SEO Second Month Internal Link Structure Optimization

This is a breakdown of what the internal link structure is, what it accomplishes for our dealers, and how to build the link structure for our client's websites.

Internal Link Structure

The first month involves a lot of set-up tasks, getting our clients added to our tracking and monitoring tools, optimizing sitewide H1s, page titles, descriptions, etc., there's a lot. Month two is where we build the internal link structure for our clients' website. The reason for this, we're literally creating pathways for Google (search engines) and users to follow in order to access the content we're going to write in future months. 

Never forget, the purpose of SEO is to deliver as much organic traffic as possible. And this is only possible if users can find our dealer's website quickly and easily. Which can only happen if Google ranks our website highly in search results. Which will only happen if Google crawls and then indexes our keyword-rich content. And that can only happen if we've provided a pathway for Google to follow in order to access our content. Whew. The causality chain on this principle is a nightmare, but suffice it to say, your internal link structure is a vital component of your SEO campaign.

Internal Links

So. What are internal links? What's a link structure and which one is the best to use for our platform? Well, an INTERNAL LINK is one that keeps you on the same domain. If I'm on http://bretzrv.com and I click a link and the next page that loads is still on http://bretzrv.com , that's an internal link. If, however, I'm on http://bretzrv.com and I click a link and the next page that loads is Facebook, that's an EXTERNAL LINK. It's literally taken me away from the domain I was on. And we can't build our website's internal link structure without internal links.

Child Link

On the Dealer Spike platform, there are are two types of internal links that we implement on an inventory list page. A CHILD LINK sends the user deeper into the website, by linking DOWN to a related inventory list page (e.g. RVs would child link down to Motorhomes, Travel Trailers, and Fifth Wheels. The fifth wheels page would child link down to the Keystone fifth wheels, Jayco fifth wheels, and Forest River fifth wheel pages).

Parent Link

A PARENT LINK sends the user closer to the home page, by linking UP to a related inventory list page (e.g. the Keystone fifth wheels, Jayco fifth wheels, and Forest River fifth wheel inventory list pages would all parent link to the fifth wheels page. The fifth wheels page would then parent link to the RVs inventory list page).

Clean Navigation

So, what's a link structure, then? Well, your link structure is your pathway of accessibility. It's how users and search engines will find your content and your dealer's inventory. And that pathway is something we call CLEAN NAVIGATION. Creating a web of interconnected inventory list pages (using internal links) that makes it possible for users (but really search engines) to navigate from the home page to the highest priority inventory list pages. That is clean navigation.

Information Hierarchy

The internal link structure also establishes information hierarchy. INFORMATION HIERARCHY is how we tell Google which content is the most important for our website. Basically, the closer your content lives to the home page of your website, meaning the fewer clicks it takes to access your content, the more important Google will think it is. You're literally establishing the priority of your content based on where you link to it, the more clicks it takes to access a piece of information the less important Google will think it is.

Link Equity (Page Rank Authority)

Link equity or page rank authority refers to how relevant any web page is for the subject of its page. I know, I know, that's a confusing sentence. Think of it like this. If you have a fifth wheels page, the subject of that page is fifth wheels. You want that page to be the MOST relevant (or most authoritative) page for fifth wheel content for the entire website. And when we use internal links to connect the most relevant related pages we strengthen the LINK EQUITY (or PAGE RANK AUTHORITY) of this page. 

Because when you connect one page to another with an internal link, you're endorsing that page with a portion of your original page's authority. They're now sharing part of their authority, helping all connected pages rank higher for whatever the subject of the page is. For example, if I link my fifth wheels page to my Keystone fifth wheels, Jayco fifth wheels, and Forest River fifth wheels pages, they're now sharing link equity or page rank authority between them, helping my website rank better overall for fifth wheel searches.

Additional Reading:

https://moz.com/learn/seo/internal-link

https://moz.com/learn/seo/what-is-link-equity

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7451184?hl=en#hierarchy (read from "Navigation is important for search engines" and stop once you reach "Simple URLs convey content information")

On-page Internal Link Structure

So, we use internal links to provide clean navigation for users and search engines, establish an information hierarchy, and build link equity to help our websites rank higher. Great. What does a link structure actually look like? For most websites, the link structure will look something like:

A clear structure where the content is concise, organized, and easy for Google's bots or spiders to crawl and then index. The typical Dealer Spike website internal link structure looks something more like this:

For the SEO Department, when we're talking about the internal link structure, we are NOT talking about sitewide links. We're talking about inventory list pages. It's important to note that at some point you'll want to go in to your parts, service, about us, contact us, test drive, promotions, etc., pages and remove any extemporaneous links, but for the purpose of second month optimization, we're referring to the internal link structure of inventory list pages only and not the entire website.

