Internal links connect pages within your own website. External links point to pages on a different website.
Internal links help Google discover and index your pages, pass authority around your site, and improve navigation for visitors.
External links (outbound) to reputable sources build your content’s credibility.
External links pointing to your site (backlinks) are one of the strongest SEO signals in Google’s ranking system.
Internal links are not the same as backlinks. Backlinks always come from another website.
When people talk about links in SEO, they often mix up the terminology.
Internal links, external links, outbound links, backlinks – the language can feel confusing if you’re not immersed in it every day.
But the concepts behind them are straightforward, and understanding each one will help you make better decisions about how you structure your website and your content.
This guide explains what internal and external links are, how they each affect your SEO, and what a small business website owner should actually do about them.
Table of Contents
What Are Internal Links in SEO?
An internal link is a hyperlink that takes a visitor from one page on your website to another page on the same website. You stay within the same domain the whole time.
What Does an Internal Link Look Like in Practice?
Say you run a dog grooming business and you’ve written a blog post about bathing techniques.
Partway through that post, you link to your separate page about dog grooming prices. Both pages are on your website.
That’s an internal link.
In the HTML behind your page, an internal link looks like this:<a href="/dog-grooming-prices/">View our grooming prices</a>
Notice it points to a page path (starting with /) rather than a full URL. This tells the browser to stay on the same website.
In WordPress, you create internal links the same way you add any link: highlight the text you want to link, click the link icon in your editor, and search for or paste the URL of the page you want to point to.
Internal Linking for SEO: How to Connect Your Pages for Better Rankings
Why Are Internal Links Important for SEO?
Internal links do several things that matter for your search rankings.
They help Google find your pages.
Google sends automated programmes called crawlers (sometimes called spiders or bots) to scan your website. These crawlers follow links.
If a page on your site has no internal links pointing to it, Google may never find it – even if you’ve written something excellent on it.
Google’s own Search Advocate, John Mueller, has described internal linking as “one of the biggest things that you can do on a website to kind of guide Google and guide visitors to the pages that you think are important.”
They also pass authority between your pages.
When one of your pages has strong SEO value, an internal link from that page to another passes some of that value along. SEO professionals sometimes call this “link equity” or, informally, “link juice.”
Pointing links from a strong page to a weaker one can help lift the weaker page’s search performance over time.
On top of that, the number of internal links a page receives signals to Google how important that page is. If lots of your pages link to one particular page, Google takes that as a sign that the page matters.
You can use this deliberately by linking frequently to your key service pages.
And from a user perspective, a well-placed internal link leads someone from one article to another relevant piece of content, keeping them on your site and engaged.
What Are External Links in SEO?
External links point from one website to a different website.
The terminology here splits into two types you need to understand separately, because they work very differently.
Outbound Links (External Links You Create)
When you write content and link to a source on another website – a government page, an industry report, a news article – that’s an outbound external link.
You’re sending your visitor to a different website.
Many small business owners worry that doing this will hurt their SEO by sending people away from their site. In practice, the opposite is often true.
Linking out to credible, relevant sources signals to Google that your content is well-researched and trustworthy. It shows you’re part of the wider web conversation rather than a closed silo.
Google’s Search Essentials documentation confirms that links are used as a signal when determining the relevancy of pages.
The key word there is credible.
Linking to reputable, relevant sources (think official organisations, established publishers, or well-known industry authorities) helps your content’s credibility. Linking to low-quality or spammy sites can do the opposite.
One practical note: when you link out to any external website, it’s usually a good idea to open the link in a new tab.
That way your visitor can check the source without leaving your page entirely. In WordPress, you’ll see an “Open in new tab” toggle when you add a link.
Backlinks (External Links Pointing to You)
A backlink is an external link on someone else’s website that points to a page on your website.
These are sometimes called inbound links.
Backlinks are, historically, one of the most significant signals in Google’s ranking algorithm.
The original logic behind Google’s search engine was that a page linked to by many other pages is probably worth reading. That core principle still holds, though Google has become much more sophisticated about the quality of those links.
A single link from a respected industry publication is worth far more than dozens of links from low-quality directories.
For a small business, earning backlinks usually means creating content worth referencing, getting mentioned in local directories and press, or building relationships with complementary businesses and industry sites.
SEO-Friendly URLs: How to Structure Your Web Addresses for Better Rankings
Do Internal Links Count as Backlinks?
No, they do not.
A backlink is always a link from an external website to yours. An internal link connects two pages within the same domain.
They are entirely different things in the eyes of Google.
Internal links distribute authority that already exists on your site. Backlinks bring new authority in from the outside. Both are valuable, but they serve different functions and you cannot substitute one for the other.
What Is the Difference Between Internal and External Links? A Quick Summary
| Internal Links | External Links (Outbound) | Backlinks (Inbound) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direction | Within your site | Your site to another site | Another site to your site |
| You control them? | Yes, completely | Yes (the ones you add) | Partly (you can try to earn them) |
| SEO benefit | Crawlability, authority flow, structure | Content credibility, trust signals | Authority, rankings, trust |
| Common mistake | Too few, or using “click here” as link text | Linking to low-quality sources | Trying to buy or manipulate them |
How Many Internal Links Per Page Is Right for SEO?
