Using Internal Linking to Build Backlinks – Part 5
So far I have shown many different techniques for building backlinks from within your own site, in order to increase the page rank and authority of your internal pages, as well as make it easier for Google to crawl your site… and if it’s easier for them, then they figure it’s easier for humans to navigate your site and find information also.
Today’s internal link building tip is to go back into your archives and try to find places where you can add links to new posts you have written. The main time that people use internal linking is when they are writing a new post, referencing older posts on a similar topic that applies. (example: Look at the beginning of this post. I made links to my older posts about internal link building.)
The reason you would want to go back into your old posts and add some links to your newer posts, is that your older posts are probably already ranked well, and some of them should be bringing you consistent traffic from the search engines. Wouldn’t you want people who are getting to your older posts from the search engines to be directed to your new posts? This not only keeps your visitors on your site longer, which gives you more page views, more chances for them to click out to an advertiser, more chances for them to subscribe to your blog, etc etc etc, but it also helps you with regards to the search engines, as mentioned above, because it passes authority to your internal pages.
WARNING: When adding stuff to your older posts, make sure that you don’t rearrange or delete what you’ve already written, because that’s what is bringing visitors to your site. Only add stuff to the beginning and the end of the post. You can also use phrases that you’ve already written and turn those into links to your newer posts. Just don’t delete stuff…
So, when doing internal link building, don’t just focus on your your new posts, but also focus on your old posts too…
Please check out the other posts in this Internal Link Building series….
Using Internal Linking to Build Backlinks – Prequel
Using Internal Linking to Build Backlinks – Part 1
Using Internal Linking to Build Backlinks – Part 2
Using Internal Linking to Build Backlinks – Part 3
Using Internal Linking to Build Backlinks – Part 4
Using Internal Linking to Build Backlinks – Part 5
Using Internal Linking to Build Backlinks – Part 6
Occasionally when I read back through my old posts I feel the need to modify a word here or a phrase there. I’m always hesitant about it though, as I figure Google’s seen it. But I also wonder if they appreciate miner changes, especially spelling mistakes.
Now I’m wondering more about whether or not I linked to newer stuff. I think I did. . .but now I’m realizing some of the new posts probably could easily be linked forward.
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I agree that it’s a good idea to edit an older post to provide an additional link forward from it to a newer, related entry but you just have to be careful not to fall into the trap of doing major overhauls a la George Lucas, but stick instead to minor tweaks. Obviously, fixing grammatical or spelling errors or repairing broken links is legit, but if you’re constantly reworking the content of your older posts, your credibility could take a bit of a hit.
While I don’t this often, on posts where I have done so, I’ve indicated my addendums with a little red “Update” notation, so it’s more apparent. (You can take a look at my FiveFingers For Your Ten Toes article for an example.)
I did the same thing… i had a few posts leading up to my dofollow blog search engine launch… so i went back and added updates saying i launched it, since a few were getting some search engine rankings.
I didn’t mean for people to do major overhauls… just add a link or two.
Thanks for the comment! =)
It’s best to link to every page possible. Often people make the mistake of going for external links when their internal link structure needs to be optimized.
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I’m very glad I found this site. I definitely plan to incorporate it into my weekly link building campaigns. Thanks.
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Hmmmm, when I updated a link I got a pingback from my own site. What do you think about letting those post?
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Breakaway, I didn’t think you were suggesting major overhauls. I was just tossing out a general cautionary note for everyone. But I think you can get away with some fairly big updates or addendums as long as you make it obvious that the post has been adjusted. That way, you’re being fully up-front with your readers, but also providing them with better content.
Of course, if you have major revisions to make on an old post, you might be just as well off publishing a new post with reciprocal links to/from the outdated post… Just depends on the specific situation, I suppose…
ROTFL! Does this mean you’ll be dropping a comment here every week?
I think this is a nice tip to interlink the new and old posts on the site. If a visitor reads a post and likes it, he is likely to click on the link and go to the newer or older post and read it too. On my own blog I try to link from every new post to one of the older posts or vice versa if applicable.
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LOL… like you Mr. Top Commenter? =) haha… hope all is well!
I wouldn’t post them, but I don’t have to worry about it…. i will make a post about a great plugin to stop pingbacks from your own site.
Too cool. I was just thinking (and doing) this a bit this week as I went over every post to add a photo or 2.
Great tip!
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great concept – even they very simple. i was just linking back to the old ones in my new posts – but you’re right – i should go through the old ones too.
thanks for the tip.
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Thank God I found you. Nice tutorial! See how we have stuffs but m=never think about using them..SEO recycling!!!
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I’d be interested to know if this technique could be used for something other than blogs? I assist with an online store that has been live for about 2 years. Should I be linking older products to newer products or is this technique more specific to blogs only?
Oh no, this one isn’t blog specific…. I’ve tried in the internal link building series to point out the blog-specific ones, but this definitely isn’t! Because people may not always want the new products, so in addition to it helping you in the search engines, you may actually make more sales, since people will be able to easily find the older products.
Any site that you can create links, do internal link building!
Being just a newbie, I’ve come across several tips on linkbuilding from commenting, forum posting, article submission, and etc.. but internal linking tips has somewhat been blurry to me. How do we gauge if our internal linking structure is already optimized?
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Check out Part 6 of the internal link building series. I cover how to make sure you are optimizing every article.