Cross linking is when you link from one page of your industrial site to another within the copy. Here’s how it works. Google gives more weight in the algorithm, or “credit”, to a keyword that is in a link. Google also gives credit to the page that you are linking for that keyword. So you get a “two for one” credit for “electroplating” when you cross link with that keyword. MSN and Yahoo also give more credit to a keyword in a link, so you’ll improve your keyword rankings there as well. Remember to use your keywords in your links! It’s a good idea to cross link to pages outside your site occasionally, as long as it’s not to your competitors.

Cross linking is also great for usability. It’s easier for a person to click on a link in the copy while they’re reading then it is to look back to the navigation to find the next place to go. When you look at this overlay from Google Analytics, you can see where people are clicking on the links within the text:

Cross linking does take some time to do, but it’s worth it – better keyword rankings, more search engine traffic, and improved usability. What other benefits have you seen from cross linking? Do you have any tips on how to cross link between pages?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 11:14 am and is filed under General, Driving Traffic, Link Building. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.