There’s no fixed number that Google recommends. Add as many internal links as are genuinely useful for your reader – no more, no less.
Google’s guidance is to keep the number of links on a page to a reasonable amount. Their Search Central documentation on links confirms they use links primarily for page discovery and relevance signals.
In practical terms, your links should serve the visitor. If you’re writing a 1,000-word article and every other sentence has a link, that’s probably too many. It becomes distracting and dilutes the value of each link.
A good starting point for a blog post is three to five internal links per 1,000 words.
More important than the number is the quality of where you link. Link to pages that genuinely expand on what you’ve written. Use descriptive anchor text (the clickable words) rather than vague phrases like “click here” or “read more.”
The anchor text gives both visitors and Google a clear signal about what the linked page contains.
Which Type of Links Are Best for SEO?
Both are good. Each type plays a different role, so this isn’t really an either/or question.
Internal links are entirely within your control and have an immediate, direct effect on how Google crawls and understands your site. If you have a new website with little authority yet, building a strong internal linking structure is one of the most effective things you can do – and it costs nothing.
Backlinks are harder to earn but carry significant weight with Google. A single strong backlink from an authoritative website can noticeably improve your rankings. Over time, building your backlink profile is essential for competing in most industries.
Outbound links are a supporting signal. They won’t transform your rankings on their own, but they contribute to how Google views your content’s quality and trustworthiness.
For a small business website, the practical priority is usually: fix your internal linking first (it’s free and you control it completely), then work on earning quality backlinks over time.
How Do You Build a Good Internal Linking Structure?
Start by thinking about how your pages connect thematically.
Internal linking is just one part of a broader on-page SEO strategy – if you want to see how it fits into the bigger picture, our on-page SEO guide for small business websites covers all the key elements in one place.
Your most important pages – your service pages, key category pages, or pillar content – should receive the most internal links from elsewhere on your site.
When you write a new blog post or page, ask yourself which existing pages on your site relate to it, then link to them. Also go back to older content and add links forward to your new page where it makes sense.
This keeps your site’s link structure growing in a connected, logical way.
In WordPress, the default Gutenberg editor and most SEO plugins (including Yoast SEO and Rank Math) will suggest relevant internal links as you write, which makes this much easier to do consistently.
What About Broken Links?
A broken link is one that points to a page that no longer exists – either on your own site (a broken internal link) or on someone else’s (a broken external link). These will be picked up as part of a basic Technical SEO Audit as a 404 error.
Both are worth fixing.
Broken internal links waste your crawl budget and leave visitors hitting dead-end error pages.
Broken external links look sloppy and can chip away at your content’s credibility. Tools like Screaming Frog (free for up to 500 URLs) or the Ahrefs Site Audit will identify broken links across your site so you can fix or remove them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Internal links connect two pages within the same website. External links point from your site to a different website (outbound), or from another website to yours (backlinks/inbound). Internal links help Google understand your site structure and spread authority between your pages. External links either add credibility to your content or, in the case of backlinks, bring authority to your site from elsewhere on the web.
Internal links help Google’s crawlers discover and index your pages. They also pass SEO authority between pages and signal which pages matter most. Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller has called internal linking “one of the biggest things that you can do on a website to guide Google and visitors to the pages that you think are important.” A page with no internal links pointing to it may struggle to rank because Google has fewer signals about its relevance.
No. A backlink is always a link from an external website pointing to yours. Internal links connect pages within the same domain. They serve different purposes: internal links distribute existing authority across your site, while backlinks bring new authority in from outside. You cannot build your backlink profile using internal links.
Internal linking improves crawlability (Google can find your pages more easily), distributes page authority across your site, establishes a clear content hierarchy, and improves user experience by pointing visitors to relevant related content. It also supports your content cluster and pillar page strategy by showing Google how your topics connect.
If you have a website about home improvements and your blog post about kitchen renovations contains a link to your separate page about kitchen design services, that’s an internal link. Both pages sit on the same domain. The link helps Google connect the two pages and helps visitors find your services naturally.
All three types of links play different roles. Internal links are the easiest to control and have an immediate positive effect on site structure. Backlinks (inbound external links) carry the most ranking weight but are harder to earn. Outbound external links to credible sources support your content’s trustworthiness. A healthy site needs all three working together.
You earn backlinks by creating content that other websites want to reference: in-depth guides, original research, useful tools, or newsworthy stories. You can also reach out to relevant websites, get listed in reputable directories, earn coverage in local press, or write guest articles for established industry publications. Buying links violates Google’s guidelines and can result in search penalties.
Google’s guidance is to keep the number of links on a page “reasonable.” In practice, having hundreds of internal links on a single page can dilute the value of each link and make the page harder to read. Focus on linking where it genuinely helps the reader. A page written for visitors first, with links that serve a real purpose, will always perform better than one stuffed with unnecessary links.