Internal Linking in HTML: What Are External Links?

Links are the roads between cities in the digital world. Whether they lead to a nearby neighbourhood (a page on the same website) or on the other side of the planet (a different website), networks of these roads provide us with a way to travel across the internet. Internal links and external links are two of the most basic kinds of links that determine how a website operates and how users move through it.

In this guide, we’ll dive into what is internal linking in HTML is, what is internal hyperlinks in HTML means, and we’ll also cover what is external link, difference between internal link and external link. As a content creator, SEO freelancer, or even a business owner, understanding how to link your content like a pro can do wonders for the architecture, authority, and exposure of your site.

What does internal linking mean in HTML?

Internal linking in HTML is the way to connect to one page of your site with the other page on the same domain. These hyperlinks are what keep your visitors … on your web site, guiding them from one good piece of content to another good piece of content. For instance – If your website’s blog post links to a similar service product or another blog post, then the link from blog post to those target pages is an internal link.

These links are about more than navigation — they are about strategy. They control the way in which search engines access and portray your site’s structure, how authority flows through your site, and also what your visitors see.

If from your homepage you link to your About Us page, and from your About Us page you link to your Contact page, you’re helping both your visitors and Google to get a sense of the structure of your site.

What are the advantages of internal links in HTML?

Internal linking in HTML is the way to go for all well-optimized websites.

• Improves User Experience

Links to relevant content on your own site help users find more of what they love. So, if you’re writing a blog about digital marketing trends and are discussing about content marketing strategies or SEO tips, you can then internally link to other related posts, promote links and boost reader engagement. This will keep users interested and add to your on-site time.

• Assists search engines to Crawl Your Site

Google and other search engines have bots which crawl your website. The bots crawl internal HTML links to find other pages. A good internal linking strategy makes sure that pages which are deep in your site (not linked to as often) are found and crawled.

• Distributes Page Authority

If one of your page’s ranks has backlinks and authority, internal links provide a way to pass some of that SEO value onto other pages. This flow of authority is sometimes called “link juice,” and internal links can help spread it throughout your domain.

• Lowers Bounce Rate

Offer readers logical next steps with internal links and they’re more likely to stick around. Rather than acquiring only a single page read and then leaving, they click through to another and another (they’ve just used up two pages of your content instead of one!), thus diminishing your bounce rate and inflating your average session duration.

What is an Internal HTML Link?

The internal link in HTML is another name for the internal linking. It's a hyperlink embedded in your HTML content that takes the user to another page or a section, of your own website. It may sound technical but it basically serves the purpose of —shaping the way your users interact with your site without pushing them outside its domain.

Internal hyperlinks are the key to a nice content structure. This might be guiding a user from your homepage toward your blog, or interlinking between product pages and reviews, but hyperlinks within your own site create a structure and flow to your site.

What is an External Link?

Internal links keep users on your website, but external links do the opposite—they send users to another domain. These are hyperlinks that point at other sites, like when you cite a source, or to send the user to a partner or authority site to find out more.

For example, if you’re writing a blog post about digital marketing trends and you cite statistics from a research report that’s published on another website, linking to that research report is an external link.

Why External Links matter so much?

It might seem a bit counterintuitive to direct users off site, but external links play a few important roles when it comes to content and SEO.

• They Build Credibility

You give more, and you back up your stuff, by pointing to the authority. It just makes your content feel like it can be trusted, and that it’s been researched.

• They Improve SEO

Outbound links to reputable and related websites are seen in the eyes of search engines as a vote of confidence to your content. It's an indicator that you are not creating content in a vacuum, but are a part of a larger web ecosystem.

• They Enhance User Experience

If your readers are interested in learning more about a subject you have touched on, an external link can help them do so. It’s content at the user-first level.

What is the difference between internal and external link?

The difference between internal link and external link is an important factor that will help you create an optimal linking strategy.

Internal links take users to other pages on your own website. These are internal links that keep people from bouncing and search engines from getting confused about your site’s hierarchy.

On the other hand, hyperlinks are applied to cite or send readers to other sites. Despite driving people offsite, they can be highly beneficial to linking out to legitimate, and relevant content.

Their aims and destinations however are fundamentally different. Internal links link to your own pages, share authority and provide better site structure. External links build trust and back up your points while also providing context to the larger online conversation your content is a part of.

The Effect of Internal Linking on SEO

HTML internal linking is not just a good practice from the usability perspective, but it has wider implications in the context of technical SEO.

Internal links are used by search engines to find content, and to determine which content are important. It's generally assumed the more internal links a page has coming to it the greater its worth. Strategic internal linking of your cornerstone content can also help it to rank for multiple keywords in search results. Form link building Related posts and pages to your cornerstone content can increase your rankings.

Also, internal links also contribute to keyword relevancy. When you use anchored linking with a focused anchor text, you tell Google what the linked page is about. This gives a semantic weight to your content and a good way to index your web pages.

Strategically Using Internal Linking in HTML

There’s a world of difference between just dumping links randomly on a web page and using links with purpose! This is how you can do it to make your internal hyperlink in HTML work for your SEO objectives:

• Use useful and specific anchor text The linkable words should describe for the reader (and search engine) what the linked page is about.

• Internal link to deeper pages: Your home page and other high-level pages tends to receive a lot of links as it is! Be sure you’re also linking to blog posts and service pages and category pages that also deserve visibility.

• Keep it logical: Your internal linking opportunities should resemble your site’s hierarchy. Just think of a pyramid — home at the peak, with various categories and supporting pages underneath.

• Don’t overlink: Don’t cram too many internal links into one paragraph. Readers and search engines can get confused by it.

• Update old content with new links: As you build new pages, revisit old content and add applicable internal links to it.

When and Why to Use Non-CSS External Links

Similarly to internal ones, external links also need to be situated accordingly. Here’s when it’s appropriate to use them:

• Using a source: Referencing a useful statistic or report adds credibility.

• Give more detail elsewhere: It’s okay to send people to another site if it goes into more depth on a subject.

• Collaborative content: If you worked with another brand or attended an event, refer people to their site as a shout out.

Make sure to link to established, credible and safe sites. Never link to old or poor authority websites because this can hurt your SEO and image.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even though internal linking and external linking appear to be simple tasks, there are a couple of gotchas to look out for.

• Broken Links: Whether internal or external, a broken link will harm user experience and have a negative impact on SEO.

• Understand, Overuse of Keywords in Anchor Text: It’s easy to want to use the same exact-match keyword terms in every link, but doing so can appear spammy and unnatural.

• Linking For the Sake of Linking: Only link to pages that actually ADD VALUE to the content and pages to your readers.

• Neglecting the mobile experience: Ensure your internal links function smoothly on mobile hand-held devices, where the navigation behaviour is different.

Ignoring Orphan Pages: These are the pages without any internal links. They are more difficult for users and search engines to discover.

Final Thoughts: Internal Linking in HTML: What Are External Links?

When it comes to internal linking at HTML level, it’s not just a technical detail – but the foundation of a well-structured, SEO-friendly website: interconnecting your posts and pages to other, related posts and pages. When used properly, internal HTML hyperlinks improve navigation, increase SEO and keep users clicking through your website for longer. At the same time, however, outbound links invite the rest of the web into your content, adding value and lending credibility.

Understanding Internal Link Vs External Link is crucial information to consider when publishing new content. Internal links construct the table of contents of your website, while external links direct to it from outside entities.

So whether you’re refreshing an old blog post or publishing a new website, remember that your links — both internal and external — should support your content and your reader.