By Shad Super in Questions —

How Can I Optimize Internal Linking to Help Pages Marked as "Crawled - Currently Not Indexed" Become Indexed by Google?

Summary

Optimizing internal linking can bring significant improvements to pages that are crawled but not indexed by Google. This involves ensuring search engines can easily navigate your site which helps in the discovery and indexing of all your web pages. Implementing a well-structured internal linking strategy, focusing on important pages, using descriptive anchor text and building a comprehensive sitemap can considerably enhance your site's indexing by Google.

Internal Linking and Its Importance

Internal linking refers to the links that connect one page of your site to another. It's a critical aspect of SEO strategy as it helps search engines understand the context and relationship between different pages on your site, resulting in more efficient crawling and indexing. A robust internal linking structure ensures that all pages on your site, even the hard-to-reach ones, can be discovered by search engines [Make URLs crawlable, 2022].

Optimizing Internal Linking Strategy

Use Descriptive Anchor Text

Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. Search engines use anchor text to understand the content of the page it's linking to. By using descriptive and accurate anchor text, it helps Google perceive the context and relevance of the linked page, assisting in its indexing [Google's Advanced Guidelines on Links, 2022].

Your most important pages should receive more internal links. These could be pages that contain crucial information for users or pages that you want to rank higher in search engine results. By redirecting more links to these pages, Google recognizes them as significant, improving their chance of being indexed [Internal Linking for SEO, 2021].

Keep Your Site Structure Flat

A flat site structure ensures that all your pages are accessible within a few clicks from the homepage. This eases the crawling process and hence improves the indexing of web pages [How a Search Engine Might Analyze the Linking Structure of a Website, 2011].

Building a Comprehensive Sitemap

A sitemap is a file that provides information about pages on your site, including how they relate to each other. Search engines, like Google, read this file to crawl your site efficiently. Including all your pages in the sitemap allows them to be found and indexed quicker [Building a sitemap, 2022].

Conclusion

Optimizing internal linking strategy is a key step towards ensuring that all your pages are crawled and indexed by Google. By focusing on providing a clear, flat site structure, using descriptive anchor text, prioritizing important pages, and building a comprehensive sitemap, you contribute to the efficiency of Google's indexing process.

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