As PRs, it’s not breaking news that link building is an integral part of helping a website rank higher in the search engine results pages.
It’s also not very often that Google releases information regarding its algorithms, but recently, the search engine published some new link best practices. Google’s new best practice document includes tips on:
– Crawlable links
– Anchor text placements
– How to write good anchor text
– Internal links within your content
– External links from other sites
– Let’s break Google’s new insights down:
Crawlable links
The first tip Google discusses in its new document is how important it is to ensure links are crawlable. According to Google, it can only crawl your link if it’s an <a> HTML element with an href attribute. Google can’t reliably extract URLs from <a> elements that don’t have an href attribute, and if this is the case, it’s likely it won’t be parsed by the search engine.
Google recommends:
<a href=”https://example.com”>
<a href=”/products/category/shoes”>
Not recommended by Google:
<a routerLink=products/category”>
<span href=”https://example.com”>
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Anchor text placements
Anchor text (also known as link text) is the visible, clickable text of a link. This text tells people and Google something about the page your site is linking to. Google has revealed that a site should place anchor text between <a> elements that Google crawls.
A good example of this includes:
<a href=”https://example.com/ghost-peppers”>ghost peppers</a>
A bad example of this includes:
<a href=”https://example.com”></a>
- How to write good anchor text
So, what makes a good anchor text? The trick is ensuring that the text is descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to the page that it’s on and to the page it’s linking to. In doing this, it’s setting an expectation for readers, and it will be easier for visitors to navigate the site too.
A bad example of anchor text includes:
<a href=”https://example.com”>Click here</a> to learn more
<a href=”https://example.com”>Read more<a/>
A more concise and descriptive example includes:
<a href=”https://example.com”>list of chocolate types</a>
Tip: A good way to see if you’re on the right lines with your anchor text is to read it out loud and check if it’s detailed enough to make sense by itself. If you’d struggle to understand what the page would be about based on your first draft, you need to make it more descriptive.
Internal links within your content
It’s well known that linking to other reputable sites in your content is a good SEO tactic, however, linking to other pages on your site is a good way for Google to index and understand all of the pages on your site. Even better, if this is done strategically, internal links can send page authority to your most valuable pages.
Other internal link best practices include:
– Use keyword-rich anchor text
– Link to important pages
– Don’t use the same anchor text for different pages
– Audit internal links with Google Search Console
– Put links high up on your page
– Dofollow links
– Use internal links to help with indexing
– Link strategically from your homepage
– Add internal links to old pages
– Don’t go overboard with links! Be considerate of what you’re including, and ensure it’s relevant
External links from other sites
Similarly, external linking is a great way to build trustworthiness. A good way to do this is to ensure you’re linking to all your sources in a piece of content. This signals to Google that you acknowledge that you’ve taken pieces of content from other sites.
When you’re linking to other sites, it’s also important to consider when to use nofollow links, and when to use dofollow links. Nofollow links should be used when you don’t trust the source. However, if you believe that the source is reputable and provides trustworthy and valuable information, a dofollow link would be deserved.
Not quite search how to implement these tips into your SEO and content strategy? Learn more about how we can help you level up your site’s authority here: https://wild-pr.co.uk/services/seo/
Sources:
All insights taken from Google Search Central’s latest link best practice documentation.