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Deep linking is a necessary tool for life on the Web 2. 0. In the information age, web presence is a question of visibility. If a page is not accessible or widely viewed, it may as well not exist. Whether your goal is to increase increase traffic from a target audience, or traffic overall, deep linking can be an effective and necessary tool to improve frequency and direction of visits and subsequently sales and public opinion. Two main types of deep links exist in search engine optimization (SEO).

Internal deep linking connects pages within a given site by hyperlinking key words. Readers interests are met at each peak in curiosity. This allows control by the reader to explore related areas of your site, increasing internal traffic. In a well connected site, usability improves as customers can immediately find what they seek and promptly complete a transaction.

Perhaps the best example of internal deep linking is Wikipedia. Easy internal navigation is the backbone of this nonprofit encyclopedia. It makes navigating through a world of information seamless and easy.

External linking: This form accesses content of an outside web page, bypassing the given site’s home page or directory. In this way, deep linking can be both blessing or a curse. External links are more important than internal links, as they result in higher placement on lists of of sites returned as relevant. This is why it’s important to network with other sites and authors to mutually increase traffic.

Instead of pointing an audience to the homepage of an outside site, an external deep link will bring them to a page within that site which contains relevant information to the theme linked from. The site authors win, the audience wins, everyone is happy. Unless one content provider insists on being compensated for the accessed content.

Deep linking is a great way to build up rankings amongst search engines who rank and list results based on the number of links to a specific page. External links carry more weight than internal, so another site that links to one of your pages is a good thing. However, linking to another’s page to access their content without giving credit to the site’s author can be damaging and illegal.

Deep linking is an important tool. Whether good or bad, it exists for a purpose to meet the demands for organized information. If done responsibly, it can be mutually beneficial to everyone involved. In the end, it’s about how information is accessed. Those who are well connected will succeed.