This means we need to know which link structure works best. Remember, Google wants a user to be able to reach their end destination within three clicks, so you want the fewest possible number of clicks between your content and the home page. Ideally, you’ve only got one page per subject too.

However, both our dealers and the general populace don’t really understand the concept that fewer pages increase the likelihood your website will rank higher. AND almost everyone thinks about vehicles in terms of new versus used (preowned). The likelihood that you’ll be able to convince your dealers to have fewer inventory list pages, especially since they’ve likely got New and Used inventory buttons on their home page, is small.

So we have to work with what we CAN control. Before we look at the three acceptable link structures, though, one thing needs to be made clear. WE control inventory list pages. And while we can’t just remove buttons on the home page, we absolutely CAN remove links to inventory list pages from the navigation bar and home page paragraph. Really ANY page.

So, if your home page has buttons to the top level new and preowned inventory list pages, and your navigation bar has links to the all, new, and pre-owned inventory list pages. Get into the header.asp file and remove the all inventory list page. And once you’ve done that, scan the home page for any other links to the top level all inventory list page and remove those as well. If the link is in the body of the home page they’ll be in the index.asp file. In the link in the home page paragraph, you’ll find it in Content1 snippet, accessed through the content snippets on the admin panel of the website.

So, what does this all look like? Well, in an ideal world, our inventory list page internal link structure would look exactly like that first diagram. One page per subject all the way down until the highest value pages have all been optimized. These could be --xall pages or, if your dealer only carries used inventory, --xpreowned pages. This method is The Ideal, since there’s only one inventory list page for each type of inventory. 

Ideal

However, having only one inventory list page per type of inventory is rarely the reality we live in. Generally speaking, you’re going to want to employ The Funnel method, which compensates for splitting the inventory up by new and used.

Funnel (PREFERRED)

The Funnel method enables us to create as few pages as possible (creating the fewest possible clicks for our users) while still making sure all pages that NEED to exist get created and eventually optimized. If, however, your dealer is a real stickler for the types of pages that get implemented on their website, you might find the Separate Silo method works better.

Separate Silo

The problem inherent in the Separate Silo method? Because you’re using only --xnew and --xpreowned pages, you’re going to have some duplicates. Which is going to cause some amount of keyword cannibalization. What you have working in your favor, though, is the fact that the inventory (units) listed on each page will ALWAYS be unique and separate, so the cannibalization issue won’t be as severe. 

And last up, we have The Hybrid method. This is best used for those dealers who don’t really carry (or really care about) used or pr-eowned inventory. They might have enough to justify having a single, top-level --xpreowned inventory list page, but not really anything beyond that.

Hybrid

The problem with The Hybrid method is user confusion. If a user starts out on an --xpreowned page, clicks a button, and finds themselves on an --xall page, where new units are listed first. This creates some confusion. Why aren’t they still looking at used units when they started on a used inventory list page? Honestly, the method you should use the most is The Funnel. The others are viable options but usually, we use those for specific dealer requests. If you want to give your dealer the best possible chance for success, use The Funnel.

What Does Each Page Get?

So, now that we’ve picked a template (Funnel), we need to know what each page gets in order to put the link structure in place. Every page of your website’s internal link structure needs the following optimized: 

1. Title tag

2. H1

3. Meta Description

4. One SENTENCE of on-page content, just enough to create/preserve your link structure

5. On-page buttons (child links)

6. On-page in-text link (parent link)

Remember, though, when you reach the bottom (or end) or your link structure, you should only have one button on the page, your parent link. That doesn’t mean you won't change this in the future, just that you’ve reached the end for now.

When to Propose a Link Audit?

Now that we’ve established the Funnel as the preferred method for optimizing the internal link structure for Dealer Spike websites, we need to know when it’s appropriate to suggest optimizing the link structure for a client’s website. 

The first option, during your client’s second month of their contract. If you have a client who is just hitting their second month, optimizing the internal link structure can go a long way towards getting a jump start on optimization. Creating the link structure means you’ve now got a web of interconnected pages with optimized page titles and H1s. Google can start crawling, indexing, and building authority while those pages await further optimization. 

The second option, if you’ve got an older client. If one of your clients has been around for longer than 12 months, it may be time to reexamine their link structure. The only constant about SEO is change. What we’re doing now is vastly different from what we were doing six months ago, and then six months before that. If they’ve been on an SEO package for more than a year, chances are there are some old or outdated practices that need to be cleaned up or corrected. 

If they’ve been around for that long, chances are you’re also starting to run out of content focuses to optimize for. A lot of a client’s first year is building the content they need, most of what comes after is web page performance analysis, user behavior analysis, and updating the link structure to ensure your content is accessible. It's more about implementation and less about origination. 

So, if your current link structure has some errors or needed corrections, if your client has had an SEO package for longer than 12 months, or your client is in their second month of work, it’s appropriate to suggest a focus on their website’s link structure.