Internal Linking

Definition

Internal Linking - Links between pages on the same website. Good internal linking distributes 'link equity' across the site, helps Google understand site structure, and guides users to related content. Often under-utilised as an SEO lever.

In more depth

Internal links are links from one page on your site to another page on the same site. They serve two critical functions: guiding users to related content they might find valuable, and signalling to Google which pages on your site are important and how they relate to each other. A well-structured internal linking system can significantly improve the ranking performance of your most important pages without requiring any additional external link building.

PageRank flows through internal links just as it does through external links. If your homepage receives most of your external backlinks, a strategic network of internal links from the homepage (and other high-authority pages) to key product or service pages passes that authority forward. This is one of the most underused SEO tactics - most sites have strong external link authority concentrated on one or two pages, and let it sit there rather than distributing it to the pages closest to conversion.

The quality of internal link anchor text also matters. Using descriptive, keyword-informed anchor text ("our keyword research guide" rather than "click here") sends stronger topical signals about the destination page. Aim for a site structure where no important page is more than 3 clicks from the homepage, and every significant piece of content has at least 2-3 relevant internal links pointing to it.

Related terms: Backlink - Anchor Text - URL Structure - Crawlability

Frequently asked questions

How many internal links should a page have?

There's no magic number. The practical guideline is: enough to be genuinely helpful to users, not so many that the page feels spammy. For a typical blog post, 3-7 contextual internal links to related content is reasonable. For a site's homepage or major pillar pages, more links are appropriate. Avoid adding internal links purely for SEO without a user-value justification.

What's the difference between internal and external links?

Internal links connect pages within the same domain; external links point to pages on other domains. Both matter for SEO: external links (backlinks) build domain authority, while internal links distribute that authority across your site and signal content hierarchy to search engines.