Imagine your site like a botanical garden: each page is a flower bed, each internal link a path that extends the walk.

Well-laid paths prevent dead ends, reveal new beds, and signal to the “gardeners” — i.e., search engines — which plantings deserve the most water and light.

What is an internal link ? (navigation vs. in-content)

An internal link is any hyperlink pointing to a URL on the same domain. Navigation bar, footer, breadcrumb trail, “related articles” widgets, anchors (jump links) or contextual links: each plays a specific role. Search engines analyze them together to understand your site’s hierarchy and topical relationships.

Quick wins you can expect from this methodology

Faster discovery of your new URLs.
A richer user journey.
A fairer distribution of PageRank.
Measurable revenue growth when visitors discover and then convert on your highest-value pages.

To go deeper on content/SEO alignment, check out our content marketing guide.

How internal links influence SEO and UX

Crawling, indexation, and the flow of PageRank

Googlebot follows your internal links to discover URLs, index them correctly and redistribute authority (PageRank). Picture an org chart: the homepage passes its value to cornerstone pages (“hubs”), which send it to satellite pages (“spokes”) that then irrigate long-tail articles.

If a critical hub page lacks inbound links, its satellites eventually dry out, even if strong backlinks point elsewhere.

User journey and engagement metrics

Links also shape visitor behavior. In an internal study (37 B2B articles, Q1 2023)¹, moving contextual links from the bottom of the page to a mid-page block led to a 22% increase in pages per session and a 14% drop in bounce rate (Google Analytics 4).

Search engines observe these signals: longer time on page often correlates with better rankings for the entire cluster.

Common myths, debunked

Myth: Google ignores links beyond the first 100. Reality: that limit came from old file-size constraints. Google mainly recommends keeping a “reasonable number” of links; relevance matters more than counting.

Myth: duplicate links dilute authority. Reality: they mostly hurt crawl efficiency. Reserve them for useful cases, without excess.

Myth: a hidden link still passes value. Reality: if it’s invisible to the user, assume it is to Google; better to remove it or make it visible (see section 7.4).

Build a robust internal linking strategy

Start with site architecture and content hierarchy

Internal linking only works if your structure reflects topical reality. Category URLs should nest from general to specific using the “hub-and-spoke” model: /guides/ → /guides/seo/ → /guides/seo/maillage-interne/. When the architecture is logical, contextual links reinforce an already intuitive narrative rather than hiding chaos.

Identify your “business” and “authority” pages

In Google Search Console, open the Pages report.
In Google Analytics 4, note the ones that generate revenue or conversions.

Site Explorer → Pages → Best by links to spot authority pages;
Site Audit → Internal pages → Orphan pages to detect URLs with no internal links.

Connect topical authority to business outcomes so equity converges where it matters. Rank each pair using an urgency score from 1 to 5.

Write keyword-rich anchors (without spam)

An anchor should be descriptive, concise, and mobile-friendly. Ban “click here”; prefer “e-commerce SEO checklist.” Vary phrasing to avoid cannibalization. Simple test: read the sentence aloud without the formatting; if the destination is still obvious, the anchor is valid.

Placement best practices

Nielsen Norman Group eye-tracking studies show visitors spend about 57% of their viewing time above the fold.

A relevant internal link placed in the introduction can retain visitors with ambiguous intent and reduce SERP ↔ site back-and-forth (“pogo-sticking”).

Breadcrumbs guide the user and create a crawlable chain of links up the hierarchy, while sidebars or sticky CTAs offer “See also” paths without saturating the main content.

Governance and workflow

Embed your internal linking rules in the editorial guide: writers suggest links, editors validate anchors, SEO checks page depth, and developers apply, if needed, the rel="nofollow" attribute or add <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x"> tags for international sites.

Add link checks to every brief, then schedule an automated monthly report to prevent drift.

Step-by-step implementation playbook

Pre-publication checklist for new content

Have at least two outbound links to semantically related content.
Receive at least two inbound links from existing authority pages.
Include anchor links for long-form formats.
Do not exceed three clicks from the homepage.

