Internal Linking The Complete Beginner’s Guide

If you have ever studied SEO, then you will have probably heard people talk about keywords, backlinks or quality content. I think virtually everyone that has a website knows about these terms. However, when it comes to internal links, most people only understand the foundational aspects at best. Internal linking rarely gets the spotlight and attention that it deserves. This is a shame because they can quietly transform the way that search engines understand your website and how visitors navigate across the site.

Think of your website as a city. Think of each page as a building. In that city, without roads connecting those buildings, people with struggle to find their destination. Likewise, search engines face the same problem because, typically, most websites effectively have no roads connecting those pages and posts. Internal links create the roads that’s help guide both the visitors and Google through and across your content.

It cannot be stressed enough how important internal links are. When you link relevance pages and posts together, it can provide google with essential information about your content. In return, google rewards your internal linking by increasing the rank of your content in its search engine.

The good news here is that internal linking is not complicated. You don’t need any advanced technical skill or expensive software to improve it. If you are able to take the time to plan out which of your sites content is related to other content, you will be able to start linking those pages and posts together. In turn, you will strengthen your site structure and improve crawlability.

By carrying out this work, you will build topic clusters that can help important pages gain more authority and rank higher in the search engines.

In this guide, you will learn exactly what internal linking is and why Google values it so much. You will also learn how to use it strategically to improve both the visitor experience as well as the websites SEO performance.

Automating Internal Links

Incidentally, if you have a WordPress website, you can carry out all the aspects mentioned in this article by installing the Internal Linker AI powered plugin. This plugin provides highly relevant internal links and creates topical clusters that you need. All on auto pilot.

You can get the Internal Linker Here:

Get The Internal Linker Plugin

What Is Internal Linking?

What Are Internal Links?

An internal link is a hyperlink that is published on a page or post and points to another page or post on your website. It is called internal because the linking is only connecting the content found on your domain. In other words, it’s how you connect the contents on your site together.

For example, let’s say you publish an article about “on page” SEO and you mention the phrase “anchor text”. Within that phrase, you might add a hyperlink to another page or post that you have written that explores the topic of anchor text in greater detail. That hyperlink that points to the page or post about anchor text is an internal link.

Visitors encounter internal links all the time. So much so, that the links become virtually subliminal. Examples of these might include: –

• Navigation menu links
• Links within blog articles
• Category pages
• Breadcrumb trails
• Related content sections
• Product recommendations
• Call-to-action buttons

These links do more than improve navigation for the visitor. They help establish your websites content architecture. This makes it easier for both visitors as well as search engines to understand how your content is related and fits together.

Imagine that you just walked into a library where every book had been thrown off the shelves onto the floor. You would have no idea where to start. All you would see would be a pile of books (or content) on the floor with no sense of order.

In the same way, without internal links, your website is like that’s library. On the other hand, a library that has its books categorised in sections that are clearly labelled with clear structure, and order makes it perfect for the visitor that is looking for something in particular.

Internal links organize your content shelves, and they point readers towards other relevant content. Everything is clear and helpful.

From an SEO perspective, internal links will influence:

Without internal links, even the very best content can struggle to perform.

Internal Links vs External Links

In essence, internal and external links are similar. They are both hyperlinks that point to a different URL. However, they serve different purposes.

With internal links, in full control. You decide: –

• Which pages receive links
• Which anchor text to use
• How frequently pages are linked
• Where those links appear

External links are different. They are valuable because they tell Google that your content is very good because a third party has decided that your content is the best on the internet that they could find that words enhance what they were saying on their website. It is like a vote of confidence that basically tells Google that you have researched your topic thoroughly.

Google’s own documentation explains how its crawling technology discovers content. You can review their guidance by clicking on this link: –

Google Search Central documentation

A healthy SEO strategy will typically incorporate both internal and external links. The internal links will guide visitors around your website ecosystem whereas external links will connect your content to other sites on the internet.

Why Internal Linking Matters for Site Structure

One of the most overlooked benefits of internal linking is the influence it has on sites structure.

