These days it’s rare to come across an article or blog post that doesn’t have at least one link like these two, but most have far more.
It’s safe to say that hyperlinks are commonplace, but why are so many people using them?
The purpose of a link is to connect a word or phrase to another place—either on the same website or another website—where the reader can get similar or relevant information to the linked text.
It’s all about providing value to the reader.
If you’re trying to increase reader engagement or earn money from your blog posts through ads, sales or service bookings, then this process of connecting pages and websites together becomes very important.
The Three Types of Links for Blog Posts
For blog post writing, there are three important hyperlink varieties that you need to know about: internal, outbound and inbound.
Each link has a different purpose and a unique role to play in improving your content.
The three link types are sometimes referred to under different names, but their main principles remain the same:
1. Internal Links
Internal links are links to other pages on your website, like this one to our homepage.
These links are used for connecting blog posts with services and products, contact information, your homepage, or other blog posts or content that provides more information on the topic you’re covering.
2. Outbound Links
Outbound links, or external links, are links to other websites like this one or specific content on other websites.
You can use outbound links to give the reader more information about a topic or to verify a source.
3. Inbound Links
Also known as external links, inbound links are hyperlinks on other websites that link to your content.
Inbound links can improve SEO, but it can be difficult to obtain them: in an analysis of 757,000 articles by Moz and BuzzSumo, there were no inbound links in half of the articles.
The Importance of Links in Your Blog Posts
There are great benefits to having all three types of link in your blog post writing. Here are four of the biggest reasons to focus on links:
1. Links Improve SEO
Perhaps the most important reason to include outbound links and try to obtain inbound links is the potential SEO boost they can deliver.
The SEO reward from outbound links is greater search engine understanding.
Search engines like Google will use your links to learn more about the relevancy of your content, ultimately improving trust.
Link building—where you acquire inbound hyperlinks—is another highly popular SEO practice.
When a search engine determines where your content should be ranked on a SERP, part of the process includes examining the quality and content of the piece, how many inbound links it has and the quality of the source of those links.
Essentially, the better your linking strategy and the more inbound links you have from credible sources, the better search engines can understand and rank you.
2. Links Increase Content Credibility
Linking to sources is a fast and easy way to increase the credibility of your blog posts.
This is a very common practice that helps to streamline the body of content whilst still ensuring that credit is given where due.
Adding links makes it easy for readers to learn more about the topic of your post or the sources you’ve used.
Hyperlinks also show readers that you’ve put in the time to research your content properly.
3. Links Boost Conversion Rates
A blog post’s call to action is one of the most common places to find a hyperlink.
These are typically internal links attached to text like ‘buy now’, ‘learn more’ or ‘contact us’.
Call-to-action links are an effective technique used by blog copywriters to increase conversions.
The link makes it faster and easier for readers to perform a desired action, such as subscribing or purchasing a product.
4. Links Keep Visitors on Your Site
Once a visitor arrives on your website, you want them to stay for as long as possible.
This endeavour is simplified by adding well-placed, strategic internal links.
If you’re covering a topic you’ve touched on before or you have another blog post with relevant information, then linking to it is a great way to keep visitors on your site.
When you keep your audience engaged with relevant information, dwell time will increase, which will improve your SERP rankings.
Links are a crucial aspect of blog post writing that we never overlook at Anglo Content. When you buy blog posts from our expert writers, you can expect quality, inbound-link-worthy content and effective linking practices.