If you want your website to perform, you need a media agency to work on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Your agency will help make your website more visible to search engines—something crucial for its success, as you are competing against millions of other companies. You need your business to outrank all others for all those keywords that matter to you.
The best way to improve your website’s ranking is to create a multipronged marketing strategy over several channels. That includes social media, blog posts, paid ads, and links to internal pages—also known as deep links.
What Is Deep Linking?
Deep linking refers to links that lead visitors to pages beyond the home page. A deep link is any link that requires two or more clicks on your website. Instead of a link going to your website’s home page, it directs traffic to a specific page deeper in the site. These can be landing pages, internal pages, blog posts, etc. The goal of deep links is to connect pages that have relevant content and enhance each other’s relevance.
For instance, if you have a blog post about the best flowers for containers, you can deep-link to another blog post that explains how to water container plants. This provides your audience with extra information they need, thus discreetly encouraging them to spend more time on your website.
Why Is Deep Linking Good for SEO Purposes?
Deep linking offers extra value and depth to your website. This adds value to your content and increases your domain authority. It also helps you target more keywords and expand your content reach in the eyes of Google.
Here is how deep linking does all that.
Google Measures How Long Visitors Stay on Your Website
Once people land on a page and see a deep link that interests them, they may click it to read some more. That means they will be on your website longer—and Google notices that.
Google measures how long people spend on your website and values “sticky” content above many other criteria. Its algorithm particularly loves it when people spend a lot of time on your website, because it means that your content is interesting, valuable, and useful. The more time people spend reading a page, therefore, the higher it will rank with Google. The higher it ranks, the more it will be displayed as a search result, which will lead even more people to your website: a virtuous circle is thus created.
Deep Linking Helps You Target More Keywords
If you only target your homepage, you have a limited number of relevant keywords you can work with. In the above gardening example, you can’t discuss all flowers, plants, and trees on your homepage. Your internal pages and blog posts, however, give you ample space to develop content that targets specific keywords and topics.
Deep linking offers you a practically unlimited selection of topics, thus helping your website rank higher for a multitude of different keywords.
You Can Increase the Value of Older Posts
You can use older posts that still have relevant and interesting information by deep linking to them in your newer posts.
Older posts sometimes don’t have the traction of recent ones. Even so, they may be well written and authoritative. By deep linking to them, you increase their prominence and remind visitors of the great information they include.
You Increase Your Brand Authority
By adding targeted and well-thought deep links, you display your industry and brand authority to your audience. You show the breadth of your content and bring it to the foreground in a natural and seamless way. Crucially, this is accomplished organically, i.e. without the need for paid Ads.
What Do I Deep Link To?
You shouldn’t deep-link to all your blog posts or internal pages. A massive and inconsistent link strategy may even be considered spamming by Google, which would raise a red flag with its algorithm.
The best way to utilize deep links is by choosing a few “cornerstone” blog posts that already display significant traffic. Select posts that contain timeless information or offer particularly relevant and useful information.
Next, link from each of them successively in a circle of deep links. In our previous example, you may deep-link as follows:
- Insert the first link in your blog post about the best flowers for containers.
- This will lead visitors to your next post, the one that contains information about watering container plants.
- Then, link to another post; this one with planting instructions for container plants.
- Finally, link from this post back to the first one, thus completing the circle.
You can increase the circle to include as many posts as you like but avoid cross-linking between your posts to maximize traffic. Make sure to use links that are of genuine interest to readers, and not to overdo it.
If you don’t have enough content for deep links, then you should consider hiring a media agency like InSync Media to create valuable, search-engine-optimized content for your website. Once you have a great pool of content, you can start creating deep links.
Promoting Deep Links on Social Media
Sometimes, it can be hard to find ways to deep-link. The easiest way may be to work with a media agency and let them handle the SEO work. If you prefer to handle digital marketing on your own, though, here are a few tips and ideas to get you going:
- Share your blog posts on social media and deep-link to them. Social media presence is always a bonus, and you can use your existing connection with your audience by providing them with pertinent information.
- Participate in forums, groups, chats, and other communities. Find conversations that touch upon your business and help your audience by leading them to specific pages on your website that are relevant to the conversation.
- Rewrite your content in new and interesting ways. Repurposing is a clever way to use existing material. For example, create an infographic out of an existing page or make a video or photos with the same material and link back to the original content for anyone wishing to find out more. The new content will look fresh and you will be able to share it on social media for optimal audience reach, while also deep-linking to your original copy.
- Once you have established your brand and business, find opportunities for guest blogging. You will appear as an authority in your industry and you can add your deep links to your guest post. Your expert standing will add value to your brand and bring in the right audience to your business.
InSync Media for Your SEO Needs
Deep linking can help you rank higher with Google and increase your audience in an organic way. It does, however, require a lot of dedicated work, plus good knowledge of SEO principles.
We don’t blame you if you don’t want to become an expert in SEO. We are the experts and we are here to expand your audience and help your brand move forward. You, on the other hand, should focus on what you do best: run a successful business.
