The essentials
- Definition: internal linking is the set of hyperlinks connecting the pages of one site to each other.
- Three roles: letting crawlers discover your pages, sharing popularity between them, and guiding visitors to the next page.
- The rules: every important page reachable in three clicks, descriptive anchors, links in the body text rather than in menus alone, and popular pages pushing your strategic ones.
- A benchmark: 3 to 8 contextual links per article to pages on the same theme; a page with no inbound internal link is invisible to Google.
The aim of Internal linking is the set of links connecting the pages of one site to each other: menus, breadcrumbs, links in the text, related-article blocks, the footer. Unlike backlinks, which come from other sites, it is entirely under the publisher's control, which makes it the cheapest and most neglected SEO lever. This article gives the definition and the principles; the practical method is set out in the internal linking guide.
The three roles of internal linking
- Crawling: crawlers discover pages by following links. A page with no inbound internal link (an orphan page) is only found through the sitemap, and rarely stays indexed.
- Sharing popularity: every link passes on part of the value of the page carrying it, on the principle of PageRank. Pages receiving plenty of internal links from strong pages rank better.
- Navigation: a visitor who finds the link to the next page stays, reads more and converts more; contextual links raise pages per session from 1.5 to 3.
The types of internal link
| Type | Placement | Weight for Google | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main navigation | Menu, header | Moderate (present on every page) | Sections and pillar pages |
| Breadcrumb | Top of page | Moderate, with structured data | The site's hierarchy |
| Contextual links | Body text | Strong (readable anchor and context) | Pages on the same theme, definitions, guides |
| Related articles | End of article | Moderate | Extending the read |
| Footer | Bottom of page | Poor | Legal pages, contact, hubs |
The principles of good internal linking
- Three clicks at most: every important page is reachable in three clicks from the home page; beyond that, it is crawled less often and receives less value.
- Descriptive anchors: the link text describes the target page ("how marketing ROI is calculated") rather than "click here"; the anchor is a relevance signal for the page being linked to.
- Links within the text: a link surrounded by a sentence on the same subject is worth more than a menu link repeated across a thousand pages.
- Organisation by theme: the pages on one subject link to each other and to a pillar page, which links back to them; that is the principle of the semantic cocoon.
- Strong pages push your strategic ones: the home page, the pages most linked to from outside and your most visited articles should link to the pages you want to lift.
- One target URL per piece of content: internal links point to the canonical URL, with no redirect and no parameters.
The frequent mistakes
| Mistake | Effect | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Orphan pages | Not crawled, not indexed | At least two inbound contextual links per page |
| Generic anchors ("read more") | No relevance signal at all | An anchor that carries the target's subject |
| Links to redirected or 404 URLs | Value lost, crawling wasted | Regular crawls and link updates |
| Linking everything to everything | Dilution, no hierarchy | Links by theme, 3 to 8 per article |
| Links only in the menus | Deep pages with no text link | Contextual links in the body |
| Internal nofollow links | Value blocked | Never use nofollow internally |
Measuring your internal linking
A crawl with Screaming Frog gives you, for each page, the number of inbound internal links, the click depth and the anchors used, and finds orphans by cross-referencing the sitemap and GA4. Search Console's Links report lists the most internally linked pages. Monitoring means checking that your strategic pages sit at the top of those lists, and that new pages receive links within a month of publication.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's SEO module brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is internal linking?
The set of hyperlinks connecting the pages of one site: menus, breadcrumbs, links in the text, related articles, the footer. It lets crawlers discover your pages, shares popularity between them, and guides visitors to the next page.
How many internal links per page?
Three to eight contextual links in an article's body, to pages on the same theme, with descriptive anchors. The total number of links (menus included) matters less than the presence of links in the text and thematic coherence.
What is the difference between internal linking and netlinking?
Internal linking connects the pages of one site and depends entirely on the publisher; netlinking means the links received from other sites (backlinks), which are harder to earn. Both pass on popularity, but only internal linking can be fixed within hours.
How do you find orphan pages?
By cross-referencing the list of URLs found in a crawl (Screaming Frog) with those in the sitemap and those receiving traffic in GA4: a URL present in the sitemap or in GA4 but absent from the crawl has no inbound internal link. You then need to add links to it from pages on the same theme.