Internal linking is a crucial aspect of any website, but it is especially important for ecommerce websites. Internal linking helps improve the navigation and user experience for your website visitors and can also help improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO).
This article will discuss the best practices for internally linking pages on ecommerce websites. To help illustrate these opportunities, I’ll use some of my favorite examples of ecommerce SEO done well – the portfolio of Williams Sonoma brands. (Disclaimer: I have no affiliation and have never worked on any of these sites.)
What is internal linking?
Internal linking refers to linking one webpage to another on the same website domain. When a user clicks on an internal link, they will be taken to a different page on your website. These links can be words, phrases, or images. Internal linking is important because it helps people find the information they are looking for on your website and helps them move from one page to another. It also helps search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your website, making it easier to find in search results.
What internal linking is not
Internal linking is not the same as external linking. External linking is when you put links on your website that take users to other websites. This can help them find relevant information from other sources. Using both types of linking is essential, but they have different purposes.
Why is internal linking important for ecommerce websites?
Internal linking is an important aspect of search engine optimization (SEO) for all websites, especially ecommerce. Here are the primary reasons internal linking is crucial for ecommerce websites:
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Improved Navigation: Ecommerce websites often have many pages, including product pages, category pages, and informational pages. Internal linking helps users navigate these pages and find the information they want.
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Enhanced SEO: Ecommerce websites often have stiff competition. Internal linking can help improve the SEO of the website, making it more visible in search results.
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Discoverability: Internal linking can help search engines discover and crawl all of the pages on the website, leading to more traffic and potential customers.
- Promotion Highlighting: Internal linking can highlight promotions, sales, new products, and customer reviews, encouraging users to take advantage of these offerings.
In-content vs. Navigation Internal Linking: What’s the Difference?
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In-content Internal Linking: Includes links within the content of a page (typically a blog post). For example, if you are writing a blog post about men’s shoes, you may want to link to a page about sneakers.
- Navigational Internal Linking: Involves links in your website’s navigation menu, helping people find the main pages on your website and navigate more easily.
Navigation Internal Linking Best Practices
1. Sitewide Navigation Menu
The organization and utilization of your primary navigation are fundamental for a robust internal linking strategy. When a page is linked from the sitewide menu, it signals to Google that the page is essential. However, it’s crucial not to overcrowd your menu.
For example, West Elm’s Kids section shows category and sub-category linking that boosts internal authority and helps Google understand the website’s organization.
2. Sitewide Secondary Navigation Menu
This involves using global navigation menus that support seasonal efforts, promotions, sales, new product categories, and other deep links to category pages. It adds value to the user beyond just basic functions like Find a Store and Shopping Cart.
3. HTML Breadcrumb Navigation
Breadcrumbs are typically displayed at the top of category and product pages. They show the path a user has taken to reach the current page and have several benefits, including improved crawlability, enhanced user experience, and increased relevancy.
4. HTML Sitemap
An HTML sitemap lists all pages on your website and provides links to these pages. Creating a well-structured HTML sitemap and linking to it from the footer ensures that most site pages are just a few clicks away, aiding both user accessibility and SEO.
In-content Internal Linking Best Practices
5. Supporting Category Page Content
Supporting content on category pages, typically added at the bottom, can naturally include links to other category and sub-category pages, individual product pages, and educational content.
6. Internal Linking Modules
Modules like Related Searches can provide long-tailed keyword-rich internal links to sub-categories and product detail pages.
7. Related Products/Browsing
Ecommerce SEO often includes a related products widget, helping users discover additional products. This can appear on both product detail pages and category pages.
8. Product Attributes
Product attributes (e.g., size, style, color, brand) can be used to create internal links, complementing breadcrumbs.
9. User-generated Content (UGC)
UGC can take many forms, such as reviews, testimonials, and Q&A sections, which can provide valuable internal linking opportunities.
General Internal Linking Best Practices
- Link to deep pages.
- Use descriptive anchor text.
- Link to relevant/related pages.
- Link to the canonical version of the URL.
- Don’t use the same anchor text for multiple pages.
Implementation Tips for Ecommerce Sites
Implementing these strategies may require collaboration with your development team. Internal linking modules offer significant benefits despite potentially being a high-effort task. Auditing your existing internal links to determine which pages could benefit from increased internal linking is also a great starting point.
Maximizing Internal Linking for Ecommerce
Internal linking is essential for ecommerce websites. By following the best practices discussed above, you can ensure that your website is easy to navigate for users and is optimized for search engines.