Search engines don’t simply evaluate individual pages and posts in isolation. When they visit your content, they assess how your pages connect.

If you have a clear architectural structure, it will help Google understand: –

• Which pages are most important
• How subjects relate to one another
• Which content supports broader themes
• Where visitors should go next

Take a look at this example: –

At the top there is an SEO guide on the example site. It is a key page. Within that key page content, there are hyperlinks that point to other relevant content, including: –

• Keyword Research
• On-Page SEO
• Internal Linking
• Technical SEO
• Link Building

So, this hierarchy creates context.

It’s a fact, most people think that they need to publish more content to get more traffic, but they are missing a powerful trick if they don’t incorporate internal links.

The truth is, you will get far better results by publishing related content and linking them all together. This way you build content clusters that demonstrates your expertise around your topic.

Strong internal linking also reduces what is known as “click depth”. This refers to the number of clicks it takes a visitor to reach a page or post from home page.

Generally speaking, it should look like this: –

• Important pages should be accessible within a few clicks.
• Valuable supporting content shouldn’t be buried deep within the site.
• Logical pathways improve both page discovery and usability.

A well-structured website doesn’t just help Google. It also helps people access the content you are delivering.

Visitors that can easily find related content we’ll typically remain on your site longer and consume more information. Google monitors this and they reward your site with increased rank.

Why Google Values Internal Links

Google’s mission is to deliver the most relevant results possible. By having Internal links throughout your site, you are helping Google to achieve that goal and Google rewards sites that have well placed, relevant internal links.

How Search Engines Discover Content

Before Google can rank a page, it first needs to find it.

To do this, google uses automated software known as crawlers. These crawlers are typically known as the “Googlebot”. They navigate the web and they crawl pages and posts by following links.

In many cases, internal links become the pathway that Google uses for its bot to discover your content.

Without these pathways: –

• Pages may remain undiscovered.
• Indexation can become inconsistent.
• Valuable content may struggle to rank.

If you want to find out more about the way Google crawls content, you can read their guide by clicking the link below: –

Google’s guide to crawling and indexing

Another analogy is to think of internal links as if they were road signs. Without these signs, even experienced drivers can get lost.

If your site has clear directions, then Google can effectively explore your content and therefore understand your websites content hierarchy.

Internal Linking and Indexation

Indexation

Your content gets indexed in Googles search engine when the Google bot has crawled your content and Google then stores the page / post within its search index.

It is important for you to be aware, that any page or post that isn’t indexed will not appear in Google’s search results.

Internal linking helps your content get indexed in Google. It does this by: –

• Highlighting newly published content
• Reinforcing page importance
• Helping Google revisit existing pages
• Improving overall crawl paths

There is one particular internal linking issue that you need to avoid on your site. This issue is known as orphan pages.

An orphan page or post is one that has no internal links pointing to it. It’s basically an island, and one that Google may well struggle to find naturally.

Even if your content on that page or post is outstanding, it can still remain unindexed in Google, because Google does not know it exists. By adding internal links that point to your orphan content, will enable google to find your orphan content.

You should really carry out regular internal linking audits so that you can identify orphan pages before they become long-term problems for your site.

Passing Authority Throughout Your Website

One of the most powerful aspects of internal linking is its ability to distribute link equity.

Link equity is the authority or value that flows from one page to another via hyperlinks.

When a page with authority links to another page on your website, the page with authority shares some of its power and strength with the other page. This means that you can actually increase the page authority of an orphan page purely by linking to it from another page on your site that has authority. There needs to be relevance for the internal linking and if there is, you will have carried out a powerful SEO step with very little effort.

Carrying out strategic internal linking allows you to support: –

• High-converting service pages
• Important category pages
• Newly published content
• Pillar resources
• Commercial landing pages

For example:

Homepage (High Authority)

↓

SEO Hub Page

↓

Internal Linking Guide

↓

Supporting Articles

The image below illustrates strategic internal linking. Take a moment to study it: –

The structure that you see in the image above channels authority towards strategically important assets on your website.

