Internal linking

Search engines find pages by following links. A page with no internal links pointing to it, called an orphan page, may never be found or may be treated as unimportant. A page that many relevant pages link to signals that it matters on that site.

For visitors, links replace a hunt through the menu with a guided path. That helps most where a buyer reads several pieces before deciding, because each link can move them one step closer to a landing page or a product page.

Internal links are also fully in the site owner's control, unlike backlinks from other sites. That makes them one of the cheapest SEO improvements.

• Group content into topic clusters. A main guide links to each detailed page, and each detailed page links back to the guide. This builds topical authority.
• Link from pages that already get traffic to pages that need it.
• Use descriptive anchor text, varied naturally, not the same exact keyword every time.
• Put links in the body text where they help the reader, not only in footers.
• Match the link to search intent. Link an educational article to another guide, and a comparison article to a product page.
• Audit the site now and then for orphan pages and broken links.

An internal link points from one page of a site to another page on the same site. Menus, footers and breadcrumbs are internal links, and so is a sentence in a blog post that links to a product page.

Every internal link has anchor text, the clickable words. Descriptive anchor text such as "email deliverability checklist" tells both the reader and the search engine what is on the other side. "Click here" tells them nothing.

• Adding as many links as possible. Relevance matters more than count, and too many links dilute each one.
• Burying key pages four or five clicks from the homepage.
• Changing page addresses without updating the links.