Internal linking
Linking your own pages to each other to pass authority and help readers and crawlers move between related content.
In depth
What it really means
Internal linking is the practice of connecting your own pages with links. Those links help readers find related content, help search crawlers discover and understand pages, and pass ranking authority from strong pages to the ones you want to lift.
It is one of the highest-leverage, lowest-cost things in SEO, because you fully control it. A well-linked site behaves like a well-organized library; a poorly linked one buries its best content.
Example
A new post on subject lines links up to the email marketing pillar and across to a related post on deliverability. The pillar, being strong, passes authority down, and the crawler now sees how the three pages relate.
Pros & cons
Pros
- You control it fully, unlike backlinks.
- Spreads authority from strong pages to target pages.
- Helps crawlers discover and understand your content.
- Keeps readers on the site and moving toward conversion.
Cons
- Easy to neglect, so links go stale as content grows.
- Too many low-value links dilute the signal.
- Bad anchor text confuses rather than helps.
Best practices
- Link every new post up to its pillar and to close siblings.
- Use descriptive anchor text that names the destination topic.
- Point links from strong pages to the ones you want to rank.
- Fix orphan pages that nothing links to.
- Prune or update broken and outdated links.
- Keep links relevant; don’t link for the sake of it.
FAQs
Why is internal linking important?
It passes authority between your pages, helps crawlers find and understand content, and guides readers toward related pages and conversion.
How many internal links per page?
Enough to connect genuinely related content. There is no magic number, but every link should be relevant and useful.
What is an orphan page?
A page no other page links to. Crawlers and readers struggle to find it, so it usually underperforms.
What anchor text should I use?
Descriptive text that names the destination topic, not generic click here. It helps both readers and search engines.
Does internal linking help AI visibility?
Yes. Clear internal structure helps AI engines understand which pages are central to a topic and how they relate.
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