Moz provides an excellent overview of the principles behind link equity. You can read their guide by clicking the link below: –

Moz’s guide to link equity

The Importance of Anchor Text

Anchor text is a word or phrase that has a hyperlink embedded within it. In other words, it is clickable, and once clicked, it will take you to another page or post.

Here are a couple of examples of Anchor text. The words in bold would be the Anchor text phrases that we would add a hyperlink to: –

• “Learn more about internal linking best practices.”
• “Read our guide to topic clusters.”

Anchor text provides context. It helps encourage visitors to click on a link and visit your other pages and posts. The Anchor text also provides information about what the visitor can expect to read about when they click on the Anchor text hyperlink.

The Anchor text also helps search engines understand what the subject matter of the destination page is going to be about.

You were typically use the following anchor text phrases… Phrases that are: –

• Descriptive
• Relevant
• Natural sounding
• Helpful to readers

Poor anchor text often looks like this:

• Click here
• Read more
• Learn more
• This page

Notice that the lower quality generic anchor text listed above does not provide information about what the page the link is pointing to is about. There is nothing wrong with using this kind of anchor text, but better practice would be to use the more effective anchor text type or phrases listed above.

Improving User Experience

SEO isn’t just about the algorithms. There is far more to SEO than just word count or the number of times you use a focus key phrase in your content for example. You see, google increasingly evaluates the way your visitors interact with the content. Google records the time a user spends on a page or post. It knows when a visitor has clicked a link on your content. It is important to encourage any user engagement because engagement is good for your site.

Internal links support the user experience. They help readers: –

• Explore related topics
• Find deeper explanations
• Continue their learning journey
• Discover valuable resources
• Navigate efficiently

To elaborate on a point, imagine you were reading an article about SEO strategy. Part way down the page you come across terms that you are not familiar with. Phrases such as pillar pages, topic clusters or crawlability. If those words had hyperlinks embedded in them, the visitor could click on those links and learn more about aspects they were not familiar with.

Visitors do click on internal links. It is a fact. Helpful internal links allow your visitors to investigate topics on your website without needing to return to Google. This creates momentum and keeps the reader engaged which is what you and Google both want.

All of this sends Google much stronger signals about your site’s quality and organization. It helps google understand your content better. It assists the visitor and enables higher engagement, and it helps increase your websites rank on Google.

Different Types of Internal Links

Not all internal links serve the same purpose. Some might help visitors navigate around your website, whilst others will be there to strength topical clusters or improve crawlability for example. Some will be there purely to distribute link equity to your important pages.

It is important that you understand the different types of internal links so that you can be strategic in creating your internal linking structure rather than just simply adding links wherever they fit.

Navigational Links

Navigational links are the backbone of your website. They are the links that your visitors will look for on your website to find the page that best answers their query.

Navigational links are usually found in the following locations on your site: –

• The main menu
• Header navigation
• Footer menus
• Sidebar navigation
• Mega menus

You can think of these links as if they were signs in a shopping centre. Without them, people would wonder aimlessly.

From an SEO perspective, navigational links help establish your site structure. They tell search engines which pages are most important on your site, and they reveal how your content is organized.

Here is an example from an SEO agency website (Stealth SEO Solutions Ltd). The screenshot shows a typical navigational link structure: –

• Google Ads
• SEO
• Local SEO
• Website Development

The pages that you link to from your navigation bar and other menus are usually your key pages. These pages often receive substantial internal authority. However, restraint is important. If your menus are overcrowded, they can often confuse users and they can dilute the prominence of important pages.

A good navigational structure should be as follows: –

• Easy to understand
• Logically organised
• Consistent across the site
• Focused on user needs
• Aligned with business objectives

Here is an illustration of strategic navigation that works

Contextual Links

If navigational links form the skeleton of your website structure, then contextual links would be the site’s nervous system.

Contextual links appear or are placed naturally within the body of your content.

