layout of a page changes significantly meaning that Google’s ability to crawl a site can get better or worse. Pay particular attention to changes in internal linking and anchor text which can impact Google’s ability to crawl a site.
Google Doesn’t Treat Links Differently According to Positioning on Page
From an SEO perspective for Google there is no difference between links at the top of a category page and links in the navigation.