The power of linking: Why internal linking is crucial in newspaper articles

In today's digital world, where information abounds, it is critical to ensure that readers can easily access relevant content. This is especially true for newspaper articles that are published online every day. Internal linking is a powerful tool to improve user experience and increase the visibility of your content. That's because internal linking is not only a practical means of navigation, but also a strategic way to improve search engine optimization (SEO) and reader engagement. In this article, we'll take a closer look at what internal linking is and why it's important.

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What are internal links?

Internal links are hyperlinks that lead from one page of your website to another. In the context of newspaper articles, these are links that refer to other articles or related content within the same news portal or magazine. These links can take the form of text links, images or buttons. Their purpose is to make it easier for readers to navigate your website.

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Why are internal links important?

Internal links are a fundamental element of a website's structure and usability. They link different pages of the same domain together and perform several important functions that are crucial for optimization and user experience.

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Internal linking: The key role for SEO success

Internal linking is crucial for the visibility and ranking of your website in search results. But how does it work exactly?

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1. Indexing and crawlability:

Search engines like Google use so-called crawlers or bots to search the Internet for new content and add it to their index. These crawlers follow links to get from one page to the next. Internal links are one of the main ways crawlers explore your website and index all available pages. If your website is well linked, search engine crawlers can capture all pages more efficiently.

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2. Evaluation of the website structure:

Search engines analyze the structure of your website to evaluate its relevance and quality. Internal links play an important role in evaluating the website structure. If your internal links are meaningful and organic, it signals to search engines that your website is well thought out and user-friendly. This can have a positive impact on your SEO ranking.

3. Thematic relevance:

Internal links can also help illustrate the thematic relevance of your website. For example, when you link articles on similar topics, you show search engines that your website has relevance in that area. This can increase your chances of appearing in search results for related queries.

4. Distribution of SEO value:

Internal links distribute the SEO value or the so-called PageRank on your website. Each page has a certain SEO value, which is influenced by the incoming links. Through internal linking, you can direct this value to different pages. This is especially useful to focus on older articles or pages with less external backlinks and assign them SEO value.

5. improved visibility:

When search engines index and rank your website, they also consider dwell time and click-through rate. Internal links that lead users to relevant and interesting content increase the likelihood that users will stay on your site and visit more pages. This can increase your visibility in search results, as search engines prefer websites with satisfied and engaged users.

Inspire and retain readers

Reader engagement and internal linking are closely linked and play a critical role in creating an effective online presence. Internal linking contributes significantly to reader retention by improving the user experience, increasing dwell time, linking thematically relevant content, and making it easier to navigate your website. When you use internal linking strategically, you can strengthen reader engagement and ensure that visitors stay on your site longer and consume more of your high-quality content.

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1. Increasing the length of stay:

Internal linking within your website allows readers to seamlessly move from one article to another that is of interest to them. This promotes longer dwell time on your website, as users are motivated to explore more content. When readers click on different articles and pages to get more information, their interest is maintained and they spend more time on your website.

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2. Linking of thematically similar content:

Internal linking can be used to link thematically similar content together. For example, if a reader reads an article about healthy eating and is led to related articles about fitness, nutrition tips, or healthy recipes through internal linking, the likelihood that they will remain interested in your website increases. Reader loyalty is strengthened because the reader can access a wide range of relevant information.

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3. Guide through the content funnel:

Internal linking allows you to guide readers through what's called the "content funnel." This funnel represents the path a reader takes on your website from an introductory article to more advanced content. By strategically placing internal links, you can direct readers along this funnel, from general information to more specific or in-depth content. This helps keep readers on your site longer and lets them dive deeper into your content.

4. Increase in page views:

Internal links can significantly increase the number of page views on your website. When readers navigate from one article to the next through internal links, they see more pages and content, which leads to an increase in page views. Not only is this good for reader retention, but it can also increase your advertising revenue, as more page views potentially means more ad views.

5. Increased probability of conversions:

If your website has a goal, such as signing up for a newsletter, completing a subscription, or filling out a contact form, internal links can be used to take readers to pages where these actions are performed. These can then be articles where the reader is particularly likely to complete a subscription.  

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The right tools

Internal linking tools are extremely helpful in developing an effective strategy and optimizing the performance of your website. An example of this is Purple's Link Optimizer, which was developed specifically for digital publishing platforms. With such tools, you can efficiently analyze and manage your internal links. Purple 's Link Optimizer sets internal links automatically and pays attention to the relevance of the internal links. This allows you to improve your internal linking strategy in a targeted manner and ensure that your readers can navigate seamlessly between your content. In addition, tools like this can help you better understand the impact of your internal linking on reader engagement and conversion rates and adjust your strategy accordingly.

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