Number of internal links pointing to each page
Google Algorithm Ranking Factors
(Number 104 of the 200)
Author: Dr. Manus Ward │Head of Digital Strategy and Data Protection │Hotelconsultant.com is a qualified and experienced former hotel manager, culinary Olympic team manager and hospitality Head of School who is passionate about passing on the knowledge he gained from one of the few hotel digital strategy doctorates in the world to you the hotelier. Bonus: If you have any problems with this contact me (100% free) at manus@hotelconsultant.com or 086 8185829 on this or any aspect of your hotel’s digital strategy.
Why do we need to do this
The number of internal links pointing at a page are a search ranking factor. An excessive number reduces PageRank and can lead to higher bounce rates.
What does this means
Google examines your site and interprets that the pages that have a lot of internal links to it should receive higher rankings. The keywords you use as your link to the page should be carefully chosen as if searchers arrive on your page and immediately leave Google will penalise your page (This is called bounce and your bounce rate is a Google negative ranking factor). You should also cross link i.e. if you have multiple activities or local attractions on individual pages they should all be linked back to the overarching local activities and attractions page. More than 100 internal links on your page may penalise your site. Google also penalises pages where the link is either from a tiny image or from no text. The links should also be in the main menu at the top of the page if possible.
What do I do:
- Decide your key pages you want traffic to go to. All pages should have a link to this priority page.
- Choose the anchor text (The words in the link) carefully. Do some Keyword research.
- Do not link from no text or tiny images.
- Link to relevant or similar pages within your site.
- Do not place more than 100 links on each page.
How do I check the number of links on my pages: Click on http://www.submitexpress.com/free-tools/link-counter-tool/ and do the following.
The number of links are on the next page.
This page has a total of 149 links which may bring the attention of Google but the site is not spammy so it will not be penalised. The number of internal links exceeds 100 so this hotel should reconsider the number of links if only for PageRank purposes.
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