Here is an example (below). The phrase in bold text would be a contextual internal link that points to a page or post where the topic or context of the topic is talking in more detail about anchor text: –

Many SEO professionals believe that contextual links provide some of the strongest SEO value because they provide clear relevance. Relevance is key with internal linking.

They help Google understand: –

• Which pages relate to each other
• Which topics support broader themes
• How content clusters are organised
• The contextual relationship between pages

Effective contextual links share several characteristics:

Breadcrumb Links

Breadcrumbs show and tell visitors where they are within your website’s hierarchy.

Typically, they will appear near the top of the page.

Here is an example of what breadcrumbs will look like: –

You might wonder if there is any significant in breadcrumbs or what significance they provide.

Benefits of breadcrumbs:

• Reinforce site structure
• Reduce click depth
• Improve navigation
• Support page discovery
• Help users move backwards easily
• Provide additional crawl paths

Google often displays breadcrumb information directly within their search results.

If you click on the link below, you will be taken to a Google page that explains breadcrumb structured data in more detail: –

https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/breadcrumb

Breadcrumbs tell a visitor how they got to the page they are on.

Related Content Links

When you have been on difference website pages, you might have seen sections within the content labelled: –

• Related Articles
• Recommended Reading
• You May Also Like
• Similar Posts
• These are related content links.

Their purpose is to encourage visitors to continue exploring your website. When these links are implemented thoughtfully, related content links can provide the following benefits to your website: –

• Increase time on site
• Reduce bounce rates
• Improve page discovery
• Strengthen topic clusters
• Reinforce content relationships
• Surface older valuable content

For example, you might have an article about keyword research where you might recommend the following pages on your site: –

• On-page SEO guides
• Internal linking tutorials
• Content optimisation strategies
• Search intent articles

Like with all internal links, relevance is key. Any links that you add to your content that are not relevant to the topic will only confuse and undermine the visitors trust in your site, and you clearly won’t want that to happen.

A useful rule of thumb will be this:

If you wouldn’t recommend the article to a friend that is Reading the current page, then don’t link to that page you wouldn’t recommend.

Category and Tag Links

Categories and tags are there to help organize content into meaningful groups.

The categories represent broader topics, whereas tags represent more specific themes within the topic.

Here is an example: –

Category: SEO

Tags:

Internal Linking

Anchor Text

Link Equity

Site Structure

Category pages can provide valuable SEO opportunities for you because they will typically consolidate the supporting content that you might have around broader subjects.

However, tags require a little more caution. The reason for this is because excessive tagging can create: –

• Thin pages
• Duplicate-like experiences
• Indexation inefficiencies
• Crawl budget waste

Best practices for categories and tags are as follows: –

Categories

• Use a small number of logical categories.
• Optimise category pages with useful descriptions.
• Link categories strategically.

Tags

• Only create tags with multiple relevant articles.
• Avoid creating hundreds of low-value tags.
• Review tags periodically.

Call-to-Action Links

Not every internal link is there purely for SEO purposes. Some links will be there purely to move visitors closer to making a desired outcome.

These links are known as call To Action links.

Here are a few examples that you might have seen on other websites: –

• Schedule a consultation
• Request a quote
• View pricing
• Download a guide
• Explore services
• Start a free trial

From a business perspective, these links are of huge importance. They form part of the sales copy, because they are a call to action which is foundational in getting a visitor to carry out the action you want them to carry out.

Strategic internal linking should support the following aspects of your website and business goals: –

• Lead generation
• Product discovery
• Revenue objectives
• Customer journeys
• Conversion pathways

A well-placed “call to action” link will feel helpful to the visitor rather than intrusive.

They are a logical link within the specific content and are a natural next step for the interested visitor.

The SEO Benefits of Internal Linking

The influences provided by internal linking extend far more than just navigation. When executed strategically, they will strengthen virtually every aspect of your sights SEO performance.

Improved Crawlability

As mentioned previously, search engines discover pages by following links.

