All too many pitfalls exist in the link game, and those who rely on inbound and outbound links can be constantly worried about potential hazards arising. From mistakes with link placement on your own site to competitors using dirty tricks with respect to inbound link associations, you cannot let your guard down. Internal links are another worry – even though many may not consider this to be a problem – but control over this aspect is completely within your realm. Various internal link mistakes can cost you traffic, reputation and even search rankings; we’ll discuss which mistakes you want to avoid making in the following article.

Too Many Outbound Links

One of Google’s best ways to determine whether a website is trying to game the system is to look at its links. Sites that list many different links on them are often considered to be link farms, which means that the number of outbound links present on your site affects your standing with Google. If you have one or more pages with dozens of outbound links pointing all over the internet, then you are likely being noticed – and penalized – by Google in one way or another. Pinging URLs should be done sparingly when not pointing to other pages on your website, so be sure that none of your existing pages exhibit this behaviour.

Generic Anchor Text

Anchor text is a vital component of SEO and proper link structure. Without it, search engines would have a more difficult time understanding the context of each link and how to classify its existence with their algorithms. This is why generic anchor text – phrases such as “click here” or “buy now” – is a terrible idea for internal link structure. Each element of anchor text makes it possible for you to convey the meaning of the link, but not if you are pinging URLs that seem like gibberish. Because of this, it is crucial to avoid using generic anchor text whenever possible. While it can be used sparingly, it should never be used when the link in question is intended to be one that generates inherit SEO value in one form or another.

Failing to Flow

Pages that remain isolated will not rank in search and will do you no favours. While you may believe that all of your pages are properly connected with one another, you may be mistaken. Having one link from a given page to another is not sufficient for a page to be ranked well in search. Without an abundance of connections – without violating the broader rule that we mentioned earlier with having too many links in general – people and search engines alike will have a hard time finding your page. In the case of the former, this will affect the latter’s perception of the page, even if it can find it by crawling.

Conclusion

By steering clear of generic anchor text, avoiding excessive use of outbound links and ensuring that all of your pages are connected to multiple other pages on your site, your broader SEO link efforts will generate results. Failure to embrace these needed changes will result in unnecessary penalties for your website in search, so act today to ensure that doesn’t happen!