Internal linking connects the pages of your site to each other. Done with care, it helps visitors find related pages and helps search engines discover and understand them.
Internal linking means linking from one page of your site to another. It helps visitors move between related pages and helps Google find and understand your pages. Link in context, use descriptive anchor text, make sure every page you care about is linked from at least one other page, and use standard HTML links that a crawler can follow.
What internal linking is
Internal linking is the practice of linking from one page of your own site to another page of the same site. A link from another website to yours is a backlink, and a link from your site to someone else's is an external link. This guide covers only the first kind.
Internal links come in a few forms. Navigation links sit in the menu, the footer and breadcrumb trails. Contextual links sit inside the text of a page, in the sentence where a reader would want to know more. Related-content blocks at the end of a post point to similar pages. Hub pages gather links to a set of pages on one topic. Menus are a design question of their own, covered in the guide to website navigation and menu structure. This guide spends most of its time on the contextual links you add by hand.
Do internal links help SEO?
Yes, in ways Google documents, though not as a lever that promises a higher position. Google finds pages mostly by following links, so a page with no links pointing to it is hard to find. Its link guidance says every page you care about should be linked from at least one other page on your site. Google also asks for link text that describes the page it leads to, which helps people and search engines alike.
A sitemap can help Google discover pages too, but Google's documentation says submitting one is only a hint. A page that appears in your sitemap and has no link from any other page is still weak, because visitors cannot reach it either. The guide to the XML sitemap and robots.txt covers the sitemap side.
There are limits to the claim. Google does not publish a formula for how many internal links lift a page, and a link that gives the reader no use does nothing for the reader either. The dependable benefits are discovery, context and a better path for visitors. Treat anything beyond that as unproven.
Simple rules for internal linking
- Link every page you want found from at least one other page. A page that no other page links to is called an orphan. Add a link from a related page, and from the menu if the page is a main one.
- Link where the reader would want more. A link inside the sentence that raises the question works better than a list of links added at the end.
- Use standard links. Google can follow a link that is an HTML link with an href address. A button that runs a script, or text that only acts as a link when it is clicked, may not be followed. After a redesign, ask your developer to confirm that menus and related-content blocks use ordinary links.
- Describe the destination in the link text, as the next section explains.
- Link to the address you want indexed. Use the final address, in the same form as your canonical page, so the link does not go through a redirect.
- Keep important pages within easy reach. A main service page should be one click from the home page or the menu. A page that takes many clicks to reach is harder for visitors and crawlers to find.
- Do not place many links side by side. Google's guidance notes that chained links are hard for readers to tell apart, and that each one loses its surrounding text. Put enough words between links to make each one clear.
- Fix broken internal links when you find them. The guide to 404 errors and broken links shows how to find them.
What anchor text should you use?
Use words that tell the reader what they will find. Google's guidance asks for anchor text that is descriptive, reasonably concise and relevant to both the page it sits on and the page it points to. A quick test is to read only the link text, out of context. If it still makes sense, it is good.
| Weak anchor text | Why it is weak | Stronger anchor text |
|---|---|---|
| click here | Tells neither the reader nor a search engine what is on the other side | how to write a meta description |
| read more | Repeated on every post, so it carries no meaning | the website content plan guide |
| SEO | Too broad when several pages touch the topic | the on-page SEO checklist for one page |
| boiler repair boiler servicing boiler engineer | A string of keywords reads badly and looks forced | boiler repair for homes |
Do not make every link to a page use the same exact words, and do not squeeze extra keywords into the anchor. Write the way you would speak. Natural variation is fine as long as each version describes the same page. For an image that works as a link, Google uses the image's alt text as the anchor text, so describe the destination there.
How many internal links should a page have?
Google gives no ideal number. Its link guidance says there is no ideal number of links on a page, but that a page with more links than seem sensible probably has too many.
Use the reader as your guide. A typical guide might carry a handful of links in its text, each placed where the reader may want more. A hub page that lists everything on a topic can carry many more, because that is its job. Menus and footers add links to every page, so keep them short and useful. Ask of each link whether this reader would want to go there from this sentence. If not, remove it.
How to find pages that need internal links
- List every page you want visitors to find. A sitemap or your platform's page list is a good source.
- Crawl the site with a free crawler, starting from the home page. The crawler follows links as a visitor would. Compare its results with your list. A page on your list that the crawler never reached is an orphan.
- Open the Links report in Search Console and look at the top internally linked pages. Select a page to see which pages link to it. Google notes that the report shows a sample and may include links that have since been removed, so use it as a guide and confirm with a crawl.
- Check the Page indexing report for pages that Google found but did not index. They may need links from related pages.
- Pick the pages that matter most for enquiries or sales, and check how many other pages link to them and from where. A key service page linked only from the footer is a candidate for more links.
When you publish a new page, do the linking at once. Add links to it from a few related existing pages, and add links from it to related pages. Go back to older posts when a new related post goes live. On a growing site, most internal links are added after the page already exists.
A simple internal linking structure for a small site
Most small sites can use a plain structure: a home page, a page for each main service or product line, supporting guides and a contact page. Each type links in a predictable way.
| Page type | Links out to | Linked from |
|---|---|---|
| Home page | Main service or product pages, the most useful guides and the contact page | Every page, through the logo and the menu |
| Service or product page | Related guides, related services and the contact page | The home page, the menu and the guides that support it |
| Guide or blog post | The service page it supports, related guides and one clear next step | The service page, related guides and the blog index |
| Contact page | The home page and the services | The menu and the footer of every page |
The link from a guide to a service deserves attention. A guide that answers a question your customers ask is a natural place to link to the service that follows from it, with a sentence that says what the service page offers. The service page should link back to the guides that answer common questions. Plan new pages with this in mind. The website content plan guide helps you decide which pages to write first.
Internal linking mistakes to avoid
- Orphan pages that no other page links to.
- Links that only work through scripts or buttons, so crawlers cannot follow them.
- Generic anchors such as "click here" on every link.
- Links to old addresses that redirect, when the current address is known.
- A footer or sidebar stuffed with keyword links to every page.
- Links added for the sake of a keyword, with no value to the reader.
- Linking only to the newest content and forgetting older pages that still bring visitors.
Internal linking is one task in the wider work of making a site easy to find. The on-page SEO checklist for one page sets it beside titles, headings and content, and the search engine optimisation service page describes the SEO work Liftup does.
Questions and answers
What is internal linking?
Internal linking is linking from one page of your own site to another page of the same site. It includes menu links, links inside the text of a page and related-content blocks. It helps visitors move around and helps search engines find and understand your pages.
How many internal links should a page have?
Google says there is no ideal number, but that a page with more links than seem sensible probably has too many. Add a link wherever a reader would want more, keep menus and footers short, and remove links that serve no one.
What anchor text should I use for internal links?
Use short, descriptive words that tell the reader what the linked page is about, and avoid "click here" and "read more". Read the link text on its own: if it still makes sense, it works. Vary the wording naturally and do not stuff keywords.
Do internal links help SEO?
They help Google discover your pages and understand how they relate, and Google says every page you care about should be linked from at least one other page. There is no published formula for how many links lift a page, so treat them as part of good site structure.
How do I find pages that need internal links?
Compare a list of the pages you want found with the pages a crawler reaches by following links from the home page. Pages missing from the crawl are orphans. The Links report in Search Console also shows which pages are linked most often within your site.
Can I use buttons or images as internal links?
Yes, if they are real HTML links with an address. Google may not follow a button that only runs a script. For an image link, Google uses the image's alt text as the anchor text, so describe the destination in the alt text.