Google’s John Mueller answered a question about internal linking, saying that internal linking beyond a site’s breadcrumb navigation is one of the “biggest things” a publisher can tell Google about the content that matters most. I affirmed.
Breadcrumb navigation
In fairy tales, the protagonist may venture into the woods and leave a trail of breadcrumbs to avoid getting lost.
Websites similarly provide “breadcrumbs” in the form of breadcrumb site navigation to help site visitors navigate the website structure of the website.
Breadcrumbs typically start with the home page, move to category pages, and then to articles.
Home > Category > Article (You Are Here)
Breadcrumb structured data
Breadcrumb structured data is a reflection of breadcrumb navigation, part of what is called breadcrumb navigation. internal navigation.
Internal navigation allows site visitors to easily navigate your website, going back and forth between website categories and subcategories to find what they are interested in.
Breadcrumb structured data tells Google what the topic of the website category is.
- This category is about x.
- This category is about y.
- This category is about z.
Breadcrumb site navigation is reflected in structured data that is contextual to what is being discussed.
Is Breadcrumb Structured Data Enough for Internal Links?
The questioner wanted to know if setting up breadcrumb structure data navigation is enough for SEO internal linking.
This is the question:
“Is internal linking still important for SEO if I have structured data for breadcrumbs?”
Internal links matter
In response, Google’s John Mueller said that internal links are an opportunity to tell Google more than internal navigation links can.
John Mueller answers whether internal links matter:
“that’s right.
This is what internal linking is so important for SEO.
Guiding Google and directing visitors to pages they deem important is one of the greatest things you can do on your website.
And what matters is entirely up to you.
You can decide to make things matter where you make the most money, or make things matter where you have the strongest or weakest competitors.
Internal links help you focus on directions and parts of your site.
And it’s not something that can be easily replaced with structured data.
So just because you have structured data somewhere on your page, I don’t think it’s a substitute for regular internal links.
Even if URLs are also specified in the structured data, you don’t use those URLs in the same way that your pages use regular internal links.
Therefore, hreflang annotations never replace links between country versions, nor breadcrumb annotations replace links between different levels of a website.
Regular HTML links are required between different parts of the website.
And ideally, not just a basic set of links, but look at it in a strategic way and think about what you care about most and how you can highlight it with internal links. should. ”
Why internal links matter
John Mueller didn’t say that internal links are a ranking factor. He said it’s a good way for him to tell Google which pages in the site are important.
Going back a bit and looking at the structure of a website, the site structure of a traditional website resembles a pyramid.
The top of the pyramid is usually a small dot containing general information about the site’s content and offerings.
As you click through the category and subcategory layers through the site navigation, topics progress from very general (at the top) to very specific at the bottom of the pyramidal site structure. Let’s go.
The bigger the site, the more pages there are, and the more likely it is that important pages will remain buried and forgotten in an avalanche of content.
John Mueller suggested that strategic internal links is a way to direct Google and site visitors to the most popular and important topics.
Careful use of internal links helps Google and your site’s visitors get to important content quickly.
As Mueller recommended:
“…you should look at it in a strategic way and think about what you care about most and how you can highlight that with internal links.”
The importance of internal links is not to “trick” Google into thinking your webpage is related to XYZ.
Tell search engines which pages are most important.
Internal links are just a way to point to important content and help search engines find and rank it.
Quote
Internal links are very important for SEO
See around 25:14 in the video.
