Multymeter.com – Digital Products : will explain the difference between internal links and related posts on a website. Both are important for SEO and good user experience on your website. Internal links focus more on structure and link equity, while related posts focus more on user engagement and retention.
1.Internal Link
Internal links are links that you place in different parts of your site to help users and search engines navigate and understand the structure of your site. Links that connect one page to another page within the same website.
• Primary Purpose:
○ User Navigation: Helps visitors navigate your site easily and find related information.
○ Site Structure: Signals to search engines about the hierarchy and relationships between pages on your site.
○ Link Equity (PageRank) Distribution: Passes link value from high-authority pages to other pages on your site, helping to improve the ranking of important pages.
○ Increase Dwell Time: Encourages users to visit more pages, which can reduce bounce rates and give positive signals to search engines.
○ Ease of Crawling: Helps search engine crawlers find and index all the pages on your site.
• Common Placements:
○ Within the content of an article or page (contextual links).
○ In the main navigation menu and footer.
In the sidebar.
Example: In an article about “How to Make Chocolate Cake,” you might include internal links to other articles on your site such as “Chocolate Cake Recipe” or “Tips for Choosing Quality Cake Ingredients.”
2. Related Posts
A related post is a list of articles or pages recommended to readers based on their similarity to the content they are currently viewing, with the primary goal of keeping them on your site longer and viewing more content. A section on a website (usually at the end of an article or in a sidebar) that displays a list of other articles or pages that are similar in topic or relevant to the content the user is currently reading.
• Primary Goals:
○ Increase User Engagement: Capture readers’ attention after they have finished reading an article and encourage them to read other content that might interest them.
○ Retain Visitors Longer: Reduce the likelihood that visitors will leave your site after reading one article.
○ Increase Pageviews: Encourage visitors to view more pages on your site.
○ Strengthen Topics and Relevance: Indirectly helps search engines understand how your site’s content relates to a particular topic.
○ Conversion Opportunity: If related articles lead to product or service pages, this can increase your chances of conversion.
• Common Placements:
○ Below the article content (most common).
In the sidebar.
○ Sometimes in-content if using certain plugins.
Example: At the end of the article “How to Make Chocolate Cake,” the “Related Articles” section might display titles like “Steamed Brownies Recipe,” “Chocolate Birthday Cake Decorating Tips,” or “A Brief History of Chocolate Cake.”
Key Differences in Bullet Points:
Feature | Internal Link | Related Post |
Key features | Navigation, site structure, link equity distribution | Engagement, user retention, increased pageviews |
Focus | Linking pages in general | Offering thematically relevant content |
Placement | In content, menu, sidebar, footer | Usually at the end of the content or sidebar |
Election | Selected and added manually (usually) | Often automated based on categories, tags, or content analysis. |