Internal links are hyperlinks that connect pages on the same website. They are one of the simplest on-page SEO techniques you can use right now.
They help Google find and understand your pages, pass authority between them, and keep visitors on your site longer.
You should aim for 2 to 5 relevant internal links per page, using descriptive anchor text that tells readers what they will find.
Avoid linking everything to your homepage, using vague “click here” text, or stuffing pages with too many links.
Internal linking is an on-page SEO task that sits firmly within your control. It costs nothing and can start making a difference today.
Internal linking means adding hyperlinks between pages on your own website to help Google find your content and guide visitors to related information. If your pages don’t link to each other properly, Google struggles to find them, and your visitors won’t stick around either.
Internal linking is one of those SEO jobs that sounds technical but is actually quite simple once you understand the logic behind it.
You can do it yourself, today, without paying for a single tool or plugin.
Every time you add a link from one page on your site to another, you’re helping search engines map out your content and showing visitors where to go next.
This guide explains what internal linking is, why it matters for your rankings, and how to do it well on a small business website. You’ll also learn what to avoid, because poor internal linking can cause more harm than good.
Table of Contents
What Is Internal Linking?
An internal link is a hyperlink that points from one page on your website to another page on the same website.
Google’s own link documentation states that every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site.
How do internal links differ from external links?
If you link from your blog post to your services page, that’s an internal link.
If you link from your blog post to a page on someone else’s website, that’s an external link.
Both matter for SEO, but they work differently.
Internal links keep people on your site. External links send them elsewhere (though they can boost your credibility when you reference trusted sources).
The key difference for SEO is that you have complete control over your internal links. You decide the anchor text, the destination page, and the placement.
With external links pointing back to you (backlinks), you’re relying on other people to link to your content.
Do internal links count as backlinks?
No, internal links are not backlinks.
Backlinks come from external websites pointing to your domain.
Internal links connect pages within your own site. They serve different purposes in SEO, though both help Google understand what your pages are about. Think of backlinks as recommendations from other people, and internal links as signposts within your own building.
Is Internal Linking On-Page or Off-Page SEO?
Internal linking is an on-page SEO technique.
You’re making changes directly on your own website, which is exactly what on-page SEO covers.
Off-page SEO involves things that happen away from your website, like building backlinks, social media mentions, and online reviews.
What is better, on-page or off-page SEO?
Neither is better on its own. You need both.
But for small business owners working with a limited budget, on-page SEO gives you the most control and the quickest wins. Internal linking sits right at the heart of that, because you can improve it without spending a penny.
On-page SEO techniques like internal linking, meta titles, heading structure, and content quality are all within your direct control.
Off-page SEO takes longer and often requires relationship building with other website owners. A solid internal linking structure makes your on-page SEO stronger, which in turn helps your off-page efforts work harder.
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Why Are Internal Links Important for SEO?
Internal links do three key jobs that directly affect your search rankings and your visitors’ experience.
They help Google find and index your pages
Google discovers new pages by following links.
When its crawler (called Googlebot) lands on one of your pages, it follows every link it finds to discover more content.
Research from JetOctopus in 2024 found that optimised internal linking structures improved crawl rates from 40% to 70%
If a page on your site has no internal links pointing to it, Google might never find it. These isolated pages are called “orphan pages,” and they are effectively invisible in search results.
Google’s documentation confirms that it discovers new pages primarily by following links from known pages
For a small business site with 20 or 30 pages, this might seem unlikely. But it happens more often than you’d expect, especially when new pages get published and nobody links to them from existing content.
They spread authority across your site
Some of your pages will naturally have more authority than others.
Your homepage, for example, usually attracts the most backlinks. Internal links let you pass some of that authority to deeper pages that might otherwise struggle to rank.
SEO professionals call this “link equity” or “link juice.”
When a strong page links to a weaker one, some of that strength flows through the link. By linking from your most authoritative pages to newer or less visible content, you give those pages a better chance of appearing in search results.
They keep visitors on your site longer
When someone reads your blog post about choosing a WordPress theme and you link to a related post about WordPress hosting, you’re giving them a reason to stay.
More page views, longer time on site, and lower bounce rates all send positive signals to search engines about the quality of your content.
What Are the Benefits of Internal Linking?
Beyond the core SEO benefits above, a good internal linking structure delivers several practical advantages for small business websites.
