THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO INTERNAL LINKING

Internal linking is one of the most powerful and often overlooked tools in a small business's SEO strategy. At Longtail Dragon, we rely on internal links not just to guide visitors through a website but to strengthen the site's authority and boost its search rankings. By connecting related content logically and strategically, internal links help search engines understand which pages are most important, what each page is about, and how different topics on a site are related. The result is a site that's easier for both Google and potential customers to navigate—driving more traffic and generating better business results.

What Internal Linking Is and Why It Matters for SEO

Internal linking is the practice of creating hyperlinks that connect one page of a website to another page on the same site. Unlike backlinks, which are links from external websites pointing to your site, internal links keep users and search engines navigating within your domain. Internal linking is crucial for search engine optimization (SEO) because it enables search engines, such as Google, to discover, crawl, and index all pages on your website. Additionally, it communicates which pages are most valuable and clarifies which search queries those pages are most relevant for.

How Internal Links Help Search Engines Understand Site Structure

Internal linking plays a vital role in helping search engines interpret a website's structure. It does this in two primary ways.

First, internal links guide Google's crawler in finding all the pages on a website. This function complements the XML sitemap, working together to ensure that search engines achieve full coverage of the site's content.

Second, internal linking communicates the relative importance of individual pages. The number of internal links pointing to a page serves as a signal to Google about its significance. For example, a page linked from every other page on the site will be viewed as far more important than one that is linked only once (or not at all).

The Role of Anchor Text in Internal Linking

Anchor text—the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink—plays a vital role in internal linking. It provides Google with a signal about the purpose, context, or subject matter of the page being linked to. While anchor text contributes to how Google understands a linked page, it is just one of many signals that Google uses to determine its relevance. Google also evaluates the surrounding content and is now highly sophisticated at interpreting natural language. Although it is possible to overemphasize the role of anchor text in internal linking, it remains crucial to select meaningful and descriptive anchor text. Doing so helps Google better understand the structure of your website and the focus of your most important pages.

Best Practices for Choosing Internal Link Destinations

The most effective way to structure internal links on a website is by using the hub-and-spoke model—a proven strategy often applied in Longtail Dragon's SEO campaigns. In this approach, a central hub page, also known as a pillar page, serves as the core piece of content designed to rank for key transactional keywords. These are terms that indicate strong intent to purchase, making the pillar page typically a sales, service, or product page positioned at the bottom of the sales funnel. The objective is to direct as many relevant internal links as possible to this page, enhancing its authority and visibility in search results. Sometimes, this pillar page needs to be explicitly created for the campaign; in other cases, it already exists on the site.

Surrounding the pillar page is a collection of topically relevant informational content—usually blog posts—that forms the spokes of the model. Each of these posts links back to the pillar page, creating a content cluster that reinforces the importance of the central page. Multiple hub-and-spoke clusters can be built, with each cluster supporting a different product or service. Over time, these clusters are expanded with additional related informational content as part of the ongoing SEO effort.

In this structure, the pillar page is optimized for transactional keywords, while the supporting content is optimized for semantically related informational keywords. The internal links themselves are also crafted using anchor text that reflects related keywords. This well-organized content cluster makes it easy for Google to understand the site's subject matter and identify which pages within each cluster are most important. As a result, the entire cluster is better positioned to perform strongly in search results.

Common Mistakes in Internal Linking and How to Avoid Them

Several internal linking mistakes can undermine SEO efforts and limit a site's search visibility. One frequent error is creating orphan pages—pages that are meant to rank but have no internal links pointing to them. These pages are harder for Google to discover and assign value to. Another misstep is placing too many internal links on a single page. This can hurt usability, confuse visitors, and give the impression of manipulative SEO practices.

Using vague or generic anchor text, such as "click here" or "read more," is also problematic because it provides little semantic value to Google about the linked page's content. On the other hand, overusing the same keyword repeatedly in anchor text—even though generally less risky for internal links than for external backlinks—can appear unnatural. A more effective approach is to utilize a range of partial match anchor texts that naturally align with the page's topic.

Other pitfalls include hiding links so they aren't visually distinct, which is something Google explicitly discourages.

Also, leaving broken internal links can create technical SEO issues and hinder site crawlability.

A significant structural mistake is failing to apply the hub-and-spoke model, resulting in a flat or disorganized internal link structure that lacks a clear hierarchy or topical focus—making it harder for Google to interpret the site's architecture.

Lastly, it is a mistake to apply the "nofollow" attribute to internal links. Internal links should always be followed to ensure that authority and crawl signals flow properly throughout the site.

How to Audit and Improve Existing Internal Links

Small businesses can enhance their internal linking strategy by first conducting a content audit to identify all existing pages on the website. The goal is to map this content into a hub-and-spoke model that centers around key pages.

For example, if a business offers five distinct services, each with its own dedicated landing page, these pages serve as pillar pages. Supporting content—such as blog posts or other informational pages—should relate directly to one or more of these service or product pages. A critical step is to determine which informational content aligns with which pillar pages and ensure robust internal linking between the hubs (pillar pages) and spokes (related content).

In addition to optimizing existing content, small businesses should plan their content calendar with the hub-and-spoke structure in mind. This means rotating focus across different clusters to ensure balanced support for all pillar pages. New content should be developed based on the themes and keywords associated with each pillar page. Just as importantly, new pages should be published with thoughtful internal linking to reinforce the site's overall structure and improve search engine understanding.

Conclusion

Small business owners often juggle multiple responsibilities. The smaller the business, the more roles the owner typically takes on—leaving little time to focus on granular details like website structure and internal linking. Most small business owners want their website to function well, generate leads, and support their business goals without requiring constant attention.

That's where Longtail Dragon can provide real value. Our team helps businesses not only correct issues with existing site structures but also enhance site performance through strategic content production and internal linking as part of our full-service SEO campaigns. If you are concerned about your site's search engine performance and think that improving internal linking could help, we encourage you to reach out. We would be happy to explore how we can support your business and make a meaningful difference.