Strong internal linking creates efficient paths that make it easier for the Google bots to access your content.

Improved or efficient crawlability will help ensure the following: –

• Important pages are discovered quickly
• New content gets found faster
• Crawl resources are used efficiently
• Valuable content isn’t overlooked

By having good internal linking throughout your site, you are effectively giving Google a map of your site as opposed to expecting it to wonder through it as if it were an impossible maze.

This alone should clarify the SEO importance that’s internal linking provides.

Stronger Topical Relevance

Google is on your side; it wants to understand what your website is about. Internal links provide the clues that Google needs.

When you have multiple related articles that are linked together, play establish topical relationships.

Take a look at the example below. We have an article on SEO (the SEO HUB). This is your hub article. Within the content on that article, it links out to other content on your website. Each piece of content is shown in the bullets below.: –

SEO HUB

• Keyword Research
• On-Page SEO
• Internal Linking
• Technical SEO

This structure signals to Google that the content is expert level. It shows that your website covers topics that are comprehensive rather than superficial.

When Google crawls the SEO HUB page, it doesn’t just see that article, it sees all of the other content that you are linking to as if it were just one article itself, where in fact, there are five articles in this example.

This is why internal linking is so powerful and is a key reason why internal links increase your rank on Google.

The image below illustrates how internal links build topical authority that help Google understand your websites content better

As your topic clusters expand, the perceived authority that you signal to Google and your visitors increases.

Better Distribution of Authority

Examples include:

• The homepage
• Popular blog posts
• High-performing guides
• Pages attracting backlinks

Internal links allow you to distribute that’s authority in a strategic manner.

The pages and posts that’s benefits most from this, typically include: –

• Newly published articles
• Commercial landing pages
• High-converting service pages
• Pillar resources
• Important category pages

Increased Engagement

People rarely consume information in a perfectly linear fashion. They generally search for one specific thing and then, if presented correctly, they tend to get drawn in deeper to the subject they first searched for. Internal linking promotes curiosity and curiosity drives exploration.

This often leads to:

• More pages viewed
• Longer sessions
• Better user satisfaction
• Increased trust
• Greater familiarity with your brand

The goal isn’t to keep your visitors busy or distracted, but rather to help them find answers efficiently and with least effort.

Good internal linking feels less like marketing and more like guidance.

How to Create an Effective Internal Linking Strategy

Most people don’t understand the effective power that internal links have and those that do have a level of understanding often only add these links now and then and they typically don’t follow a strategic plan.

What is typical is that many websites accumulate internal links by accident. Site owners will typically publish new content and link a couple of other pages or posts together. Although this is better than no linking at all, it rarely unlocks the full benefit of a well-planned internal linking structure.

The most effective strategies are intentional and deliberate. They are comprehensive and maximize the potential by linking together all relevant content.

Identify Your Priority Pages

Not every page or post on your site deserves equal attention. There will be some pages or posts that you will see as key pieces of content. Your content strategy should therefore be aimed to maximize the performance of those key pages. Internal linking is perfect for this and building a strategy and structure around your key content will maximize your site’s performance and the traffic those pages get.

A good place to start with your internal linking exercise is to identify the pages on your site that matter most.

These typically include the following: –

• High-converting service pages
• Product pages
• Category pages
• Pillar resources
• Lead generation pages
• Pages targeting competitive keywords

You could ask yourself this question:” if more people visited that key page, would it significantly benefits your business?”

If the answer to that question is yes, then that’s page or those pages probably deserve to get that additional internal support.

Here is an example of how you might do this: –

Once you have identified the priority pages on your site, you can then actively funnel the link equity towards those pages and posts by linking to them from relevant supporting content.

Build Topic Clusters

It is a fact that Google and the other search engines reward websites that demonstrate depth rather than breadth. This is where topic clusters come into play. Topic clusters provide your content with the depth that Google is looking for.

Here is an example of what a topic cluster will typically consist of: –

A Pillar Page

First of all, you will have a pillar page or post, which is a comprehensive guide or article that covers a primary topic.

