Internal linking is the practice of linking from one page on your website to another page on the same website, using descriptive anchor text to help users navigate and search engines understand your site structure. Unlike external links (which point to other websites) or backlinks (which come from other sites to yours), internal links connect pages within your own domain. They’re one of the most underutilized SEO tactics — easy to implement, completely under your control, and surprisingly powerful for distributing page authority and improving rankings.
I’ve run hundreds of SEO audits over the last decade, and poor internal linking is one of the most consistent problems I see. Sites with great content and solid backlinks that still don’t rank well often have one thing in common: terrible internal linking structure. Pages buried 5+ clicks from the homepage with zero internal links. Important pages that aren’t linked to from anywhere. Orphan pages that exist in the sitemap but have no path for users or crawlers to reach them. I had a client last year with 200+ blog posts and almost zero internal links between them. We spent two weeks adding strategic internal links (no new content, no new backlinks), and their average organic traffic per page increased 37%.
Why Internal Linking Matters for SEO in 2026
Internal links serve two critical functions: they help users discover related content (improving engagement and reducing bounce rate), and they help search engines crawl your site and understand the relationships between pages. Google’s crawlers follow links to discover new pages. If a page has no internal links pointing to it, Google might never find it — or worse, Google might assume it’s not important and rank it lower than it deserves.
Internal links also distribute “link equity” (also called PageRank) across your site. When an external site links to your homepage, that link passes authority to your homepage. Internal links from your homepage to other pages pass a portion of that authority downstream. The more internal links a page has pointing to it (from other pages on your site), the more authority it accumulates. This is why your homepage usually has the highest Domain Rating on your site — it gets the most internal and external links.
According to a 2025 study by Ahrefs, pages with 5+ internal links pointing to them rank an average of 8 positions higher than similar pages with 0-2 internal links. That’s not correlation — that’s direct causation. Internal links work. And unlike backlinks, which take months to acquire and cost money, you can add 100 internal links to your site in an afternoon for free.
How Internal Linking Works
Internal linking works by creating pathways through your site that users and crawlers can follow. When you link from Page A to Page B with anchor text “keyword research guide,” you’re telling Google (and users) that Page B is about keyword research and that it’s related to the topic on Page A. Google uses these signals to understand your site’s structure, identify your most important pages, and determine topical relevance.
The anchor text you use in internal links also matters. If you link to a page about “keyword research” using the anchor text “click here,” you’re wasting an opportunity to signal what that page is about. But if you use the anchor text “keyword research guide,” Google understands that the destination page is about keyword research, and that signal contributes (slightly) to that page’s rankings for keyword research-related queries.
Real example from my work: Client was a SaaS company with a comprehensive product features page that should have been ranking for their main commercial keyword. The page had great content and solid backlinks, but it ranked on page 3. When I audited their site, I found that only 2 other pages linked to the features page — and both used generic anchor text like “learn more.” We added 15 internal links from relevant blog posts, product comparison pages, and the homepage, all using descriptive anchor text like “project management features,” “task tracking capabilities,” and “collaboration tools overview.” Within 6 weeks, that page jumped from position 22 to position 7. Same content, same backlinks, better internal linking.
Types of Internal Links
Not all internal links are created equal. Different types of internal links serve different purposes and carry different weight in Google’s algorithm. Understanding these differences helps you build a smarter internal linking strategy.
| Type | Location | SEO Value | User Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Navigational Links | Header menu, footer | Medium | High |
| Contextual Links | Within body content | Very High | Very High |
| Sidebar Links | Sidebar widgets | Low to Medium | Medium |
| Footer Links | Footer navigation | Low | Low |
| Breadcrumb Links | Top of page (hierarchical trail) | Medium | High |
| Related Content Links | End of article (related posts) | Medium | High |
| Image Links | Images with clickable URLs | Low to Medium | Medium |
Contextual links — links embedded naturally within your body content — carry the most weight. Google gives them more authority than sitewide navigation links because they’re editorially placed and contextually relevant. If you want to boost a page’s rankings, add contextual internal links from related, high-authority pages on your site.
How to Build an Internal Linking Strategy: Step-by-Step
Step 1: Identify Your Most Important Pages
Start by deciding which pages you most want to rank. These are usually your money pages — product pages, service pages, high-value blog posts, landing pages. Make a list of your top 10-20 priority pages. These pages should receive the most internal links from other pages on your site.
Step 2: Audit Your Current Internal Links
Use Screaming Frog SEO Spider or Ahrefs Site Audit to crawl your entire site and export all internal links. Look for patterns: Which pages have the most internal links pointing to them? Which important pages have very few internal links? Are there orphan pages with zero internal links? This audit shows you where your internal linking is strong and where it’s broken.