How do internal links improve site structure and user experience?
Internal links create a logical path through your content.
Visitors can move naturally from a general topic to more specific information without hitting dead ends. For a business website, this might mean linking from a service overview page to individual service descriptions, case studies, and pricing information.
How do internal links strengthen keyword relevance?
The anchor text you use for internal links tells Google what the destination page is about.
Google’s link documentation confirms that anchor text tells both people and Google something about the page you’re linking to.
When you link to your “WordPress maintenance” page using those words as the clickable text, you’re reinforcing that page’s relevance for that search term.
This is a simple but effective way to strengthen your keyword targeting without doing anything complicated.
Do internal links help new content get indexed faster?
Yes. When you publish a new blog post and add links to it from existing, well-crawled pages, Google finds the new content faster.
Instead of waiting for Google to discover the page on its own (which can take days or weeks), internal links speed up the process considerably.
How Many Internal Links Per Page Should You Use?
There is no magic number, but a practical guideline is to include 2 to 5 contextual internal links per 1,000 words.
For most small business blog posts, that means somewhere between 3 and 8 links in total.
How do you find the right balance?
Relevance matters more than quantity. Every internal link should make sense for the reader.
Ask yourself: “Would someone reading this paragraph benefit from visiting that page?“
If the answer is yes, add the link. If you’re adding it purely for SEO reasons, leave it out.
Google’s link documentation says there is no ideal number of links a page should contain, but adds that if you think it’s too much, it probably is.
The general advice from SEO professionals is to keep total links on any single page (including navigation, footer, and content links) under 150.
For a typical small business page, you’ll be well under that number.
Too few links leave pages isolated. Too many links dilute the value passed to each destination and can make your content look spammy.
A Zyppy SEO study analysing over 23 million internal links found that pages with 40-50 internal links saw the strongest organic traffic gains, while pages exceeding 50 links saw traffic decline.
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How Do You Create an Internal Link?
If you’re using WordPress, adding internal links is simple.
Step-by-step in the WordPress editor
- Open the page or post you want to edit.
- Highlight the text you want to turn into a link (this is your anchor text).
- Click the link icon in the toolbar, or press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on Mac).
- Start typing the name of the page you want to link to. WordPress will suggest matching pages from your site.
- Select the right page and click “Apply” or press Enter.
That’s it. You’ve created an internal link.
What makes good anchor text?
Your clickable anchor text should describe what the reader will find on the linked page.
Instead of “click here” or “read more,” use words that tell Google and your visitors what the destination page covers.
Good example: “Read our guide to on-page SEO for small businesses.”
Poor example: “For more information, click here.”
The first version tells both Google and your reader exactly what they’ll find. The second version says nothing useful at all.
What Should You Avoid With Internal Links?
Getting internal linking wrong can actually hurt your SEO. Here are the most common mistakes and how to steer clear of them.
Which types of internal linking should you avoid?
Generic anchor text like “click here,” “read more,” or “learn more” wastes an opportunity to tell Google what the linked page is about. Always use descriptive text instead.
Excessive homepage links are another common problem. Your homepage already gets plenty of links from your navigation menu. Adding more internal links to it from your content doesn’t help much. Focus on linking to deeper pages that need the authority boost.
Footer link stuffing used to be a common tactic, where site owners packed their footer with keyword-rich links to every page on the site. Google caught on to this years ago, and those links now carry very little weight. A clean footer with essential navigation is fine. A footer crammed with dozens of links is not.
Broken internal links point to pages that no longer exist. When a visitor or Googlebot follows a broken link and hits a 404 error page, it creates a poor experience. Check your internal links regularly, especially after deleting or renaming pages.
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What other internal linking mistakes should you watch for?
Avoid linking to the same page multiple times from a single article.
Google generally only counts the first link to any given URL on a page, so repeating the same link adds clutter without benefit.
Don’t force links into content where they don’t belong.
If you’re writing about email marketing and you try to shoehorn in a link to your web design page, readers will notice the disconnect. Keep your links contextually relevant at all times.
How to Build a Simple Internal Linking Strategy
You don’t need a complicated plan. A basic approach works well for most small business websites.
Start with your most important pages
Make a list of the pages you most want to rank in Google. These are usually your main service pages, your location pages, and any cornerstone blog content.
These pages should receive the most internal links.