Supporting Content

Supporting articles are generally more focused pieces of content that explore specific subtopics that elaborate on sections found within the pillar content.

Here is an example of supporting content to a guide (pillar content) on Internal Linking: –

Internal Linking Guide (Pillar Hub)

• Anchor Text Best Practices
• Internal Linking Mistakes
• Topic Clusters Explained
• Link Equity Distribution
• Site Structure Optimisation

Internal links connect these pieces of supporting content together, which in turn, provides and offers several advantages. The process…

• Strengthens topical relevance
• Demonstrates expertise
• Improves user experience
• Supports page discovery
• Encourages deeper engagement

The relationship between pillar and supporting content is elevated when internal links are added, linking the content together. The result helps establish authority.

Readers benefit from this because information becomes easier to navigate and instantly available and search engines benefit because subject and topic relationships become clearer and more informative.

Everybody wins and the thing that has enabled this huge authority increase is internal linking across relevant content and instead of isolated articles competing for attention, you create a network of content that works highly effectively together.

The image below illustrates how you can transform isolated articles to become powerful authority topic clusters that can have a key ranking effect on your website

Find Natural Linking Opportunities

If you want to carry out an SEO task on your website that takes least time and least effort whilst producing exponential results, then you should review your content to see if you can find any missed internal linking opportunities.

The best way to review is to look for the following: –

• Related concepts mentioned briefly
• Opportunities to expand explanations
• References to newer resources
• Mentions of products or services
• Common reader questions

As mentioned earlier, restraint matters. Internal links should feel helpful and they shouldn’t appear as if you were trying to maximize the number of links you could add to a page. Links that are on the page or post must be there for a reason, and they shouldn’t make the page look cluttered or spammy.

There isn’t a number you can put to how many internal links you can have on a page, however, you should aim to offer quality and value to your visitor and if you do this, you will likely find the optimum quantity of links to add.

Optimise Anchor Text

The words you choose to embed your hyperlinks to matter.

Anchor text provides context for both visitors and the search engines. You should ideally use the following kinds of anchor text where possible: –

• Descriptive
• Relevant
• Natural
• Concise

It is also acceptable to include other words that surround your anchor text as part of your internal link. Here is an example: –

In this example, the main keyword is “backlinks”. You can see in the example above that the other words that make up the hyperlink enhance the main keyword. This will actually make more sense to a visitor than just linking the word “backlinks”.

The use of variety of the anchor text phrases you use is important. Repeating the same anchor text dozens of times can appear unnatural as well as spammy.

Instead of repetition, you should use language that’s accurately reflects the content that the destination page will provide.

Update Older Content Regularly

When you publish new content, you should review your internal linking as part of the publication of your new content. Every piece of new content provides fresh linking opportunities.

Adding internal links that point to your new content we’ll have a huge effect on the new content. Automatically, internal links that point to that content will pass on power and authority and it will speed up the indexing process on Google.

Internal Linking Best Practices

The best practices for successful internal linking are for you to maintain relevance. Relevance key where internal linking is concerned. The law of internal linking goes something like this… If it’s not relevant it should not be there (I made this up just now, but it is true nevertheless).

Prioritise Relevance

Basically, a link should only exist if it genuinely helps readers explore related information. It is fine to add an internal link just for the purpose of passing the authority to a page. However, it must be relevant and if it is, it will genuinely help your visitors.

Relevance is a priority, so I have provided an example of internal linking that is not relevant.

In the example above, the link is pointing to a page that is all about website design (for example). Website design has nothing to do with the text of the link. The relevance is simply not there, and it makes no sense.

Irrelevant internal linking should be avoided.

How Many Internal Links Should You Use?

A common question asked by people is this: “how many internal links should I add to my content?”

As mentioned previously, there is no correct answer to this.

Google has not published any recommendation regarding the number of links you should have. However, Quality is what matters. Quantity has no relevance, so to that extent you should focus on usefulness and maximize the amount of usefulness you can deliver.

