How To Add Internal Links In WordPress 2023 [The Best Way]
Are you looking for an easy way to make your WordPress website more navigable and efficient? Internal linking is a great way to do just that!
82% of internal link opportunities are missed which gives sites the opportunity to improve organic traffic, site navigation, and search engine discoverability.
In this article, we’ll explore the best ways to add internal links in WordPress 2023. We’ll cover everything from plugins to manual linking and even auto-linking tools. With our help, you can create smoother navigation for your visitors and get them where they need to go quickly.
You don’t have to be tech-savvy or a coding genius either; anyone can learn how to link internally on their site with minimal effort.
So if you’re ready to take control of your website navigation and give yourself freedom from cumbersome menus, let’s dive into how to add internal links in WordPress!
What Are Internal Links?
Before we start, let’s jab your memory on what internal links are, their types, and their purpose.
Internal links are hyperlinks that point to other pages within the same website. They help create a network between all the pages on the same domain, connecting content and making it easier for both search engine bots and visitors to browse the site.
There are four main types of internal links, namely;
- Navigation Links: Navigation links, or nav links, are clickable elements or hyperlinks that help users navigate through the primary sections or pages of a website. You often see them representing important pages like Home, About Us, Services, Products, Blog, and Contact. Navigation links make it easier for visitors to explore a website, find what they need, and move around efficiently. They’re essential for improving the usability and overall user experience of a website.
- In-text or Contextual Internal links: In-text or contextual links are special hyperlinks you can place within the text in your content. Instead of separate buttons or menus, they seamlessly blend into the text. These links have a purpose—to provide your readers with extra context, supporting evidence, or further reading material. When they click on them, they can explore a topic in more depth, find definitions, or discover related articles or resources within your site.
- Image Internal Links: Image internal links are hyperlinks attached to images within a web page or document. Instead of leading to external resources, they direct users to different sections or pages within your website or document. Overall, they improve the usability and interactivity of websites and documents.
- Footer Internal Links: Footer internal links are the links you place in the footer texts, like About Us, Contact, Privacy Policy, and FAQs. They serve as a secondary navigation menu, making it easier for your readers to access important pages without scrolling back up. These links ensure a consistent and user-friendly experience throughout the website.
Why Are Internal Links Important?
Internal and external links are equally important! So, while searching for outbound external links to increase your site exposure, use the same energy to build your inbound internal links!
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits that come with creating internal links within your WordPress site while link building.
- Directs readers to different pages and posts around your blog or website so they can find related content quickly.
- Reduces bounce rates – meaning they’re likely to stay longer on your page and increase their chances of returning later.
- It gives readers greater control over their journey through your website – something everyone loves!
- Internal linking is also helpful for search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines use crawlers that follow each link from one page to another, indexing all content. The more internal links you have pointing toward important pages, the easier for these crawlers to identify what’s important and rank it accordingly. This increases visibility and ultimately drives more organic traffic to your site.
By understanding how best to use this type of linking structure, businesses can ensure they create a better overall experience for their visitors – helping increase customer engagement levels and improving SEO rankings too!
Ways To Add Internal Links In WordPress
You can add internal links automatically or manually, depending on your preference.
Either way, Internal links are important for making your website easier to navigate and helping to keep readers on your site longer. They can also help improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO) by helping Google and other search engines better understand the structure and content of your website.
With that in mind, here is a list of some effective ways to add internal links in WordPress:
Use WordPress internal Link Plugins
WordPress has some internal link plugins that are useful for automatically creating links between posts and pages. These plugins include:
- Interlinks Manager: This plugin allows you to quickly and easily create links between posts and pages and also enables you to set up 301 redirects.
- Better Internal Link Search: This plugin allows you to search for posts and pages by keyword quickly and then easily link to them.
- Link Library: This plugin allows you to create a directory of internal links, which you can easily access anywhere on your website.
- Intellilink: This plugin is a powerful tool for creating custom links between posts and pages, as well as between external websites.
- Autolink Maker: This plugin allows you to automatically create internal links between posts and pages based on keywords or phrases.
- Link Whisper: Link Whisper is a plugin that automatically links related posts together using anchor text keywords. It helps ensure each page has enough relevant links pointing back to it, increasing its link equity.
- RankMath: RankMath allows you to create internal links within your website easily. It has a built-in feature that allows you to automatically link related keywords to other posts or pages on your website.
With the plugins above, you can automate internal link building in your WordPress. But, if you are not getting satisfactory results or have anchor text preferences, you can also go manual.
Create Manual Links
Creating internal links with descriptive anchor text can be more precise than automated plugins like Link Whisper. This method lets you choose exactly what words will appear as the hyperlink when clicked on.
Creating internal links manually without a plugin also allows you to choose which pages you want to link to. This allows you to create a more cohesive experience for your readers and make their experience on your site much more enjoyable.
Additionally, manually creating internal links can help to improve your site’s navigation, making it easier for visitors to find the information they are looking for.
Add Related Posts Plugins
Installing a “related posts” plugin gives you control over which other articles appear at the bottom of each post or page. This makes it easy for readers to find similar topics and stay engaged with your website longer.
Related posts plugins are also beneficial for SEO, providing another avenue for visitors to explore your website.
Search engines will recognize and reward your website for having a good internal linking structure, which the plugin can help you to establish.
Additionally, since the plugin will display related posts, visitors may be more likely to click those links, resulting in more page views.