Link from new content to key pages
Every time you publish a new blog post, add at least one or two links to your most important pages where it makes sense contextually. Over time, this builds a web of connections that strengthens those key pages.
Link from old content to new content
When you publish something new, go back to two or three older posts on related topics and add a link to the new piece. This helps Google discover your new content quickly and creates a two-way connection between related pages.
Use your site structure to guide your linking
Think of your website as a pyramid.
Your homepage sits at the top, your main category or service pages sit in the middle, and your blog posts and supporting pages sit at the base. Links should flow naturally up and down this structure, connecting related content at every level.
Practical Next Steps
Internal linking is something you can improve right now.
Here’s a quick action plan:
- Audit your current links. Pick five of your most important pages and check how many internal links point to each one. If any have fewer than three, they need more.
- Fix orphan pages. Look through your sitemap or page list for any pages with zero internal links pointing to them. Add at least one relevant link from an existing page.
- Review your anchor text. Scan through your content for “click here” and “read more” links. Replace them with descriptive text that explains the destination page.
- Build a habit. Every time you publish new content, add 2 to 5 relevant internal links within the text and update at least two older posts with links to the new piece.
- Check for broken links. Use a free tool like Broken Link Checker (a WordPress plugin) or Screaming Frog’s free version to find and fix any broken internal links.
Internal linking won’t make headlines, and it isn’t glamorous work.
But it’s one of the most effective on-page SEO techniques available to you, and it’s completely free.
Start connecting your pages today, and you’ll give both Google and your visitors a much better experience of your website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, internal linking directly helps SEO. It allows Google to discover and index your pages, passes authority from stronger pages to weaker ones, and helps search engines understand how your content relates to each other. For small business websites, it’s one of the best free SEO improvements you can make. Results build gradually over weeks and months as your linking structure strengthens.
Internal linking means adding hyperlinks that connect one page on your website to another page on the same website. These links help search engines crawl your site, understand your content structure, and determine which pages are most important. They also guide your visitors to related content, keeping them on your site longer and improving their experience.
Internal links connect pages within the same website. External links point from your site to a different website, or from another website to yours. You have full control over your internal links but limited control over external links pointing to you. Both types matter for SEO, but internal links are the ones you can improve immediately without relying on anyone else.
Open your page or post in the WordPress editor, highlight the text you want to use as anchor text, click the link icon or press Ctrl+K, then type the name of the page you want to link to. WordPress will show suggestions as you type. Select the correct page and save. The whole process takes about ten seconds per link.
Internal linking serves three main purposes. It helps Google’s crawler find and index all your pages. It distributes authority (link equity) from your strongest pages to those that need a boost. And it improves user experience by guiding visitors to related content. Without internal links, some of your pages may never appear in search results at all.
Aim for 2 to 5 contextual internal links per 1,000 words. For a typical blog post of around 1,000 words, that means 3 to 8 internal links in total. The exact number matters less than relevance. Every link should help the reader find useful related content. Avoid forcing links where they don’t fit naturally.
No. Internal links and backlinks are different things. Backlinks come from external websites pointing to your domain. Internal links connect pages within your own site. Both help with SEO, but they work in different ways. You cannot replace a backlink strategy with internal linking alone, though strong internal links make the authority from your backlinks work harder across your site.
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. For internal links, it tells both Google and your readers what the destination page is about. Descriptive anchor text like “WordPress security guide” is far more helpful than “click here.” Good anchor text reinforces keyword relevance for the linked page and helps visitors decide whether to follow the link.
Yes. While there’s no exact maximum, the general recommendation is to keep total links on a page (including navigation) under 150. For body content, 2 to 5 contextual links per 1,000 words is a sensible range. Too many links dilute the authority passed to each destination and can make your content harder to read. Quality and relevance always beat quantity.
Check your sitemap or use a free crawling tool like Screaming Frog to identify pages with few or no incoming internal links. In Google Search Console, look for pages that are indexed but receive little traffic, as these may benefit from additional internal links. You can also search your own site (using “site:yourdomain.co.uk keyword”) to find related content you could link between.
Google’s John Mueller has said there isn’t a major difference in how Google values internal links based on their position on a page. Links in your header, footer, sidebar, and main content are all followed. However, links placed within your main body content are generally considered stronger editorial signals by SEO professionals, so aim to place your most important internal links within your article text rather than relying on navigation alone.