In-site links may feel pointless; after all, you would never gain anything by listing yourself as a reference in the real world. But in answer to the question of whether in-site links have any value, the good folks at Pandia believe, “Actually, they do.”
Okay, so, “Actually, the do” is what really appears, but typos happen, and the main idea stands.
“Admittedly, such links will not boost the ‘prestige’ of the whole site vis-a-vis the search engines, as they cannot be counted as a vote of confidence from other sites in the Web community,” the article continued. “But we believe that they may help the page you are linking to when it comes to particular search phrases.”
And to go back to the resume analogy, imagine if you did list yourself as a reference – it would keep the reader in contact with you. You would be in control of the information he or she received, and could probably increase the odds of your being hired. In terms of in-site linking, Pandia explains that this strategy increases the odds of your visitors “buying your product or ideas or clicking on one of your ads.”
An added bonus for blog authors, particularly if they’re having a bad writing day, is the way in which in-site linking can bring old articles back from the dead.
So go ahead: indulge in some in-site linking. I’d recommend that you avoid listing yourself as a reference in the real world, though – in-site linking may be good, but the other idea is still pretty terrible.
