Internal Linking Conundrum
-
Hello
I have a web site with a menu structure with three levels
Top Level (Single Item) > First Level (Single Item) > Second Level (Multiple Items)
The first level pages do not rank well. The top level and second level pages rank well.
Search Console acknowledges 600 internal links to the top level.
600 to the second level.
But only 100 to the first level.
This is true across 6 top level items. It is not to do with page level links. It just isn't acknowledging all the links to the first level.
Does anyone know why this might be?
Thanks for any assistance you can give me.
-
The number of internal links you make to a page shows the level of importance you place on that page within your domain. Fact check first sentence - https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/138752?hl=en
That's the lesser point here though. There's a bigger issue I need to resolve. My most important pages are the ones google perceives to have far fewer internal links and these pages are not being shown in the serps, instead the lower pages are showing.
I will progress with checking the js and robots to see if I can get this crawl sorted.
-
You need to fat check the statement that 'google rates the importance of pages by the number of internal links they have' That's not true anymore. The number of links hasn't been a thing for about 6 years. It's how people are using your site. Search console is also notorious for getting stuff wrong.
Perhaps try a crawl with Screaming Frog and you'll have more success. Or maybe someone else can shed some light?
-
Im going to be checking the javascript and robots to see if there's any reason the links aren't being counted. But if anyone else has any insight it would be most welcome
-
Thanks for the response but that's not really what I'm asking.
Search console is not registering the internal links to the middle level of menu items.
It is saying that the lower pages have many more internal links which is not true. Google rates the importance of pages by the number of internal links they have.
-
Could it be that the top level pages are much more competitive than their sub levels? Usually top level pages are more generic keywords that have massive volume and a whole lot more competition. Also could it be worth using a visitor recording software like HotJar to see how people are navigating through your site.
I have tried to do (the almost definct now) practice of 'page rank sculpting' to use my power pages to give authority to my less powerful or newer ones to help them rank. What I've found is that it's not just having the link present but it's people using the link and navigating from the powerful page to the newer page or not so powerful one that gives it the ability to rank.
So to give you an example I run a dentists and put a link from my very authoritative Veneers page to my much newer and less authoritative Dental Implants page. But when I looked at the stats in Analytics and the recordings on Hotjar I saw that nobody ever clicked the link because those customers didn't want that product.
However, when I did the same thing to my 'teeth whitening page' it shot up the rankings because people were actually leaving the veneers page to look at whitening because it's a related product.
So I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not just the presence of the link but people using it and user generated feedback that seems to pass ranking power. So I took out all the lesser used links and saw really great results.
Perhaps this is not the answer you're looking for but if you could give more specifics about the terms and words and topics then maybe we could help some more. Navigation is something I really took a while to get my head around and even longer to make it work effectively to rank for the my main topics. Also remember that the longer tail sub--categories usually carry more commercial intent so ranking for "Composite Veneers Cost" In my case makes me 10x more money for my practice than ranking for 'Veneers' where people want to research and just look at them - and sometimes they're not even looking for dental but wooden floors and kitchen veneers!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Do we still have this Page Rank / Link juice / Link equity? So this dilution concept?
Hi all, As per the traditional or standard SEO rules, we have this link juice and dilution concept. Many websites have changed their linking structure with this with the beleif "the more number of pages, the PR will get diluted". Then many websites avoided more number of pages from homepage to avoid link juice dilution. Even we followed same. But I just wonder it's still the same way Google handles websites and rankings as per the links. And many websites even avoid more number of 2nd tier/hierarchy pages to avoid link dilution. I have gone through our competitors where they been employing lot of top level pages like 2nd tier/hierarchy pages but still doing good at rankings. Please share your views and suggestions on this. Thanks
Web Design | | vtmoz0 -
Using Button Links vs Sidebar Menu
I have a services page with a lot of rich text and a slideshow of images. Currently, I am using a column of buttons to various services, and am wondering if a sidebar menu would be more effective for Google to crawl and rank?
Web Design | | cinchmedia0 -
Does having a Blog link in the top level navigation provide any better SEO value, or would having it in a footer or top navigation work just as good?
Trying to decide on whether placing a link to the blog in our top level navigation would have a better SEO value than just placing it in top or footer navigation. I have an ecommerce site.
Web Design | | RPD0 -
What is the difference between a bunch of microsites and a link network?
Hello SEO community. I have started an online marketing company that focuses on a specific niche and have been researching how micro sites can be beneficial for SEO. For example the "Nifty" presentation mentioned how micro sites are going to be key for local seo. However I have also heard that link networks are increasingly bad and are penalized by the Panda updated. While we are writing good, original content for our clients, I like the microsites because: URL - we can choose urls for the main keywords Content Focus - we can focus on specific content Ranking - these sites seem to rank pretty well Citations - we are able to give citations for our clients from these sites But am I worried, am I creating a link network? Even thought I am putting out useful, good content, is this more hurting me than helping me? Should I give up on this strategy or continue? Help!
Web Design | | jshiraz0 -
Do these links count a duplicate content?
If you do a Google search for the following term it brings up 6 results are these considered duplicate content by Google? Also if so how do I prevent this but still offer other stories to readers of other articles? Google Search Term: site:yakangler.com Okuma helios
Web Design | | mr_w0 -
Where is the best place to put reciprocal links on our website?
Where should reciprocal links be placed on our website? Should we create a "Resources" page? Should the page be "hidden" from the public? I know there is a right answer out there! Thank you for your help! Jay
Web Design | | theideapeople0 -
Best way of conserving link juice from non important pages
If I have a bunch of non important pages on my website which are of little use in the SE's index - IE contact us pages, pages which are near duplicate and conflict with KW's targetting other pages etc, what is the best way of retaining the link juice that would normally be passed to these pages? Most recent discussion I have read has said that with nofollow you effectively just loose link juice, as opposed to conserving it, so that doesn't seem a great option. If I do "noindex" on these pages, would that conserve the link juice in the site, or again would it be just lost? It seems quite a tricky situation as many pages are legitimate for customer usability, but are not worth having in the SE's index and you better off consolidating link juice - so it seems you are getting penilised for making something "for users". Thanks
Web Design | | James770 -
Old links in Google, new website affecting SEO?
Hi Guys, I have launched my website in october and it has already been indexed by google. Now I'm going to launch my redesign which comes with a new structure, content, links, etc. So the question is, do I have to resubmit my website to google to get rid of old links? Onsite Explorer shows links to my forum which has been spammed with p* stuff which has been already indexed as well. The forum is off now. I want to use SEOmoz to track my new website but I guess this could be a hard thing as old links etc will be shown as well. Is there any tool to let Google know about my changes? Does it affect my SEO in any way? Thank you for your help. Nick
Web Design | | NickITW0