Search engines use complex algorithms to identify and rank websites, and links play an important role in determining your page ranking. While search engines do love links, they also give importance to the position of those links and placing vital internal links at just the right places will provide that vital boost to your website rankings.
Several internal links such as navigation links, header links, image links, sidebar links, content links, and footer links, among others provide varying levels of visibility to visitors as well as major search engines. Thus, internal links that are visible at first sight to visitors hold high potential of attracting search engine robots too.
On that basis, your website navigation links as well as header links would need to be optimized to catch the eyes of those elusive bots. Highlighting internal links will also reward you with better rankings although care should be taken only to highlight crucial core links for best results. Once you indicate vital links to your self then search engines will also follow your cue to accord equal importance to them.
Image links can also prove to be extremely beneficial provided you also include related text along the images. Content links too can provide that much needed boost provided they are placed high in the text of the web page and lead to a related page upon clicking on it. Breadcrumb links too hold high importance due to their location while footer links are usually relegated to the bottom of the heap in terms of importance.
Stuffing your webpage with a variety of internal links is again a bad idea since robots recognize this strategy and in return could punish you for the same. A fair sprinkling of links based on their importance as explained above should be enough to impress search engines and viewers alike.
Understanding the importance of internal links on your website will help you to place them in strategic and visible locations, which in turn will please search engine bots enough to propel your website towards the top. Use this strategy and watch your ratings improve with each indexing sweep.