Internal linking is the single most controllable ranking factor on your website, and most businesses barely think about it. While backlinks require outreach and content quality requires sustained editorial investment, internal links are entirely within your control, available to improve right now, at zero cost.
Yet the majority of sites we audit at LocalCatalyst have no deliberate internal linking strategy. Pages exist in isolation. Critical service pages receive fewer internal links than throwaway blog posts. Orphan pages sit invisible to both crawlers and users.
This guide covers the strategic framework, tactical best practices, and common mistakes that separate an intentional internal linking architecture from the default chaos most sites operate with.
Why Internal Linking Matters for SEO
Internal links serve three functions that directly influence organic performance:
PageRank Distribution
Google’s ranking algorithm distributes authority (historically called PageRank) through links. External backlinks bring authority into your site. Internal links distribute that authority across your pages. Without a deliberate strategy, authority pools on your homepage and a handful of linked pages while the rest of your site starves.
A single well-placed internal link from your highest-authority page to an underperforming service page can produce a measurable ranking lift within weeks. We see this consistently across the local business sites we optimize through our on-page optimization service.
Crawlability and Indexation
Googlebot discovers pages by following links. If a page is buried four or more clicks from your homepage with no other internal links pointing to it, crawlers may visit it infrequently or skip it entirely. Internal links reduce crawl depth, ensure consistent indexation, and help search engines understand your site’s hierarchy.
This directly intersects with technical SEO. A technically sound site with a broken internal link structure still underperforms.
User Experience and Engagement
Internal links guide visitors to related content, keeping them on your site longer and moving them toward conversion. A blog reader who clicks through to a related post and then to a service page represents exactly the journey your site should facilitate. Bounce rate drops. Pages per session increase. Conversion paths become predictable.
The Hub-and-Spoke Model
The most effective internal linking architecture for SEO follows a hub-and-spoke model (sometimes called pillar-cluster architecture).
The hub is a comprehensive pillar page targeting a broad keyword. For a local SEO agency, this might be a page on local SEO services covering every dimension of the service.
The spokes are supporting pages that target narrower, related keywords. Blog posts on content optimization, keyword research, citation building, and review management each function as spokes.
The linking rules are straightforward:
- Every spoke links back to its hub page.
- The hub links out to every spoke.
- Spokes cross-link to each other where contextually relevant.
- No spoke exists without at least one link to and from the hub.
This model creates a tight topical cluster that signals comprehensive authority to Google while providing clear navigation paths for users.
Anchor Text Best Practices for Internal Links
Unlike external backlinks, where exact-match anchor text can trigger over-optimization penalties, internal link anchor text should be descriptive and keyword-informed. Google uses anchor text to understand what the target page is about.
Do this:
- Use descriptive anchors that reflect the target page’s topic: “our Google Business Profile optimization service”
- Vary anchor text naturally. Five links to the same page can use five slightly different phrases.
- Keep anchors concise — typically two to six words.
Avoid this:
- Generic anchors like “click here,” “learn more,” or “this page.” These waste a relevance signal.
- Stuffing the exact primary keyword into every anchor pointing to one page. Variation signals natural linking.
- Using the same anchor text to link to two different pages. This creates ambiguity for crawlers.
How Many Internal Links Per Page?
There is no universal number. The right count depends on content length and context. However, these guidelines hold across most sites:
- Blog posts (800-1500 words): 5 to 10 internal links, distributed throughout the content. At minimum, link to one service page, one related blog post, and one resource or pillar page.
- Service pages: 3 to 8 internal links to supporting content, case studies, and related services. The primary CTA should remain prominent; internal links should not compete with it.
- Homepage: Link to every primary service page and your most important content hubs. The homepage typically carries the most authority, so its internal links carry the most weight.
The critical principle: every internal link should be contextually relevant. A link that makes no sense to a reader makes no sense to Google.
Silo Structure and Topical Organization
Silo structure extends the hub-and-spoke concept to your entire site architecture. Each major topic area operates as a self-contained silo with dense internal linking within the silo and strategic linking between silos.
For a local SEO agency site, the silos might be:
- Local SEO — GBP optimization, citation management, review strategy, local link building
- On-Page SEO — content optimization, internal linking, keyword research, meta tag optimization
- Technical SEO — site speed, mobile optimization, schema markup, crawl budget management
Pages within the Local SEO silo link heavily to each other. A post about citation building links to a post about NAP consistency, which links to the GBP optimization service page, which links back to the local SEO pillar.
Cross-silo links are used selectively. A technical SEO post about site speed might link to an on-page post about content optimization when discussing how page load time affects engagement metrics. These bridges transfer authority between silos without diluting topical focus.
Finding and Fixing Orphan Pages
An orphan page is any page on your site that receives zero internal links from other pages. It may be indexed (if submitted via sitemap), but it is functionally invisible to users navigating your site and receives minimal crawl priority.
Common sources of orphan pages:
- Old blog posts that were never linked from newer content
- Landing pages created for paid campaigns but never integrated into site navigation
- Service pages added after the initial site build without updating the internal link structure
- Tag and category archive pages that no other page references
How to identify orphan pages:
- Screaming Frog — Crawl your site and filter for pages with zero inlinks. Cross-reference with your sitemap to find pages that exist but receive no internal links.
- Ahrefs Site Audit — The “Orphan pages” report identifies indexed URLs with no internal links detected during the crawl.
- Google Search Console — Review the Pages report for indexed pages, then check if those URLs appear in your Screaming Frog inlink data.
Once identified, either integrate orphan pages into the appropriate silo with contextual internal links or assess whether the page should be consolidated, redirected, or removed.
Common Internal Linking Mistakes
Over-Linking
Cramming 30 internal links into an 800-word blog post degrades readability and dilutes the value passed through each link. Every link should earn its place through contextual relevance.
Irrelevant Anchors
Linking the phrase “our team” to your technical SEO service page confuses both users and crawlers. The anchor must relate to the target page’s topic.
Broken Internal Links
Links pointing to 404 pages waste crawl budget and authority. Run a monthly crawl to catch broken internal links before they accumulate. This is a standard component of technical SEO maintenance.
Linking Only From Navigation
Site-wide navigation links (header, footer, sidebar) pass less unique value than contextual in-content links. Navigation links are necessary for usability, but they are not a substitute for contextual internal links placed within the body content where they carry editorial relevance signals.
Neglecting Deep Pages
Most sites over-link to the homepage and top-level pages while starving deeper content. Deliberately link to pages that are three or more clicks from the homepage. These are the pages with the most to gain from additional internal link equity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do internal links pass the same authority as backlinks?
Internal links distribute existing authority within your site. They do not create new authority the way external backlinks do. However, they are essential for ensuring that the authority your backlinks bring into the site reaches the pages that need it.
Should I use nofollow on any internal links?
In almost all cases, no. Nofollowing internal links wastes PageRank that could be flowing to useful pages. The rare exception is links to login pages or other purely functional URLs that do not need ranking authority.
How do internal links interact with XML sitemaps?
Sitemaps help search engines discover URLs, but they do not distribute authority or signal content relationships. Internal links do both. A page listed in your sitemap but lacking internal links will be crawled less frequently and rank less effectively than a well-linked page.
How often should I audit my internal links?
We recommend a full internal link audit quarterly, with automated crawl monitoring in between. Any time you publish new content or restructure existing pages, update the internal linking to reflect the change.
Build an Internal Linking System, Not a One-Time Fix
Internal linking is not a task you complete once. It is a system you maintain every time you publish, update, or reorganize content. Each new page is an opportunity to strengthen existing pages through contextual links, and each existing page is a potential authority source for new content.
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