Hyperlinks and SEO in WordPress

The World Wide Web is based on hyperlinks – links on a page which point to other web pages. Often we explore the web ourselves by clicking on hyperlinks.

When adding links always prioritise the needs of your visitor and create only if they serve a purpose and add value. Only link to content that is relevant to the source context – i.e. create useful signposts.

Don’t keyword stuff the anchor text (clickable text in a hyperlink) or make it obscure. If you’re creating links to a page from several pages, use some variety in the linking anchor text.

As an example for a link to a page about chocolate cake:

‘Click here.‘
This is NOT optimised for SEO (too generic and the anchor text is likely to be repeated.)

‘We have been creating again, this time using the darkest Belgium chocolate known to man. You can find your favourite chocolate cake recipes and start creating for yourself. ‘
This IS optimised for SEO, (anchor text and supporting text is keyword relevant.)

TEST all your links, to ensure they are not broken. Broken links are bad for SEO.

Below I show you how to create your own internal and external links in WordPress. Hopefully somebody will create external links to your site… this creates a real life vote of confidence. In effect another site is endorsing you.  Because of this external links pass more SEO juice than internal links, but both types of links are very useful.

An internal HTML link

Inserting an html link in your Page/Post to one of your own pages in the same website.

1. Click and drag the cursor and highlight the text that you want turned into a link. (This is called anchor text. For SEO purposes it’s useful to be descriptive and select relevant keywords of the page you’re linking to.)
   
2. Click the Insert/edit link button.
3. Click the ‘Or link to existing content’ to expand. You will see a list of all your existing content. If you have a long list start typing a keyword in the Search box and the list will display only matching results.
4. Click on the article you wish to link to, this will populate the URL and Title for you.  The title is seen by the visitor when they hover over your link as a tool tip notice. You can amend this if you wish.
   
5. Leave ‘Open in a new window/tab’ unchecked. This will ensure your link opens in the same window, and as you are not leaving your own site this is the preferred option.
6. Click Add Link

An external HTML link

Inserting an html link in your Page/Post to a page in a different website.

1. Click and drag the cursor and highlight the text that you want turned into a link. (This is called anchor text and it’s useful to be descriptive. Make sure you link only to reputable, good quality sites.)
   
2. Click the Insert/edit link button.
3. Add the URL to the external website or website page.
4. Add a meaningful Title.  The is seen by the visitor when they hover over your link as a tool tip notice.
   
5. Tick ‘Open in a new window/tab’. As you are linking to another site, because it opens in a new browser/tab when they close the window of that link, your site will still be there.
6. Click Add Link

Editing an HTML Link

Simply click the link within your Page/Post that you’d like to edit, (position the cursor somewhere within it) and then click the Insert/edit link button. A popup window will appear, just like when the link was originally inserted. Update the required details and click the Update button.

Removing an HTML Link

To remove an html link, click the link within your post that you’d like to remove, (position the cursor somewhere within it) and then click the Remove link button. The unlink button won’t remove or delete the linked file, it will simply remove the hyperlink.