Internal links vs inbound links: what’s the difference?

Written on 21 November, 2016 by James Baylis
Categories Search Engine Optimisation

Website links play an important role on a website. They can be used to drive traffic to your website, navigate consumers to the right pages and improve your SEO presence.

In this article, I will explain the power of internal and inbound links on your website.

What is an internal link?

An internal link is a URL link that you place on your website to point to another webpage of yours. An internal link is not to be confused with an external link, which is a link on your website that points to another website.

Internal links are helpful to your website because they:

Provide site structure – The more internal links your website has, the better search engines, like Google, can crawl and index your website. Search crawlers use internal links to map out your website and are better informed when ranking your website on search.

Reduce bounce rate – Providing website visitors with internal links keeps them on your website for longer, reducing your bounce rate and increasing the likelihood of them taking a positive action with your business.

Reduced bounce rate and longer average session duration improves SEO.

Better user experience – Providing internal links to blog posts, product pages, contact us forms and videos ensures users have a smoother website experience. You can use internal links to drive prospects to your core pages to generate more leads and sales.

What is an inbound link?

An inbound link is when a website inserts a link on their website pointing to another website.

An inbound link is also sometimes referred to as an external link or backlink.

For example, if you have a Facebook Page and have placed your website address in the About Us section, that is considered an inbound link.

Inbound links are helpful to your website because they have:

A huge SEO impact – Inbound links are considered one of the most important factors for improving a website’s online search presence. Moz estimate that Google weighs 18.3% of overall ranks based on inbound links.

(Source)

Drive more traffic – Getting links from social media, web forums, review sites and niche blogs drives free traffic to your website.

Increase branding – If customers see your website on a number of different mediums, it gives your business more credibility and authority in your industry.

The best way to generate inbound links is to create quality content and get it in front of the right people (industry influencers and people who will value your content). If someone loves a blog post from your business, when they share it, they will also provide a link back to your website so others can read it.

Summary

Inbound and internal links are both important to grow your business’s online search presence and drive more visitors to your website.

Are you struggling with your link building strategy or cannot build high-quality inbound links to your website? Click here to learn how we can help.

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