If a link helps your visitors and it supports your objectives, then it is probably a good indication that’s you should include that all those links.

As a guide, a 500 word article will naturally requires fewer links than the comprehensive 4,000 word article.

Another guide to help you evaluate internal link numbers is to follow these bullet points below. Add internal links if: –

• Important pages receive little traffic.
• Valuable resources remain hidden.
• Readers struggle to navigate.
• Topic relationships appear fragmented.

On the other hand, you might have too many links. The warning signs that you have too many might include the following: –

• Your content looks cluttered
• There is weak prioritisation
• There is low readability across your site
• Visitors failed to carry out your desired call to action

Internal Linking for Different Website Types

Different websites may require different approaches where internal linking is concerned.

Blogs

Blogs benefit enormously when you incorporate internal linking to create content clusters.

You should focus on creating the following types of content: –

• Related articles
• Topic hubs
• Educational journeys
• Supporting content

Your objective should be to keep visitors exploring your website. By doing so, you increase your relevance to Google, and you increase your income potential within your business.

Business Websites

Service-based businesses should prioritize the following types of content on their website: –

• Service pages
• Case studies
• About pages
• Contact opportunities

The goal is obviously to move prospects toward conversion.

E-commerce Stores

Online stores are heavily reliant on internal linking. It is key to the success of their business. Common content and linking examples include the following: –

• Related products
• Category pages
• Best-seller collections
• Frequently bought together sections

These links support both visitor usability and revenue for the business.

Large Publishing Websites

Larger sites tend to require additional structure. These might include the following: –

• Clear taxonomies
• Robust navigation systems
• Content hubs
• Editorial standards

Without intentional organization, scale and managing increase of the sites content can quickly become overwhelming.

Frequently Asked Questions About Internal Linking

What is internal linking in SEO?

Internal linking refers to the practice of adding a hyperlink to one page on your website that links to another page on the same domain.

Why are internal links important?

Internal links improve crawlability. They distribute authority and they strengthen relevance as well as enhancing user experience. They are the most important SEO work that you can do on your website.

How many internal links should a page have?

There is no fixed number of internal links you should have on a page. Instead, you should focus on usefulness and relevance rather than quotas.

What is anchor text?

Anchor text is a key phrase that has a hyperlink embedded to it. This makes it become clickable so that it directs a visitor to another page.

What are orphan pages?

Orphan pages are those that have no internal links pointing to them. These pages typically struggle to get discovered and indexed in Google.

Do internal links improve rankings?

While internal links don’t guarantee rankings independently, they do support several factors that are associated with stronger SEO performance. However, when done correctly, internal linking can definitely increase rank on Google.

Should older articles be updated with new links?

Older content should definitely be updated with new links. Older content often contains valuable opportunities to both strengthen your overall link structure and to maximize performance throughout your website.

Can too many internal links hurt SEO?

If you have too many internal links on a page, then you could potentially dilute any emphasis that internal linking can produce, and this could potentially reduce usability. You should therefore ensure that there is balance when carrying out an internal linking campaign.

Final Thoughts on Internal Linking

I just want to add some final comments. Internal linking isn’t particularly exciting, and it rarely attracts headlines in the way that backlinking campaigns do for example. However, the impact they provide can be profound and life-changing for the site.

A thoughtful and thorough internal linking strategy will improve your website’s crawlability and strengthen topic clusters which in turn will distribute link equity and ultimately improve the rank of your website on Google.

You don’t need to redesign your website overnight. You can carry out your internal linking process over a period of time. It is better to start small and get the job done gradually rather than not doing it at all. Any incremental improvements that you make will compound over time.

In SEO, access often comes from doing the fundamental steps exceptionally well. Internal linking is one of those fundamental steps that you should absolutely execute on your website.

If you master the process and you build your website so that it is easier for users to navigate then Google will understand it better and you will see far better rankings for all of your pages and posts.

I do wish you all the success with your sites conversion and ranking on Google.