Internal Linking for SEO
Internal links are hyperlinks that connect one page on your website to another page on the same website. They are one of the most underutilised SEO techniques because they are entirely within your control and can have a significant impact on how search engines understand and rank your content.
Why Internal Linking Matters
- Crawl discovery — search engines find new pages by following links. Pages with no internal links pointing to them are "orphan pages" that may never be indexed
- Link equity distribution — your homepage typically has the most authority. Internal links pass some of that authority to deeper pages
- Context and relevance — the anchor text of internal links tells search engines what the linked page is about
- User experience — internal links help visitors find related content, reducing bounce rate and increasing time on site
Internal Linking Best Practices
Use descriptive anchor text
"Read our guide to writing meta descriptions" is better than "click here". The anchor text should describe the linked page's content.
Link from high-authority pages
Your homepage and top-performing pages have the most authority. Link from these pages to important content you want to rank.
Link contextually
Links within the body content carry more weight than links in headers, footers, or sidebars. Place internal links where they are naturally relevant to the surrounding text.
Keep it reasonable
There is no fixed limit, but 3-10 internal links per page is typical for most content. Do not force links where they do not fit naturally.
Fix orphan pages
Every important page should have at least one internal link pointing to it. Use the link analysis tool to check your internal linking structure.
How to Audit Internal Links
- Run a RankNibbler audit on your key pages to see internal vs external link counts
- Use the site audit to check all pages and identify which have few or no internal links
- Check for empty links that have no anchor text
- Verify no important links use nofollow (which prevents link equity passing)
Last updated: March 2026