Last Updated on April 1, 2018 by WebsiteDesigner.sg
Links, or hypertext links, are the clickable elements within a web page. Usually, they induce the mouse pointer to change behavior and therefore indicate the clickability of the focused element, whether it is a text or a graphic piece. Perhaps, all links have particular targets; they can induce a new page to load or they can induce the execution of a script on the same page. Actually, using and implementing links does obey several rules in order to make the website efficient and easy to browse.
Internal linking:
Internal linking is creating hypertext links within the website. The target can be an anchor within the same page as well as inducing the loading of a new page. The process is to facilitate moving from one page to another, from one level to another and enjoying the interactive features probably triggered by link clicking.
Internal links have the benefits of increasing several critical factors, no matter the main idea of the website is. In sum linking is useful when:
- It intends to retain the visitor logged on as long as possible.
- Facilitating moving from one point to another without having to suffer the actual hierarchy.
- Optimizing interactivity features, notably forms, triggering scripts, etc.
External linking:
External links are those hypertexts that have their targets on the original website. These are destined to share traffic with others websites. They can be useful when it is about running programs of link exchange.
External links have two great purposes. These links are somehow subject to regulatory terms included in programs like affiliate, ads or link exchange. Hence, external linking is mainly intended to:
- Creating popularity by linking to authority websites.
- Selling generated traffic by sending visitors to partners.
Linking side-effects:
Linking side effects are noticed when the process is not balanced. The linking strategy should avoid overloading one or the other type of link. Of course, the goal of the website is what the designer should respect in the first place and therefore, he needs to balance the internal/external linking to make it 50/50, but it has to be in compliance with SEO principles and respect search engine algorithms.
To summarize, linking process has to:
- Create live links.
- Short links.
Internal link should be separated by pertinent content, well distributed to avoid search engine disqualification. External links should exceed a certain number, otherwise, the website will lose traffic to other websites and, definitely, lose credentials and will be abandoned.
Conclusion
Linking is like creating bridges between several contents. The main idea is keeping the visitors connected to the same topic. Linking is also a smart way of leading users to the desired location without tricking them. As a marketing strategy, linking is one very important aspect that freelance web designer singapore should consider in a well-ranked position.