Need a technical refresher ? Browse the complete technical SEO checklist.

Retrofitting older content (quarterly iteration)

Export the list of articles published more than twelve months ago. In Airtable or Google Sheets, add the columns “new links added” and “orphans resolved.”

Using Screaming Frog’s “Inlinks” report, target pages receiving fewer than five internal links; then plan a two-week iteration to fill the gaps. Some teams have seen up to +18% traffic on updated articles within eight weeks¹.

Balance quantity and relevance

Google discourages indiscriminate internal linking without setting a hard cap. Once the question “What should the reader do next ?” is answered, additional links become noise. Prioritize the ones that truly serve that intent.

Special cases : nofollow, sponsored, multilingual sites

Use rel="ugc" for user-generated content, rel="sponsored" for paid links, and rel="nofollow" if you do not want to pass any signal.

On a multilingual site, place reciprocal <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x"> tags so Google correctly associates versions by market. For URL duplicates, refer to our SEO canonicalization guide.

Audit and optimize your internal linking

Key audits

Broken links: run Screaming Frog (spider mode) to detect 404s and 410s, then fix or redirect them.
Orphan pages: in Ahrefs → Site Audit → Internal pages → Orphan pages, attach them to relevant hub pages.
Anchor cannibalization: in Google Search Console → Links → Internal, sort by anchor text to spot conflicts.

Link distribution and crawl depth

Keep your highest-converting pages within three clicks of the homepage. If some business pages sit at depth ≥ 4, bring them closer with additional links. Many teams allocate a disproportionate share of internal links to their top 20% most profitable pages — still, adjust this ratio to your business model.

Ongoing maintenance cadence

Adopt a two-speed rhythm: a quick monthly check for broken links, and a full semiannual audit (depth, orphans, business priorities). Automate the monthly crawl via Screaming Frog CLI or Sitebulb, then push reports to Slack or email for triage.

Measure success and present results

Dashboard of key performance indicators (KPIs)

Average number of internal links per page.
Pages per session for organic traffic.
Engaged sessions (Google Analytics 4).
Number of orphan pages.

Centralize this data in Looker Studio for a clear view for non-SEO stakeholders.

Set baselines and targets

Calculate your current averages (e.g., 12 internal links per page, 1.8 pages per session) then set gradual targets aligned with your quarterly OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), for example: +20% internal links and +0.3 pages per session. A quantitative increase without associated engagement signals padding, not value.

Prove impact to stakeholders

In an internal SaaS case study, rerouting 68 authority pages to bottom-funnel case studies increased organic sessions by 31% and SQLs (sales-qualified leads) by 19% in six weeks. Before/after charts speak louder than technical jargon in front of an executive committee.

Advanced tactics and FAQ

Duplicate links and anchor choices

Google can choose any duplicated anchor on a page; no “first link priority” weight is guaranteed. Prefer descriptive, user-centered anchors. If UX demands repetition, diversify wording to broaden semantic coverage.

Automation : benefits, limits, and a safe hybrid approach

Extensions detect opportunities at scale, but they often over-optimize anchors and ignore context. A hybrid workflow — automated suggestion, human validation — balances speed and quality. Set a threshold so no single anchor exceeds a certain percentage of total links.

Strategically leverage homepage authority

The homepage typically concentrates the largest backlink profile. Flow that equity to high-value hub pages via prominent modules above the fold or “Featured resource” blocks.

Footer links still pass value but suffer from “banner blindness”; reserve them for evergreen resources rather than seasonal campaigns.

10-minute action plan, starting today

Open your five most-viewed blog posts, add a contextual link from each to a revenue-generating page, and make sure the anchor is unique and descriptive: you transfer authority while smoothing the user journey — all in under ten minutes.

Overview of the tool stack

Free: Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4, Screaming Frog Lite (500 URLs).
Paid: Screaming Frog Unlimited, Ahrefs, Sitebulb.

Complete guide to internal linking for SEO