This guide is for the editor of a growing content site: the person who has published 80 articles, knows several of them cover related ground, and suspects that readers land on one page and leave without finding the others. It is also for the solo blogger who adds links only when they happen to remember. Internal links are the cheapest improvement most content sites can make. They need no budget, only a routine.
Why internal links matter
For readers
A reader who finishes a guide on writing a cash flow forecast may want a guide on chasing late invoices next. A link at the right moment answers the question they were about to search for. Without it, they leave.
For search engines
Google’s SEO starter guide says Google primarily finds pages through links from other pages it has already crawled. A page with no links pointing to it, sometimes called an orphan page, is harder to discover. The same guide recommends linking to relevant resources, both on your own site and elsewhere, to connect users and search engines to other parts of your site.
For your own editorial thinking
Linking forces you to see how your articles relate. Gaps become obvious: three posts that all link to a guide you have not written yet is a strong hint about what to write next.
What makes good link text
Google’s starter guide calls the visible, clickable words of a link the link text, or anchor text, and advises writing it well. With appropriate anchor text, it says, users and search engines can easily understand what the linked page contains before they visit.
| Link text | Problem | Better |
|---|---|---|
| click here | Says nothing about the destination | our guide to choosing a business structure |
| this article | Vague | how compound interest works |
| read more | Repeated across the page, meaningless out of context | the full sunscreen buying guide |
| best SEO tips best SEO tips 2026 | Keyword stuffing | how to write title tags |
| an entire sentence of 25 words | Too long to scan | the key phrase within it |
Write it as part of the sentence
Good link text usually sits naturally inside a sentence: “If you are unsure which applies to you, see our explainer on sole traders versus limited companies.” The reader knows where the link goes and why it is there.
Vary it, honestly
Linking to the same page with slightly different wording in different articles is natural. What matters is that each phrase accurately describes the destination.
Link text should tell the reader where they will land. If it would make no sense read aloud on its own, rewrite it.
Where to place internal links
In the body, at the point of need
The most useful link sits where a reader might have a follow-up question. If a paragraph mentions “a 13-week forecast” and you have a guide to it, link there.
In a short “related reading” section
At the end of an article, two or three hand-picked links to closely related posts give the finished reader somewhere to go. Many themes add automated related posts too; a hand-picked list is usually more relevant.
In category and hub pages
A category page with a short introduction and a well-ordered list of posts acts as a hub. So does a “start here” guide that links to the essential articles on a topic.
Not in every sentence
A paragraph with five links is hard to read and dilutes each one. As a rough editorial habit, many sites aim for a handful of genuinely useful links in a 1,500-word article rather than a fixed quota.
Building a hub-and-spoke structure
A practical structure for a content site has three levels:
1. Category hub: an intro to the topic and a curated list of articles.
2. Cornerstone guide: a broad article on the topic’s central question.
3. Supporting articles: narrower posts that link up to the cornerstone and across to siblings where relevant.
For a personal finance section, the cornerstone might be a guide to budgeting, with supporting posts on credit scores, debt repayment methods and emergency funds. Each supporting post links to the budgeting guide, and the budgeting guide links out to each supporting post at the relevant paragraph.
A routine for new posts
Every time you publish, do two things.
Link out from the new post
Before publishing, search your own site for the main topic and two or three related terms. Add links to the most relevant existing posts where they fit naturally.
Link in to the new post
After publishing, find two or three older posts that should point to the new one. Add a link in the body, in the right paragraph. This step is the one most sites skip, and it is the one that stops new posts from becoming orphans.
A worked example
Suppose you have just published a guide to writing meta descriptions on a site that already has posts on title tags, keyword research and writing for search.
Linking out. In the paragraph explaining that the title and description work together, link “how to write title tags” to the title guide. Where the guide mentions choosing the words searchers use, link “our keyword research basics” to that post.
Linking in. Open the title tag guide and find its paragraph about search snippets. Add: “The description underneath matters too; see our guide to writing meta descriptions.” Then open the writing-for-search post and add a link in its section on publishing checklists.
Hub update. Add the new guide to the content and SEO category page, placed next to the title tag guide rather than at the bottom of a date-ordered list.
Total time: about ten minutes. The new post now has three ways in, and a reader on any of the related posts can reach it.
A quarterly audit for older content
1. Export a list of all posts. Your CMS or a crawler tool can do this.
2. Find orphans. Identify posts with no internal links pointing to them. Link to each from at least one relevant page.
3. Check broken links. Deleted or renamed posts leave broken internal links. Fix or redirect them.
4. Review top pages. Your most-visited pages are your best route to the rest of the site. Make sure each links to the most relevant deeper articles.
5. Update link text. Replace any “click here” or “read more” links you find.
Common internal linking mistakes
Linking only to the home page
The home page needs few internal links; your deeper articles need them more.
Automated keyword linking
Plugins that turn every instance of a phrase into a link create clutter and odd placements. Manual links read better.
Linking to thin or outdated pages
A link is an editorial recommendation. If the destination is out of date, update it before sending readers there.
Hiding links
Links styled to look like normal text frustrate readers. Make links visibly distinct.
Internal linking checklist
- Every new post links to two or more relevant existing posts
- Two or three older posts updated to link to each new post
- Link text describes the destination in natural words
- No “click here” or “read more” links
- Category hubs have an introduction and curated list
- Each cornerstone guide links to its supporting articles, and vice versa
- No orphan pages; broken links fixed quarterly
Takeaway
Internal links help readers find their next answer and help search engines find your pages. Write link text that says where it goes, link at the point a reader would want more, and make “link in” to every new post part of your publishing routine. A short quarterly audit keeps the structure healthy as the site grows.
