This Is Why Your Online Articles Need To Have Links
- Authors Aflame
- Jul 26, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 20, 2019
By Heather Hart
In addition to using white space, visual media, and headers, it is equally important to include both internal and external links when writing online articles. These links can help readers navigate your website, as well as help with SEO. Let’s take a step back and start from the beginning.
Internal Links
Internal links are links that link to another page on your own website. For example, in the opening paragraph of this article, there are links to several other articles on this site. These are examples of internal links.
So, what are the pros and cons of internal links? Let’s look at those here.
The Benefits of Internal Links
🔗 More User-Friendly -- Internal links can help readers navigate your website and discover related content. If you’ve written an article about five ways to lose weight, you might want to link to another article within each of those points for more information.
🔗 Decrease Bounce Rate -- Bounce rate is defined as the percentage of website visitors that click away from a website after only viewing one page. Readers tend to spend more time on your website when they can click from one of your articles to another. As a result, you’re less likely to lose traffic right away. Thus, your bounce rate will decrease.
🔗 Boost SEO -- Internal links aren’t as valuable to SEO as it an outside website linking in, but they do provide some SEO value.
The Drawbacks of Internal Links
🔗 They Take Time -- As with anything, to do it well, internal linking takes time. You can’t merely add a random link to every article you publish and call it good. You must take the time to match up the correct articles, so they benefit both your readers and your SEO.
A Few Quick Tips For Internal Links
🔗 Include at least two internal links. -- At the minimum, two internal links should be included in every online article (some SEO services recommend as many as four every 600 words).
🔗 Add an internal link to new articles. -- Search engines pay attention to dates. Adding a link from an existing online article to each new article you post will help Google (and other search engines) recognize your new content as established.
🔗 Use keywords and phrases. -- When adding internal links, keep in mind your keywords and phrases. You shouldn’t link to a post that has the exact keyword or phrase you’re using for your online article. Instead, link to articles that have similar keywords and phrases. Also, hyperlink the keyword or phrase used in the article you’re linking to whenever possible.
Merriam Webster defines a hyperlink as: “an electronic link providing direct access from one distinctively marked place in a hypertext or hypermedia document to another in the same or a different document.”
External Links
In addition to internal links, each online article you compose should include one or two external links. These are links that link to other websites besides your own. These links can help your readers find more information on the subject you’re covering, while also showing them you’ve done your research.
One example of using external links is providing reference links at the end of an article. These are most often included to note the source of the information gathered for an article. You can see an example of this by scrolling down. Most of the articles on this website have reference links to back up the information we provide.
Another example of an external link would be to add a hyperlink in the text of an article when mentioning a book, resource, or website. This makes it easier for readers to find those tools (plus, if you are an affiliate, you can earn some money by using affiliate links).
As with internal links, using keywords and phrases when hyperlinking external links is always a good idea.
Getting The Most Out Of Your Links
When adding your hyperlinks, most website hosts will allow you to edit the HTML to add a title tag. When doing this, be sure to include the keyword or phrase for the article you’re linking to. It is also recommended to keep meta titles to less than 60 characters.
You can see an example of the HTML code for adding a title tag to your links below:
<a href="http://www.trainingauthors.com/5-step-seo/” title=”Search Engine Optimization: Increase Your SEO” target="_blank">
Backlinks
In addition to using links in your online articles, getting links to your articles is also important for SEO. You can start getting these on your own by sharing your posts on social media. For this purpose, making your content easy for others to share is also essential.
However, sometimes networking with other writers in your niche pays off. The best way to go about building your network is to look for other articles that relate to the ones you have written. Then, reach out to their authors, asking if they would be interested in a link exchange; i.e., they link to your article while you link to one of theirs. This is a great way to build backlinks.
A word of caution…
Website owners are busy. They don’t have time for emails from writers who don’t do their research. Most will quickly trash emails which ask for a link exchange if the link isn’t relevant to their website or article.
The only way one could annoy them more would be to email them repeatedly to ask them for a link exchange when they’re busy with something else. Especially if they’ve already responded, explaining they’re busy and will get back to “said emailer” after they have a chance to review the information.
If you’re going to take the time to network, do it right. Make sure the person you’re reaching out to undoubtedly is a good fit for a link exchange (not everyone is). Then, respect their boundaries. Don’t email them every other day to check in. Give them time and space, so you don’t risk burning bridges before they’re built. If there is no response in a week, feel free to check in, just don’t overwhelm them with emails.
Adding Links To Your Online Article Recap
Link building is a great way to make your articles more valuable to readers and in the eyes of the search engines. In other words, taking the time to add links is not only a win-win but is well worth the effort. After reading this article, you should be prepared to add links to your online articles and put what you’ve learned into action.
Include two internal links, one or two external links (plus references), and add a link to each online article you publish from another article on your website. Each link should be hyperlinked with keywords or phrases and use HTML title tags. By following these short instructions and reaching out to other authors in your niche to build some backlinks your articles will be built for success.
Heather Hart — Author Coach
Heather has a passion for helping other writers make their dreams come true. With well over a dozen books in print, she has been working as an author coach for close to a decade.
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