What is cross linking in SEO?
Cross linking in SEO is s a form of link building that involves the creation of linking connections between two or more web pages. Ultimately this increases the number of inbound links to that page and helps you to rank that page for specific SEO keywords that you are targeting.
The purpose of this is to increase the chances that the content you are linking to is of interest to the reader. This means that the reader is more likely to click on the link to visit the page you have linked to. It is important to note that not all links are created equal. Some are more valuable than others. For example, links from websites that are trusted sources are more likely to be clicked on than links from random websites. So, before we start, let’s consider the types of cross linking that you could do to improve your website SEO.
Types of Cross Linking
In general, there are 4 types of cross linking,
Outreach Cross Links: Outreach is the act of reaching out to the people who actually run those other sites and asking them to add your content. You create a cross link when you link your blog post to an article on another website. Outreach link-building opportunity is a valuable piece of the puzzle for SEO because it allows you to get additional traffic and exposure.
Paid Cross Links: Paid cross links are normally when someone buys a link from another niche relevant & focused website. This is to help website owners to rank higher on google, there is various type of paid links – sponsored article, paid directory listings, and paid ads on another website.
Organic/Natural Cross Links: Organic or Natural Cross links are normally links you earned naturally without paying or outreach to other website owners. This type of link is always the best and you can get more organic links from others if you are able to create very unique and useful content!
Private (PBN) Cross Links: Private blog network links (PBNs) are a type of link building where multiple links to a single website are made which are normally created by the same website owners in order to rank well on Google – but be careful this method really doesn’t work well anymore in 2022, might cause your website being penalized by Google & damage your overall SEO efforts.
So, where do you start? Well, there are a few things to consider. First, you need to determine which types of content are relevant to your website and which ones you can get links to – and we highly recommend using the organic method & outreach method to get links placement to prevent any penalties from Google.
Why cross linking in SEO matters?
To rank on Google, one of the SEO ranking factors that never change throughout the time is the number of healthy incoming links that are in your same niche.
When a website links to another website – this basically gives the signal to readers & Google, “Hey, I trust this website.” If your site has many relevant incoming links pointing to it, it tells Google that this site is an authoritative source of information about the topic, and as such, Google will favorite your website and place it higher in its search results. The more links there are pointing to your site, the better.
Benefits of Cross Linking in SEO
Increase Page Authority/Page Rank:
Page Rank or Page Authority is a metric developed by Moz Search Engine Tools. This is to check & predict how well your page will rank on Google SERP using the score from 0 to 100. The higher the better the chance for your to rank on top of SERP.
Page authority is not the same as domain authority as some might be confused – page authority basically is a part of the calculation for the metric – Domain Authority. In this case, if you do cross linking well, it can help boost the Page Authority for a specific page on your website, so it has a better chance of ranking higher in the search results.
Increase Domain Authority
Domain authority is a term that is used to describe how well a website ranks on Google and again was created by Moz. This metric is the sum of all cross links pointing toward the website. These cross links come from other websites. So, domain authority is a measure of the quality of those incoming links to your site which focusing more on Do-Follow Links.
Your goal show always be aiming to increase your domain authority, the higher, the better a website ranks in search results.
Check on this Moz Official Guide explaining about Page Authority/Domain Authority:
Improve Visibility & Stronger Presence in SERP
Another obvious benefit of cross linking is improving your search visibility and building a stronger presence in SERP. This will allow your page to rank higher in long run hence improving your overall SEO ranking.
Increase Referral Traffic
Last but not least, each cross link on another website potentially brings more referral traffic to your site. This help to bring more new audience and also improve your SEO ranking indirectly. Rules of thumb – always cross-linking on relevant niche websites and those websites should always have high traffic to maximize your SEO cross linking benefits!
Bonus – How To Cross Linking to Rank Better on Google!
Cross linking in SEO can be done correctly by maximizing your SEO ranking on Google if you follow the guide below:
Unique & Quality Content:
Building unique and quality content is always one of the key factors before anything else in order to rank on Google. Google always favors websites that publish unique and yet quality content that give more insights to readers – this is also after panda’s google algorithm update that ensures searcher get the most relevant & quality results on Google.
Learn more about – Blog Writing for SEO & Ideal Length of Blog Post for SEO
High Traffic Site With Relevancy:
Gones for the days that using PBNs links for cross linking helps you rank well on Google. Google algorithm updates getting more strict and smarter nowadays – the only cross linking that do well now are backlinks from high traffic & niche relevant sites.
Anchor Text For Cross Linking:
Similar to backlinks anchor text, for cross linking anchor text always try to optimize it that match your targeting SEO keywords. There is a study done by Authority Hacker that, keyword matching of 75% anchor text actually still doing well instead of empty anchor text or naked URL.
Host Each of Your Website With a Diffierent IP Address:
When you have multiple websites on the same hosting account or IP address, it’s easy to find out that a single owner that owns those sites. This is a common problem for anyone linking sites, but it’s even more of a concern if your site is linked to thousands of other sites.
Therefore, if you want to use cross linking in SEO safely and effectively, you should avoid all footprints by using different web hosting accounts or VPS providers for each website domain.
Summary for Cross Linking in SEO
As a website owner who own multiple sites or an SEO agency with tons of online assets, cross linking is good for you if you have related sites – a powerful way to increase the domain authority and page authority for your site and pages.
However, make sure to avoid over linking and hosting your sites with a different IP address. You will be totally fine and also not forget about your web page content’s quality and relevancy.
Check Out Our Other Relevant SEO Guides Before You Go:
1. SEO Keyword Research Guide 2022
Answer to Your Questions About Cross Linking in SEO
What is cross linking and its function?
Cross linking is the process of linking one site to another site. – It doesn’t need to be owned by the same website owner. Ultimately to get higher page and domain authority to rank on Google.
Why Cross Linking in SEO Matters?
Links are a signal to Google that your website is a quality & trustworthy source. Therefore, sites with more backlinks tend to rank higher on Google.Â
