Internal linking in e‑commerce: strategies and optimization in WooCommerce, PrestaShop and Shopify

Internal linking is key on any website to improve SEO visibility, distribute authority, and optimize crawling. In the case of online stores, it is very important to work on it since they are large, complex, and disorganized structures. We can work on it to prioritize and indicate to Google which categories, products, or brands it should focus on.

1. What is internal linking in e-commerce?

Internal linking refers to the links that connect pages within the same domain. In an e-commerce site, we can link products, categories, subcategories, blog posts, information pages, and other elements in various directions.

2. Main functions of internal linking

a. Distribution of Link Juice and DR

Link juice is the authority that passes from one page to another through internal links. In e-commerce, the goal is to distribute this authority from the strongest pages (usually the homepage or main categories) to more specific pages (typically products or subcategories). This process is key to improving the ranking of those pages and preventing them from being forgotten.

b. Improved indexing and crawling optimization

Search engine bots use internal links to crawl and index the content of a website. Good internal linking ensures that important pages are crawled more frequently, improving the indexing speed. This is key for stores with extensive catalogs or that add products regularly. You want, on one hand, all URLs to be indexed to be linked from somewhere on the website with related content (good URLs), and that those URLs that are most important to you have more links and higher value links pointing to them (VIP URLs).

3. Where and how to do it?

a. Links from the homepage to the main categories

The homepage is usually the page with the most authority on any website. It is crucial to link from the homepage to the most relevant or strategic categories. A common mistake is overloading the homepage with too many links, so it's important to maintain a selective approach: the more we spread out, the less each link gets.

b. Cross-links between products

An effective technique is to link relatedor complementary products. For example, if a customer is viewing a laptop, linking to accessories like cases or mice improves both the shopping experience and SEO, distributing authority better among key pages.

c. Links from the blog to products and categories

Blogs not only attract traffic through informational searches, but they should also act as a channel for distributing authority to product and category pages. In a post about “how to choose the best smartphone,” you can link directly to categories or products, even including the related product page.

d. Links from products to categories

This is the most classic but it’s worth not forgetting. A good breadcrumb setup allows Google (and the user) to detect from the product its categories across several levels. This can even apply to deeper category levels to their parent categories.

e. Links from products to brands

If your online store is multi-brand, it’s likely that you’ll want to rank for users searching for a specific brand. In this case, we recommend including the corresponding brand in the product page with a semantic link to the page we will have dedicated to that brand in our e-commerce store.

4. Internal linking optimization strategies for WooCommerce, PrestaShop, and Shopify

a. WooCommerce

i. Take advantage of automatic links in products and categories

WooCommerce generates automatic links between products, categories, and tags. You can optimize these links with plugins like Yoast or Rank Math to manage and analyze internal linking.

b. PrestaShop

ii. Linking in product descriptions

With PrestaShop, the linking that you can’t do manually can be worked through related product sections, as well as breadcrumbs.

c. Shopify

iii. Related products through apps

In Shopify, there are several apps like Frequently Bought Together or Related Products, which automatically create links between products. This maximizes the interconnection between related products.

5. Additional tips for all platforms

• Link audit: Regardless of the platform, it is crucial to perform regular audits of internal linking. Use tools like Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, or specific platform integrations to identify broken links, orphan pages, and improvement opportunities. Ahrefs has a feature called Internal Linking opportunities that you should check out:

• Optimized sitemap: Ensure your e-commerce sitemap is well configured and links to the correct pages. A well-structured sitemap helps search engines crawl your site efficiently.
• Data analysis: Use analytics tools like Google Search Console and Looker Studio reports to track the impact of changes in internal linking on key metrics like organic traffic and crawl time.

Conclusion

Implementing these strategies tailored to your e-commerce, no matter the technology, will allow you to significantly improve crawling optimization, authority distribution, and user experience, enhancing the SEO performance of your e-commerce site.

This approach not only improves the crawlability of your site, but it also ensures that key pages receive the necessary authority to rank in search engines.