Best Strategies for Using Internal Links in Shopify

What Are the Best Strategies for Using Internal Links in Shopify

Internal linking is a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of SEO in Shopify. Effective internal linking helps distribute page authority throughout your site, improves user experience, and guides visitors to relevant content. By strategically placing internal links, you can help search engines better understand your site’s structure and improve rankings for key pages. In this guide, we will explore the best strategies for using internal links in your Shopify store to maximize SEO and user engagement.

1. Plan a Clear Site Structure

a. Importance

A well-organized site structure allows search engines and users to navigate your store easily. Internal links act as pathways that connect related pages, helping users and search engines discover your content and understand its hierarchy.

b. Best Practices

• Organize your site into categories and subcategories that make sense for your products.
• Create a logical flow from top-level pages (e.g., homepage and category pages) to individual product pages.
• Use breadcrumb navigation to provide contextual links that show users where they are in your site’s hierarchy.

c. How to Implement

• Example: Your main category page for "Men's Clothing" should link to subcategory pages like "Shirts," "Pants," and "Accessories," which in turn link to individual product pages.

2. Use Contextual Links Within Content

a. Importance

Contextual internal links are placed within the content of a page, guiding users to other relevant pages. These links help search engines understand the relationship between your pages and spread link equity across your site.

b. Best Practices

• Link to related products, blog posts, or collection pages within your content.
• Ensure that the anchor text (the clickable text of the link) is descriptive and relevant to the linked page.
• Avoid overloading a single page with too many internal links, as this can dilute the effectiveness of each link.

c. How to Implement

• Example: On a blog post about “How to Style Leather Jackets,” include links to your “Leather Jackets Collection” or specific product pages for jackets.

3. Prioritize High-Value Pages

a. Importance

Certain pages on your site, such as your best-selling products, cornerstone content, or landing pages, are more valuable than others. By directing internal links to these high-value pages, you can pass more link equity to them, improving their chances of ranking higher in search results.

b. Best Practices

• Identify the most important pages on your site based on sales performance, user engagement, or SEO importance.
• Create internal links to these pages from various locations on your site, such as your homepage, collection pages, blog posts, and navigation menus.

c. How to Implement

• Example: If one of your products is a best-seller, link to that product from relevant blog posts, collection pages, and even the homepage.

4. Use Internal Links in Navigation Menus

a. Importance

Navigation menus are a critical part of your internal linking strategy because they appear on every page of your Shopify store, providing multiple opportunities for users to access important content.

b. Best Practices

• Include links to top-level categories, collections, and key pages (like “About Us” or “Contact”) in your main navigation menu.
• Add dropdown menus to your main navigation to showcase subcategories or specific products.
• Use footer links to provide additional internal links to less prominent, yet important, pages such as policies, FAQs, or customer service pages.

c. How to Implement

• Example: Your main navigation could include links to “Shop Women,” “Shop Men,” and “New Arrivals,” while your footer might link to “Size Guide” and “Return Policy.”

5. Leverage Blog Content for Internal Linking

a. Importance

Blog content provides an excellent opportunity to naturally incorporate internal links, guiding readers to relevant products or pages. This not only improves the user experience but also strengthens the internal link structure of your site.

b. Best Practices

• In each blog post, link to product pages, collections, or other blog posts that are relevant to the topic.
• Use anchor text that includes relevant keywords, making it clear where the link leads.
• Update older blog posts with links to new products or pages that have been added since the original post was published.

c. How to Implement

• Example: A blog post about “Top 5 Summer Outfits” could link to specific products like “Floral Dresses” or “Summer Sandals,” directing traffic to those product pages.

6. Monitor Link Health and Performance

a. Importance

Over time, internal links can break due to changes in your site’s structure or product updates. Broken links negatively impact user experience and can hurt your SEO. Regularly monitoring your links ensures that they remain functional and effective.

b. Best Practices

• Use tools like Google Search Console or Ahrefs to identify broken internal links.
• Regularly audit your internal links to ensure they are pointing to the correct pages.
• Update or remove broken links and ensure that important pages continue to receive internal link equity.

c. How to Implement

• Set a monthly schedule to check for broken links and repair them promptly to maintain a healthy internal linking structure.

7. Avoid Orphan Pages

a. Importance

Orphan pages are pages on your Shopify store that have no internal links pointing to them. These pages are difficult for search engines to find and may not be indexed properly, which can reduce their visibility in search results.

b. Best Practices

• Ensure every page on your site, especially product pages and blog posts, is linked to from at least one other page.
• Include newly created pages in your internal linking strategy as soon as they go live to avoid orphaning them.

c. How to Implement

• Example: If you add a new product, make sure to link to it from relevant collection pages, blog posts, and even your homepage if appropriate.

8. Use Breadcrumbs for Hierarchical Linking

a. Importance

Breadcrumbs provide a clear path for users to follow and show the hierarchy of your site’s structure. They also help search engines understand the relationship between your pages and improve navigation for users.

b. Best Practices

• Implement breadcrumbs on product and collection pages, allowing users to easily navigate back to higher-level pages.
• Use breadcrumbs that reflect the site’s hierarchy (e.g., Home > Collection > Product Page).

c. How to Implement

• Shopify themes often support breadcrumbs natively, but if your theme doesn’t, you can use a Shopify app or custom coding to implement them.

Conclusion

Using internal links strategically in your Shopify store can have a significant impact on your site’s SEO and user experience. By creating a clear site structure, using contextual links, prioritizing high-value pages, and leveraging blog content, you can guide users through your site more effectively and ensure that search engines understand the relationship between your pages. Regularly monitor and maintain your internal links to keep your SEO efforts strong and ensure a seamless user experience.

If you have any question, you can chat with us on facebook... LearnSEOAds

Follow On...

Facebook... LearnSEOAds

Linkedin... LearnSEOAds

Twitter... LearnSEOAds