This can also lead to higher rankings in search engine results since the search engines will recognize that people are staying on your website longer and visiting more pages.
Let’s dive into how to add an internal link in your WordPress using the popular WordPress Plugin- Link Whisper.
How To Add An Internal Link In WordPress The Best Way – Link Whisper
Link Whisper is a powerful WordPress plugin that allows you to quickly add, edit, and manage internal links on your site. It is designed to help you easily create and optimize the internal link structure for your website, and it also helps you to improve your SEO.
It uses an intelligent algorithm to suggest relevant internal links, and it also allows you to preview the links before you add them to your posts or pages.
Link Whisper costs $77.00 per year, but you can always use the 7-day free trial- To find out if it’s a good SEO tool for you.
The Link Whisper WordPress plugin offers several advantages for your website.
- It simplifies the process of adding internal links, saving you time and effort.
- It can enhance your website’s SEO and boost search engine rankings. It also improves user experience by guiding visitors to related content and increasing their time on your site.
- The plugin automates internal linking suggestions and helps you organize your content effectively. It even provides historical link suggestions for older posts.
- Overall, Link Whisper streamlines internal linking, improves SEO, enhances user experience, and saves time managing your WordPress website.
Here is how you can use Link Whisper to add links in WordPress;
Step 1. Install and Activate the Plugin
Install the Link Whisper plugin from the WordPress Plugin Directory. Once installed, activate it on your website.
Step 2. Access Link Whisper Settings
After activation, you’ll typically find a Link Whisper menu item in your WordPress dashboard. Click on it to access the plugin’s settings.
Step 3. Configure Link Whisper
In the settings, you can configure various options according to your preferences. You can adjust the number of links suggested per article, exclude specific posts or pages from suggestions, and more. Customize these settings based on your needs.
Step 4. Generate Internal Link Suggestions
Now it’s time to generate internal link suggestions for your content. Go to the post or page editor where you want to add internal links. You should see a new section called “Link Whisper Suggestions” in your editor interface.
Step 5. Review and Insert Suggestions
Within the Link Whisper Suggestions section, you’ll find a list of relevant phrases or anchor texts for potential internal links. Review these suggestions and click on the “+” icon next to a suggestion to insert it as an internal link within your content.
Step 6. Customize Anchor Text and Destination
After clicking the “+” icon, you can customize the anchor text (the clickable text for the link) and the destination URL (the page you want to link to). Ensure that the anchor text and destination are relevant and provide additional value to your readers.
Step 7. Edit or Remove Existing Links
Link Whisper also provides an overview of your existing internal links within the post editor. You can review and edit these links if needed. You can also remove unwanted links by clicking the “x” icon next to them.
Step 8. Save and Publish
Once you have added and adjusted your internal links, save or update your post/page. Your changes will be reflected on your live website.
Best Practices For Internal Linking
Adding internal links to a WordPress site is an important part of creating content that’s search engine friendly. Internal linking helps pass link juice within your own site, which can improve its visibility on the web. To get the most out of internal linking, it’s essential to understand best practices around when and how to use them.
Here are some tips for getting started with adding internal links in WordPress:
- Use Link Whisper Plugin because it makes it easy to add internal links while writing posts or pages. It scans your website automatically and suggests relevant related content you can link to quickly and easily.
- When placing internal links, be sure to do so strategically – put them where they make sense contextually and avoid stuffing too many into one post/page, as this could hurt user experience.
- Don’t overuse the same website links; instead, mix up your sources by including external sites.
- Don’t use so many links that your content is overcrowded and looks salesy. Instead, insert links with discretion- say 5-10 per 2000 words.
- When creating these links, remember that shorter URLs look best – long ones tend to break up sentences and make them less readable.
- Using descriptive anchor texts rather than generic terms such as ‘click here’ makes for a better user experience by giving readers an idea about what lies ahead before clicking through.
When done correctly, using internal linking in WordPress can be extremely beneficial for SEO purposes and help visitors navigate through your site more efficiently. Review existing content for opportunities to include additional links every once in a while – it will pay off!
Key Takeaways
As we wrap up this article, let’s take a moment to reflect on the key takeaways that will help you harness the power of internal linking and maximize the exposure of your website’s content.
- Internal linking creates more exposure for other pages on your website.
- There are four main types of internal links- navigation, contextual, image, and footer internal links.
- You can add internal links automatically or manually.
- Link Whisper is the best plugin to add internal links to your content in WordPress.
- Link Whisper costs at least $77 annually but offers a free trial!
Wrapping Up!
Internal linking is a powerful strategy that not only improves the user experience on your website but also exposes visitors to more of your valuable content. By utilizing navigation, contextual, image, and footer internal links, you can guide your audience seamlessly through your website, ensuring they discover related and relevant information.
When it comes to adding internal links, you have the option to do it manually or automatically. However, to streamline the process and maximize the benefits of internal linking, using a reliable plugin like Link Whisper is highly recommended. With its user-friendly interface and efficient suggestions, Link Whisper makes internal linking a breeze, helping you enhance your website’s SEO and engage your readers.
The best part? Link Whisper offers a free trial, making it accessible so you can test its functions. By taking advantage of this powerful tool, you can optimize your internal linking strategy and unlock the full potential of your website.
So, don’t overlook the importance of internal linking. Leverage its benefits, explore the different types of internal links, and consider implementing Link Whisper to take your internal linking game to the next level.
Start enhancing your website’s visibility, user experience, and overall success today.
