Optimal Linking Strategy Within Site

[lobofenris]

Hi folks. I was hoping that someone could give me some tips on what is the optimal way to link to other pages on your own website. My question is how much or little should you do this. For instance, if you have a page for 'purple widget', do you want to link through to that page every time on your site you say 'purple widget', or only sometimes? These are the approaches that I see people use.

1) Every time you say 'purple widget', link to that article, even if that is a dozen or more times on a given page.
2) On a given page, only link to 'purple widget' the first time you say it. Do not link subsequent times you mention it on that same page.
3) On a given page, only link to 'purple widget' the first time you say it, but link again to it if you say it another way such as 'widgets that are purple' to give a mix of anchor links that might be useful.
4) On a given page, only link to 'purple widget' the first time in each paragraph that you mention it.

Thoughts? Advice? Insight?

Thanks for the help!

[AussieWebmaster]

Internal link structure can be repeated in navigation.... but try and make it to a category page that then links from there to the other pages in that category. If you are writing something that legitimately references an inner page sure use a link... and the words should be part of what is contained on the linked page and be appropriate to the content it is in.

[Dennis John]

The techniques that you have stated here are all used by webmasters , but what I feel is that the use of too many links in a single article might increase its weightage for the first time, but in long run, it will not be so beneficial and not user friendly. Among the all I like the 3rd approach, eg: 'purple widget' and 'widgets that are purple'.

Links should always be placed in places where it is more likely to be clicked by the usere, placing unnecessary links is not useful at all.

Cheers

Dennis John

[mellisa16]

Those techniques are really good and effective..