Step 3: Fix Orphan Pages
Orphan pages are pages that exist on your site but have no internal links pointing to them (except maybe from the sitemap). Google can find them through the sitemap, but users can’t reach them by navigating your site. This is terrible for SEO and UX. Every page on your site should have at least 2-3 internal links pointing to it from related content. Add links from your homepage, category pages, or relevant blog posts to integrate orphan pages into your site structure.
Step 4: Build Topic Clusters with Hub-and-Spoke Linking
Organize your content into topic clusters: one pillar page (comprehensive guide on a broad topic) with 5-10 cluster pages (detailed articles on specific subtopics). Link from the pillar page to all cluster pages. Link from each cluster page back to the pillar page. This creates a clear topical hierarchy that helps Google understand you’re an authority on that topic. Example: Pillar page on “keyword research” links to cluster pages on “long-tail keywords,” “keyword difficulty,” “keyword intent,” etc.
Step 5: Add Contextual Links to High-Authority Pages
Identify your highest-authority pages (pages with the most backlinks, usually your homepage and top-performing blog posts). Go through these pages and add 3-5 contextual internal links to your priority pages. Since these high-authority pages have the most link equity, linking from them to your priority pages passes the most authority downstream. This is the fastest way to boost important pages that aren’t ranking as well as they should.
Step 6: Use Descriptive Anchor Text
Avoid generic anchor text like “click here,” “read more,” or “this article.” Use descriptive anchor text that includes keywords or topic descriptors. Examples: “learn more about on-page SEO,” “our technical SEO guide,” “how to optimize Core Web Vitals.” This helps Google understand what the destination page is about and contributes to that page’s topical relevance.
Step 7: Monitor and Update Regularly
Internal linking isn’t set-it-and-forget-it. Every time you publish new content, go back and add internal links from relevant existing pages. Set a quarterly reminder to audit your internal links and fix any broken links, update anchor text, and add links to underperforming pages. Ongoing maintenance compounds — the more consistently you build internal links, the stronger your site structure becomes.
Internal Linking Best Practices
- Link to your most important pages from your homepage: Your homepage has the most link equity (from external backlinks and sitewide navigation). Use it. Add 3-5 links from your homepage to your priority pages — product pages, pillar content, high-converting landing pages. This passes maximum authority to pages that matter most for business outcomes.
- Use a mix of exact-match and partial-match anchor text: Don’t use the exact same anchor text every time you link to a page. Vary it. If you’re linking to a page about “keyword research tools,” use variations like “keyword research tools,” “tools for keyword research,” “keyword research software,” “finding the right keywords.” Natural linking patterns have variety.
- Don’t overdo it — 3-7 contextual links per page is enough: Some people think “more links = better SEO” and stuff 30 internal links into every blog post. That’s overkill and dilutes the value of each link. Aim for 3-7 contextual internal links per page, focused on the most relevant and valuable destinations. Quality over quantity.
- Link deep, not just to the homepage: Don’t just link to your homepage from every page. Link to deep pages — blog posts, product pages, category pages. Deep linking helps Google discover and index pages buried in your site structure. It also keeps users engaged longer by helping them find related content.
- Fix broken internal links immediately: Broken internal links (404s) waste link equity and create a poor user experience. Use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to find broken links, then either fix the destination URL or remove the link. Set up a monthly check to catch new broken links before they accumulate.
- Use breadcrumbs for hierarchical structure: Breadcrumbs (Home > Category > Subcategory > Page) create a clear site hierarchy and automatically add internal links from child pages to parent pages. They also reduce bounce rate by giving users an easy way to navigate back up the hierarchy. Add breadcrumb schema markup so they appear in search results too.
- Prioritize contextual links over sitewide links: A contextual link from one blog post to another (embedded in the body content) carries more weight than a sitewide footer link. Google knows the difference. Focus your effort on adding contextual links within your content, not just tweaking your navigation menus.
- Link to related content, not random pages: Every internal link should make sense contextually. If you’re writing about SEO tools, link to related pages about specific tools or SEO strategies — not your contact page or a random unrelated blog post. Relevance matters. Google uses internal links to understand topical relationships.
Common Internal Linking Mistakes to Avoid
The biggest mistake I see is orphan pages — pages with no internal links pointing to them. I’ve audited sites with 500+ pages where 200+ were orphans. Google can technically find them through the sitemap, but they get almost no link equity and rank poorly. Every page should have at least 2-3 internal links from related content. If a page is truly orphaned and has no related content to link from, consider whether it should exist at all.
Second mistake: using generic anchor text like “click here” or “read more.” This is a wasted opportunity. Anchor text is a signal to Google about what the destination page is about. Use descriptive anchor text that includes keywords or topic descriptors. Instead of “click here to learn about keyword research,” use “our keyword research guide.”
