30-Second Summary:
With Google semantic search focusing on context and intent, aiming to deliver more relevant search results to users, businesses and site owners need to align with Google’s semantic content interpretation. This means ensuring that their website’s content is not only keyword-rich but also contextually relevant. So, what does this mean for your internal link building strategy, and should you change your approach to this essential part of an effective SEO campaign?
Having effective internal linking for SEO is crucial, so below we’ll explore how businesses can better align with Google’s semantic content interpretation and help improve search visibility.
Semantic search is all about understanding the meaning behind a user’s query rather than just matching keywords. In the past, Google and other search engines would do exactly that, but since evolving with semantic search over the last decade since Knowledge Graph in 2012 and the Hummingbird update in 2013, it utilises context, user intent, and relationships between words to deliver more relevant and accurate search results.
This approach enables Google to interpret complex queries, understand synonyms, and grasp the nuances of natural language better than ever before. SEO strategies had to adapt and become more focused on creating high-quality, contextually rich content that satisfies user intent. For businesses and site owners, this means optimising content not just for specific keywords but also for broader themes and topics to help improve the chance of ranking higher in the SERPs.
Internal linking plays a crucial role in this strategy too by establishing connections between related content, helping Google better understand the context and relevance of each page.
Internal linking guides both users and search engine crawlers through the content on your website, so with semantic SEO, internal linking plays a pivotal role in contextualising and connecting related topics and pages.
By strategically placing links within content, it signals to search engines the semantic relationships between different pieces of content. This helps them understand the context and relevance of each page, ultimately enhancing the overall user experience.
Anchor text plays a big role here, and as Google says in its link best practices: “Good anchor text is descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to the page that it’s on and to the page it links to.” It needs to find the right balance between being too generic and being too wordy.
Internal link building also assists the flow of PageRank throughout a website, distributing authority and relevance to important pages. When implemented effectively, internal links can guide users to deeper layers of content, increasing engagement and reducing bounce rates. It also helps Google discover and index new pages more efficiently, ensuring that all relevant content is appropriately surfaced in search results.
Anchor Text – Write anchor text that accurately describes the linked page’s content while incorporating relevant keywords. Avoid generic phrases such as ‘click here’ or ‘find out more’ and instead use descriptive, keyword-rich phrases that provide context to both users and search engines. Remember, you need to also think like the reader and use anchor text they will want to click to continue reading.
Contextual Linking – Link related pages together based on thematic relevance and context. Ensure that the linked pages offer additional value to users seeking further information on a particular topic rather than just a random page link to elsewhere on your site. By connecting content thematically, you strengthen the semantic signals conveyed to Google.
Site Structure – Organise your website’s content hierarchically, with clear categories and subcategories. This structure aids both users and search engines in navigating and understanding the topical relationships between different pages. Use breadcrumbs, sitemaps, and internal search functionality to enhance discoverability and crawlability.
Internal Link Audit – Regularly audit your internal links to identify opportunities for improvement. Ensure that all links are functional, and remove or update any broken or outdated links. Tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs and Screaming Frog can help monitor internal linking performance and identify areas for optimisation.
User Experience Focus – Prioritise UX when implementing internal links. You want to ensure that links are placed naturally within the content and add value to the user’s journey. Avoid excessive linking or over-optimisation, as this can detract from the user experience and potentially harm SEO efforts.
These key elements of your internal linking strategy can enhance semantic signals, improve website navigation, and ultimately boost your site’s visibility and rankings in Google.
SEO professional or just dipping your toes into search engine optimisation, you won’t want to miss out.
Thematic Clusters – Create clusters of interlinked content centred around broad themes or topics. This will help Google to better understand the context and relevance of your website.
Natural Language – Use natural, conversational language in your content to align with how users formulate queries. You’re writing for people first, so the content and anchor text needs to match this rather than just be for bots. This helps Google semantic search understanding and enhances the likelihood of your content matching user intent.
Structured Data Markup – Implement structured data markup to provide explicit context to search engines about the content on your website, enabling richer search results and improved semantic understanding.
Content Variety – Switch up the type of content you provide to include video and infographics to cater to different user preferences, increasing the likelihood of your content being interpreted semantically. You’ll also want to consider those who use voice search through Alexa, Siri or Google to find what they are looking for, answering their questions by looking at long-tail keywords and question keywords such as ‘how’, ‘why’, ‘what’ etc.
Essential for improving online visibility, your internal link building for SEO needs to carefully consider semantic search. Rather than just having keyword-based anchor text and forcing it into pages, it needs careful thought about what pages are most relevant to link to and the anchor text naturally fitting the content.
When done well, effective internal link building can enhance your website’s performance in the SERPs, improve UX, and help to have a successful SEO campaign. If you are unsure where to start or need more details about Google search semantics for SEO, we specialise in delivering tailored solutions and helping your link building strategy thrive.
If you want to know how to build internal links that assist your wider marketing efforts and strengthen your website’s semantic relevance, contact the team today.
For more from our blog, you can read all about 5 effective link building strategies for your eCommerce business, and how to optimise product descriptions for search intent.
