Linking Structures Compared

Search Engine Optimization

Internal Linking Structures Compared

The following diagrams describe four internal site web page interlinking structures.

A. Flat internal linking structure for small web sites.
B. Pyramid linking structure is shown for a large site, having multiple sub-indices.
C. Pyramid linking structure plus tunnels to the index page.
D. Large pyramid linking structure for VERY large websites.
Proper SEO depends upon the linking structure on any given site. Internal site linking can distribute page PR to the pages where you wish to have it.

Internal Linking Diagram - Flat Structure

Example A - Small web site - Flat linking structure
The Domain Index links directly to every page, and every page links directly to the Domain Index.
Intra-subject linking can be used for similar topics, so that visitors can easily find related subject pages.
This linking scheme becomes impractical when the site page count goes above 100 or so.

This linking structure is suitable for web sites with 200 pages or less.

Internal Linking Diagram - Pyramid Structure

Example B - Large web site - Pyramid Structure
The Domain Index links to distributed sub-indices, which in turn link to the subject files.
The subject pages also link back to their respective sub-indices, which emphasizes the Subject Indices.
This linking scheme gives extra Page Rank to the Subject Indices.

Once again, subject-wide linking can be used for similar topics.
This linking structure is suitable for web sites with 200 to 1,000 pages.

Internal Linking Diagram - Pyramid plus Tunnels

Example C - Large web site - Pyramid Plus Tunnels Structure
Again, the Domain Index links to distributed sub-indices, which in turn link to the subject files.
The "Subject Z" pages are also linked to directly from the Domain Index page, as an additional option.
The subject pages can also link back to their respective sub-indices, but that is not shown here.
This linking scheme gives extra Page Rank to the Domain Index page.

Once again, subject-wide linking can be used for related topics.
This linking structure is suitable for web sites with 200 to 1,000 pages.

Internal Linking Diagram - Large Pyramid

Example D - VERY Large web site - Large Pyramid Structure
Again, the Domain Index links to distributed sub-indices, which in turn link to other sub-indices, then to the subject files.
The subject pages can also link back to the Domain Index (not shown), as well as their respective sub-indices.
It can be difficult to get Tier 3 pages indexed by the spiders.

Subject-wide linking can be used for related topics (not shown).
This linking structure is suitable for web sites with 10,000 pages and up.

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This Vaughns Internal Linking Structures Comparison Summary page was last updated on 2007-11-15.