What is the difference between external followed links and internal followed links.

[heleni]

I have almost 3,000 external links followed and only a tiny amount of internal followed links. My website is doing really badly on google at the mo. I am also an SEO beginner and learning new stuff every day, but am not sure exactly what the difference is!

Thanks!

[DoMiSoL]

Hi Elene,

The internal links literally are the ones who link a page of your web site with another page of your website.

I.E. "Contact us" in your horizontal menu is an internal link, pointing to the page of your contact page.

Internal links are not only the ones in the menus, they can also be links pointing from a post of your blog to another post of your blog.

They usually are followed (with some exception) because you want your pages pass each other their trust, rank and authority.

This is why internal links are important: they pass authotity, rank and trust to all your internal pages, and especially, they are free, because you manage them in person.

I hope it helps.

DoMiSol

[heleni]

Thanks so much for that, I appreciate your time. I am learning something new every day and find it all very exciting!

Helen

[Unity]

Hi Helen,

DoMiSol has already explained the difference of external vs internal but I just wanted to add that given you have stated you have 3,000 external links yet you aren't ranking very well perhaps you need to spend some time doing more link building aiming to get quality links that are thematically in-line with your website.

In my experience 3,000 quality links to your website would be good for rankings so perhaps you need to take a look at the links that currently point to your website. If you are connected to a link farm then this is bad and will affect your rankings. Start looking at WHO is linking to you, then HOW they are linking to you and decide if that link needs to be removed or updated (with keyword targeted anchor text).

Good luck,
Davinia

[heleni]

Hi Davinia

Thanks so much for your message. I am just in the process of starting link building and I am a little worried about the links that are already on there. They don't seem very relevant to childcare, which is our business. I also noticed that one link was from a rather 'iffy' looking website.

Is it easy to break links?

Thanks so much once again. I am also now going to look up 'keyword targeted anchor text'. I am so new to this but want to learn this very much.

Thanks so much again

Helen

[Unity]

Hi Helen,

Check out the SEOMoz Beginners guide to links http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo/growing-popularity-and-links there is some good points on there where you can learn about anchor text and keywords. Remember links need to appear natural so change up the keywords used in anchor text.

To be honest it's not overly easy to break unwanted links. First ask the webmaster to remove your link, or perhaps the link is attached to an account (try get access then delete it), if all else fails you can Disavow a link http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/a-new-tool-to-disavow-links.html

Just remember, link building requires a long term strategy and commitment. I opt for a little bit of link building all of the time. To help manage all those links I use Raven Tools, it's good but is a paid service.

Have fun!
Davinia

[ruchit.ralli]

So does it mean lesser the number of nofollow links better it is?