It’s time to take a look at whether there is an existing page on the site targeting this, and if so, are there any internal links pointing to it?
Testing the number of internal links
There are multiple ways that you can test the number of internal links pointing to a page on the site.
If you are just checking a handful, then you can manually check the internal links by ticking off the following:
- Is the page in the site menu?
- Is the page linked to from the homepage?
- Is it hidden by a ‘load more’ button or pagination?
- Is it a product that is frequently out of stock?
- Is it a seasonal item?
- Is it a collection page?
- Is it optimised towards the correct terms?
If you are testing multiple links in one go, then we’d recommend using Screaming Frog’s crawl depth feature to get a top-level view, followed by spot checks on the above checklist.
Once you have gathered all your information, it’s time to start thinking about a strategy.
We recommend mapping out all internal linking opportunities for this product and identify areas on the site where you can either make it more visible or accessible.
This can either be a large graphic on the homepage encouraging users to click through, a link from the menu, or simply moving it up the list on a collection page.
What if there are lots of products, and you want to avoid linking to them from the menu?
If you’re dealing with multiple products, and don’t see a fit in the menu for them, consider creating a ‘bestsellers page.’ Not only is this great for internal linking, but it will also help new users on the site find your hero products and familiarise themselves with the brand. This could also really benefit your site if you do lots of social media advertising on certain products with unique product names.
What if the product is out of stock or no longer available?
If it’s a product that goes in and out of stock a lot, consider adding an email capture like ‘sign up to our newsletter to get notifications when this item is back in stock.’ Here, you’re able to keep users on the site and hopefully stop them from clicking onto a competitor! This can also help avoid fluctuations in SEO rankings whilst products are out of stock. For more information on how to tackle product seasonality, check out our blog post on ‘How to Manage Out of Stock Products for SEO on Your eCommerce Store.’
What if the collection doesn’t exist?
If there are enough products to fill the collection, and it won’t cause any duplication issues, then it’s worth creating one. If there aren’t enough products to fill a collection page, are there any existing collection pages that can broaden their targeting? For example, if you frequently have users searching for ‘white shirts’ but you only have two of these product types in stock, you could blend the category with other white tops to create a larger, more effective category like ‘white shirts & blouses.’ Here, you will now have a category that has enough products, as well as valid search data and demand to back it up.