Key takeaways
- Internal links signal importance and topical relationships.
- Descriptive anchor text helps search engines and AI tools understand the target page.
- Every commercial page should be reachable within a few clicks and linked from related content.
Why internal links matter
Internal links help search engines discover pages, understand how topics connect and judge which pages are most important. They also guide visitors from information to action. Unlike external links, you control them completely.
Build topic clusters
Organise content around core topics. Each topic has a main page—usually a service or category page—supported by articles that answer related questions. Supporting articles link to the main page; the main page links to the most useful supporting articles. This structure makes your expertise obvious.
Write meaningful anchor text
Anchor text tells search engines what the linked page is about. "Technical SEO audit" is more informative than "click here". Vary anchors naturally and keep them accurate; over-optimised, repetitive anchors look unnatural.
Clear anchors and surrounding context also help AI systems understand relationships between pages and concepts.
Common mistakes
We regularly find:
- Orphan pages with no internal links.
- Important pages linked only from the footer or sitemap.
- Blog posts that never link to the services they relate to.
- Links pointing to redirected or broken URLs.
- Rigid silos that prevent useful links between related topics.
A simple process
List your ten most valuable pages. For each, find five to ten relevant pages that could link to it and add contextual links. Repeat whenever you publish something new: every new article should link to at least one commercial page and receive links from older related content.
Frequently asked questions
How many internal links should a page have?
There is no fixed number. Add links where they help the reader; avoid long lists of unrelated links that dilute their value.
Are footer links useful?
They help discovery and navigation, but contextual links within content carry more meaning for both users and search engines.
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