SEO Basics #4: links

(Updated on 28/07/2017)

We continue our general explanations of natural search engine optimisation. Having covered keywords, metadata, and images, we now turn to links, which also carry great importance in an SEO strategy.

Inbound (external) links

An inbound external link, or backlink, is a link placed on another website that leads to yours.
These links matter to Google. The more numerous (and high-quality) the sites that point to yours, the more Google will consider your content to be genuinely worthwhile. Placing a link to your site is, in a sense, like casting a vote for it, according to Google.

Outbound (external) links

Whereas multiplying inbound links is therefore a good thing, multiplying outbound links is far less so.
An outbound external link, the reverse of an inbound link, leads from your site to another.
Beyond a certain number of outbound links (a few dozen) on a single page, Google treats it as a directory.
Furthermore, you should ensure that you are linking to sites in the same industry or on the same theme as yours. According to Google, there would be no sense in pointing to a restaurant website from a car repair website.

Just like an inbound link, an outbound link nevertheless plays a role in SEO. It shows that you are "voting" in favour of another site. This helps to better understand the content and quality of that site — but also of your own site!

Internal links

Internal links concern another aspect of hyperlinks.
These are links that go from one of your pages to another of your pages. What makes them particularly interesting is that you are in control of them. There is no need to ask or hope that others will place inbound links to your site. Here, you are the one who decides.

From a user perspective, internal links are also especially valuable. They can encourage internet users to discover another page on your site by placing the right link in front of them at the right moment.
In terms of SEO, they are also a definite added value. By pointing as many links as possible to your most important page or pages, you push them upwards in the SEO rankings.

There are several ways to implement effective internal links.

"Table of contents" links

Another way to create links systematically, tidily, and aesthetically is to use a table of contents, or menu format.
For example, beneath each blog article, include a block showing other articles on the same subject.
This practice is particularly widespread in e-commerce. "You liked this product, you'll love this one!" In addition to prompting users to take action (in this case, buying another product or discovering another article on the same theme), it is an opportunity for internal links that will help your natural search ranking.

Breadcrumb trails

Fans of mythology will immediately understand the idea behind this term. In myth, Ariadne had the clever idea of using a thread to avoid losing her way in the Minotaur's labyrinth. She simply had to follow the thread back in the opposite direction to exit the labyrinth safely.
On the internet, the idea is the same — and you have no doubt already seen breadcrumb trails on many occasions.
To use an e-commerce site as an example, imagine you want to buy an iPhone. On the iPhone product page, below the main menu, you will probably see something like this:
"Shop > Technology > Telephony > Mobile phones > iPhone"
Each word linked to the relevant page. Like Ariadne's thread, it shows which successive pages a user has passed through to reach the one they were looking for. It connects a final page to all the preceding ones.

From an SEO perspective, this is naturally a good thing.

Link titles

Finally, now that you have a better understanding of the different types of links, it is worth knowing that there is a way to make them even more effective from an SEO perspective.

Specifically, you can name your internal links — ideally using keywords you have chosen.
Just like for an image, there is a "title" tag for links.
All you need to do is add the "title" tag in your page's code, at the level of your link.

Another tip in this area: the SEO impact will be even greater if the linked text and the link it points to contain the same keywords.

As such, texts of the type "Find out more" or "Click here" are best avoided from an SEO perspective. They certainly have their place in other contexts (such as a newsletter or when you want to focus on a concise call to action), but they will not help your natural search ranking if that was the goal.