In This Article
- A real example from my own site
- How many internal links should a page have?
- When internal linking does nothing
- How we decide which pages get internal links
- What about hubs, silos, and cornerstone content?
- Internal links are not just for rankings
- How do we measure if internal linking is working?
- Will internal links matter more with AI-driven search?
- The most counterintuitive advice about internal links
- Key Takeaways
The Bottom Line: Internal links matter a lot, but not because of some fancy SEO framework. They work when they are intentional, descriptive, and point to pages you actually want Google and humans to understand and trust.
Internal links are one of those things everyone talks about, but few people actually use well. You will often hear advice such as building topic clusters, creating hub pages, or linking everything to everything. While none of that is strictly wrong, it often misses the point. Internal links do not work because of a rigid structure. They work because they create context.
A real example from my own site
This did not happen on a client site. It happened on webdesignsurrey.net. About a year ago, we optimised our SEO services page. It ranked on page one, but toward the bottom. It was nothing exciting. Then one day, I noticed we were ranking at the top spot.
There were no new content updates. There was no backlink campaign. We had not made page changes in over a year. So I asked the team what we had been doing. The answer was simple. We had been consistently adding internal links to that page from every new blog post we published.
Google did not suddenly like the page more for no reason. We just kept reinforcing its importance and relevance through internal links over time.
How many internal links should a page have?
Google doesn’t clearly state how many to add, but I follow a general rule of thumb. Four to six internal links per page is a great baseline. Longer content can support more, but you must be careful. Too many links dilute their impact. If you have 100 internal links on a page, none of them feel special.
More importantly, if your content feels like it is just links stacked on top of links, it is a bad experience for real people. Google notices that too. Internal linking should feel natural rather than forced.
When internal linking does nothing
I have absolutely seen internal linking have no effect. The biggest reason for this is bad anchor text. If you are using phrases like “click here” or “read more” or “learn more,” you are wasting the opportunity.
Anchor text is context. Descriptive anchor text helps Google understand what the linked page is about before it even crawls it. Generic anchors do not help users, they do not help Google, and they certainly do not help your rankings.
How we decide which pages get internal links
Every new blog post we publish follows a simple approach. We link to four to six relevant blog posts and include at least one link to a relevant service or product page. We do not do this because a rulebook says so. We do it because it makes sense for the reader.
If the content does not naturally support a link, we do not force it. If it does, we use it to guide users toward the next helpful step. For example, a post about internal linking should absolutely link to an SEO services page. That is not manipulation. It is clarity.
What about hubs, silos, and cornerstone content?
We have tested them all. Hub pages, cornerstone content, and silo structures are popular. Honestly, I have not seen them outperform simple and consistent internal linking from useful content. A lot of strategies sound impressive, but very few outperform a simple question. Is this content helpful, and does this link help someone go deeper? If the answer is yes, you are doing it right.
Internal links are not just for rankings
Internal links do more than just keep people on your site longer. They help people make decisions. I once searched for whether you could start a community on Slack. That led me to a blog post from Mighty Networks. Inside the post was a line that suggested using Slack, but then offered an all-in-one community platform as an alternative.
Those words linked to their sales page. I clicked. I signed up. I eventually spent around £25,000 with them. That single internal link changed my buying decision. Internal links build trust. They show depth. They guide users when they are ready rather than when you try to force them.
How do we measure if internal linking is working?
We do not track a fancy KPI for it. SEO takes time and internal linking is no different. What we watch instead are impressions, clicks, and indexing speed. This refers to how fast Google adds your link to the results. When internal linking is done right, pages get crawled faster and visibility trends upward. That is how you know it is working.
Will internal links matter more with AI-driven search?
I believe they will. AI systems care about efficiency. Context reduces effort. Internal links help search engines understand what pages are important, how topics relate, and what content supports what intent. The more clearly you map that out, the less work search engines have to do. This makes them more likely to trust your site.
The most counterintuitive advice about internal links
Do not build internal links to pages you have not optimised. If the page is not targeting the right keyword, or if it is thin or outdated, then internal links will not save it. When Google follows an internal link, it can re-evaluate the destination page. If that page is not ready, the effort is mostly wasted. Optimise first and then reinforce with internal links.
Key Takeaways
- Internal links work best when they add context rather than complexity.
- Four to six internal links per page is a strong baseline for most content.
- Descriptive anchor text matters more than the volume of links.
- Internal links can directly influence conversions and not just rankings.
- Always optimise destination pages before building internal links to them.
