What Are Internal Links and External Links in SEO?

Knowing how to use internal and external links in SEO can help rank your website higher, improve its user experience, and make it easier for Google to crawl and understand. So, if you've ever wondered, "What are internal links and external links?" or "What's the difference between internal links and external links?", this guide will explain everything as simply as possible.

What Are Internal Links?

Internal linking is the linking within a website; that is, one page of your website links to another page of the same website. When you click a menu button, a blog link, or a button on the same site, that's an internal link.

Example: A blog linking to your "Contact Us" page or another related blog is internal linking.
These links help organise your website and lead users to important areas. They also help search engines understand the relationships between pages on your website.

What Are External Links?

External links are links that take users from your website to a completely different website. If you reference a study and link to a government source or Wikipedia, for example, that is an external link.  External links provide additional resources, context, and help add credibility to your content.

Types of Internal Links and External Links

Both internal and external linking have categories based on how they are used.

Internal Links Types

1. Navigation links - These are found in the main menu or sidebar, assisting users in reaching important pages like Home, Blog, or Services quickly.
2. Footer links - Placed at the bottom of a website, linking to Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, or high-value pages.
3. In-content links - Links placed inside texts or blog contents, which will lead readers to related topics or deeper information.
4. Breadcrumbs - A small navigation path showing where the user currently is.

Example: Home > Blog > SEO Basics

External Links Types

1. DoFollow links - These allow SEO value, or authority, to pass from one site to another.
2. NoFollow links - These tell the search engines not to pass authority. Mostly used for comments, social media profiles, or untrusted sources.
3. Sponsored links - These are for paid placements, which could include affiliate links, ads, or partnerships.

Key Differences Between Internal and External Links

Here is a simple comparison that will make the difference between internal and external links clear:

This table makes it easier to understand how both link types support SEO differently.

Benefits of Internal Linking for SEO

Internal linking has many advantages and is sometimes considered one of the easiest ways to improve SEO.

• Passes Link Equity Across Your Site - Internal linking contributes to the web by passing some of the authority from well-ranking pages onto newer or more important pages.
• Helps Google crawl and index pages - Search engine bots follow links like roads. Proper internal links make it easier for them to find and index all of your content.
• Improves site structure and hierarchy - Internal links help Google to see the most important pages and how information is structured.
• Enhances User Experience - Your users will find related content more easily. They can stay longer and learn more. Bounce rates go down.
• Improves the Ranking of Key Pages - The more you link to one particular page using relevant anchor text, the greater the attention and ranking potential for that page.

Benefits of External Linking for SEO

Many people believe that linking outside of their site sends users away, so they avoid it. External linking helps SEO and user trust.

• Builds Credibility and Authority - When you link to trusted, factual sources, users and search engines will look upon that content as more reliable.
• Improve Keyword Ranking - Search engines look to external linking signals to gauge better context, primarily when it's to an authoritative source.
• Boosts Relevance and Context - The external links will help the search engines understand the niche of your content and how it fits into the bigger topics.
• Increased Referral Traffic - If another website links back to you, visitors from their site may click through and become part of your traffic.
• Increases Value of Content - Well-placed external links will make your content more complete, especially for research-based or instructional articles.