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How to handle internal linking on large websites - BrightonSEO UK September 2023

How to handle internal linking on large websites - BrightonSEO UK September 2023

Internal linking is a key element of any SEO strategy, and it's even more important on large scale websites. But how to handle it efficiently when you have tens of thousands of pages? How to make sure you don't miss any opportunity, and that your internal linking is optimized for both users and search engines?

In this talk, Julien shares his methods to efficiently analyse the internal linking of large websites, strategies to design efficient and optimised internal linking strategies, and tips and tricks to implement them at scale.

Julien Deneuville
PRO

September 15, 2023
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Transcript

  1. How to handle
    internal linking on
    large websites
    Julien Deneuville
    DATABULLE
    Speakerdeck.com/diije
    @diije

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  2. @diije #BrightonSEO
    • Young Search Personality
    @ SMX Paris 2018
    • Oncrawl Ambassador
    • Twitter : @diije
    • Blog : databulle.com/blog
    Hello, I’m Julien Deneuville
    • From Reims, France 🍾
    • 12+ years XP
    • Freelancer since 2017
    • Tech SEO / Data / Python

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  3. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Internal linking
    +
    Large websites

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  4. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Large website?

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  5. @diije #BrightonSEO
    100k URLs is usually
    not enough
    to affect crawl budget.
    John Mueller
    https://twitter.com/JohnMu/status/1473268153316691975

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  6. @diije #BrightonSEO

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  7. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Make
    Googlebot’s job
    faster

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  8. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Step 0: fix your links

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  9. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Let’s crawl!

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  10. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Let’s crawl!

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  11. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Avoid redirects
    Waste of time for everybody
    Virtually increase the nb of URLs
    Link directly to the destination!

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  12. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Avoid redirects
    Waste of time for everybody
    Virtually increase the nb of URLs
    Link directly to the destination!

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  13. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Avoid redirects
    Waste of time for everybody
    Virtually increase the nb of URLs
    àLink directly to the destination!

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  14. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Don’t do redirects!
    Update your internal
    links acordingly

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  15. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Avoid errors
    Fix broken links
    Get a strategy for expired content

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  16. @diije #BrightonSEO
    No-index pages
    Waste of time for Googlebot
    àAvoid links to no-index pages
    àConsider blocking via robots.txt

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  17. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Empty pages

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  18. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Step 1: analyze

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  19. @diije #BrightonSEO
    PageRank

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  20. @diije #BrightonSEO
    PageRank is correlated to traffic

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  21. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Calculate PageRank
    Your crawler probably does

    Link Score in Screaming Frog

    InRank in Oncrawl


    Otherwise do it yourself

    https://dii.je/pagerankmethods

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  22. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Best linked pages
    URL PageRank
    /jai-une-nouvelle-passion-a-te-raconter/ 0,006949
    /les-petits-dessins-les-petites-videos/ 0,006796
    /category/creativite/ 0,006548
    /category/cyclotourisme-et-cyclosport/ 0,006439
    /category/freelancelife/ 0,00634
    /category/exposition-2/ 0,006304
    /tag/copenhague/ 0,006079
    /category/numerique/ 0,005211
    /category/culture-graphique-2/ 0,0052
    /category/lifestyle/ 0,004798

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  23. @diije #BrightonSEO

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  24. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Compare values

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  25. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Data
    Logs
    Traffic
    Sales

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  26. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Split your inventory
    Top pages
    Mid-tier
    Low-tier
    Garbage

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  27. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Step 2: optimize

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  28. @diije #BrightonSEO
    3 directions

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  29. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Down

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  30. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Your typical menu

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  31. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Up

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  32. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Breadcrumbs

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  33. @diije #BrightonSEO
    On mobile

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  34. @diije #BrightonSEO
    On mobile

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  35. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Sideways

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  36. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Related links

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  37. @diije #BrightonSEO
    SEO-specific link blocks

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  38. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Which links?

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  39. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Algorithms

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  40. @diije #BrightonSEO

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  41. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Slots

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  42. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Imagine a block of links

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  43. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Mid-tier links

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  44. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Top-pages link

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  45. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Lower-tier link

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  46. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Example: locations

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  47. @diije #BrightonSEO
    https://dii.je/zippy

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  48. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Step 3: repeat

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  49. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Plan ahead

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  50. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Anticipate your future needs
    Seasonality
    Inventory variations

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  51. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Design adaptable blocks
    Default rules & substitution
    Management

    Admin interface

    File import

    Database

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  52. @diije #BrightonSEO
    We improve only
    what we measure

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  53. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Follow up
    Did the crawl metrics improve?
    Did the rankings / traffic improve?
    Did the user experience KPIs improve?

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  54. @diije #BrightonSEO

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  55. @diije #BrightonSEO
    In a nutshell
    #0 Fix errors
    #1 Analyze
    #2 Split your inventory
    #3 Repeat

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  56. @diije #BrightonSEO
    Keep in touch!
    @diije / databulle.com

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