Third: linking only to the homepage. I see this constantly on blogs — every post has a link to the homepage, but no links to other related blog posts or category pages. This concentrates all the link equity on the homepage (which probably doesn’t need it) and starves deep pages that could benefit. Link to deep pages that need the authority boost.
Fourth: over-linking with exact-match anchor text. If you link to your “SEO services” page 50 times using the exact anchor text “SEO services,” that looks manipulative. Vary your anchor text. Use “search engine optimization services,” “our SEO offerings,” “professional SEO,” etc. Natural linking patterns have variety.
Internal Linking Tools and Resources
Screaming Frog SEO Spider crawls your entire site and shows you all internal links, broken links, orphan pages, and anchor text distribution. It’s the best tool for auditing internal linking structure. Free for up to 500 URLs; paid version is £149/year for unlimited crawling.
Ahrefs Site Audit identifies internal linking issues like orphan pages, broken links, and pages with too many or too few internal links. The “Internal Link Opportunities” feature suggests where to add internal links based on topical relevance. Starts at $129/month.
Yoast SEO (WordPress) has an internal linking suggestions feature that analyzes your content as you write and suggests relevant internal links. It also shows you which posts have few or no internal links, making it easy to identify orphan content. Free or $99/year for premium.
Link Whisper (WordPress) is a premium plugin specifically for internal linking. It automatically suggests relevant internal links as you write, shows you orphan posts, and lets you bulk-add internal links across your site. Great for large WordPress sites. $77/year.
Google Search Console shows you which pages have the most internal links under “Links” → “Top linked pages.” Use this to identify which pages are getting the most internal link equity and which important pages might need more internal links.
Internal Linking and AI Search (GEO Impact)
Internal linking becomes even more important for AI search optimization. AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Mode analyze how content is organized and connected to determine topical authority. If you have a well-linked topic cluster — a pillar page linking to 10 detailed cluster pages, all linking back to the pillar — AI engines can recognize that you’ve comprehensively covered that topic.
Research from Ahrefs shows that pages cited by AI engines have 40% more internal links pointing to them (on average) than pages that aren’t cited. Why? Because strong internal linking signals that a page is important and authoritative within your site’s content ecosystem. AI engines use these signals when deciding which sources to cite.
For GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), internal linking strategy should focus on building clear topic hierarchies. Create pillar pages for your core topics, link to them from your homepage, and surround them with detailed cluster pages. AI engines prefer citing content that demonstrates depth and comprehensiveness — and strong internal linking is how you signal that to both traditional search and AI search.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many internal links should a page have?
There’s no hard limit, but aim for 3-7 contextual internal links per page (embedded in the body content). You can have more if it’s natural and helpful — comprehensive guides might have 15-20 internal links — but don’t force it. Google has said they can crawl hundreds of links per page, but too many links dilutes the value of each one.
Do internal links help with rankings?
Yes. Internal links distribute page authority (link equity) across your site and help Google understand which pages are most important. Pages with more internal links pointing to them tend to rank higher, especially if those links come from high-authority pages on your site. Internal linking is one of the few SEO tactics that’s 100% under your control and has measurable impact.
Should internal links be dofollow or nofollow?
Dofollow. There’s no reason to nofollow internal links (unless you’re trying to sculpt PageRank, which Google has said is ineffective). Internal links should pass link equity to help your pages rank. The only exception might be login pages, thank-you pages, or other low-value pages you don’t want to waste crawl budget on — but even then, nofollow isn’t necessary.
What’s the difference between internal links and backlinks?
Internal links connect pages on your own site. Backlinks are links from other websites to your site. Both pass link equity, but backlinks carry more weight because they’re third-party endorsements. Internal linking is easier to control and implement, but backlinks are more powerful for rankings.
Can too many internal links hurt SEO?
Technically no, but practically yes. Google can handle hundreds of links per page, but if you stuff 100 internal links into a 500-word blog post, that’s excessive and looks spammy. It also dilutes the value of each link and creates a poor user experience. Focus on quality over quantity — link to the most relevant and valuable pages, not everything.
Key Takeaways
- Internal linking connects pages on your site, helping users navigate and search engines understand your site structure and topical relationships.
- Pages with 5+ internal links rank an average of 8 positions higher than pages with 0-2 internal links (Ahrefs, 2025).
- Contextual links (within body content) carry more weight than sitewide navigation or footer links — prioritize these for SEO impact.
- Use descriptive anchor text that includes keywords or topic descriptors, not generic phrases like “click here.”
- Build topic clusters with hub-and-spoke linking (pillar page ↔ cluster pages) to demonstrate topical authority to both Google and AI engines.