The internet is platform where different businesses and website owners compete against each other to gain recognition. A common example is where each and every website owner works towards search engine optimization on a regular basis to top the results page on major search engines. By doing so, a website owner is gaining more exposure towards target audience and eventually increases the amount of traffic landing on the website.
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Participation in the online competition is very necessary for everyone who is working towards achieving a higher traffic rate along with a good click-through rate on their website. However, this is easier said than done. Online, website owners face various dilemmas such as which approach to use for SEO and how to attract more traffic towards a website. These dilemmas are based on priorities since they may go against other approaches available online. A common dilemma is faced by two web specialists related to internal linking strategy.
 
Internal linking is the way pages of a website are linked to each other and how they open up upon clicking on the links. This might seem to be a small matter but in reality it is a very important aspect which determines the click-through rate and the bounce rate of a website. Below are the perspectives from two kinds of people on internet linking strategy; an SEO Nerd and a Web Design Nerd. Here is what they have to say about linking website pages:
 

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SEO Nerd and internal linking:

1. The SEO nerd will always prefer that internal links are opened in new tabs or other window. This is because he does not want the visitor to leave the original website eventually adding to the page bounce rate. In whatever way possible, the SEO nerd would prefer his existing traffic to stay on his website for as long as possible. Pages with a high bounce rate coupled with a low click-through rate are known to not do well on search engines generally.

2. Secondly, the SEO nerd perceives that if the visitor wishes to click on a link on the original website, it should always open in a new tab because the visitor is just looking for more information and does not intend to leave the original website. According to him, extra information present on other links should always open in new tabs or windows since the information is related to the original website itself.

3. The SEO nerd also is of the opinion that if a visitor leaves the website by clicking through another link, this might indicate to the major search engines such as Google, that the website is invaluable for the visitor. Google and other search engines may prefer the link’s website on top of the original website in such a scenario.

 
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Web Design Nerd and internal linking:

1. A Web design nerd who is also an impression-savvy person prefers that internal links are always opened in the same window. This is because he believes that this is the proper way of links being opened instead of using new tabs or windows. Due to his priority being the design and functionality of the website instead of SEO, he wants his website to function in a normal and perceivable manner.

2. Secondly, a Web design nerd is of the opinion that if visitors wish to head back to the website after clicking a link, he or she can do so by going back on the browser even if this is not advisable by major search engines. The essence of a web design nerd’s theory is that new tabs and windows disrupts the user’s experience and may also irritate them in certain scenarios.

3. A Web design nerd does not want to lose visitors and loyal traffic on the basis of impression. If the visitor gets the wrong impression about a website due internal links opening in new tabs and windows, the web design nerd believes he will lose traffic instantly.