13 Internal Linking Best Practices to Rank in Google [+ Checklist]

Internal links are one of the simplest SEO levers you can control — no outreach, no tools required, no dependencies.

And yet, they’re often treated like an afterthought. Most sites link to a few related articles and call it a day. But with a bit of strategy, internal links can do more than just improve navigation — they can directly impact your search rankings, indexing, and content performance.

I’ve worked on dozens of SEO content projects across different industries. And in almost every audit, internal linking is the easiest quick win that gets ignored.

In this guide, I’ll break down exactly how to use internal links the right way — no fluff, no theory. Just clear, repeatable actions that make a difference.

What Is Internal Linking?

Internal linking is when you link from one page on your site to another page on the same domain.

At a surface level, it helps users move around your site — jumping from one related topic to another. But internally, those links serve a bigger purpose: they help search engines understand your site’s structure, distribute authority, and determine which pages are most important.

Here’s what internal links do behind the scenes:

• Help Google crawl your site more efficiently.
• Pass link equity (PageRank) to deeper or newer pages.
• Clarify content relationships — like how your guide on “on-page SEO” connects to “meta tag optimization.”
• Guide users to high-priority pages, increasing time on site and reducing bounce rates.

Think of internal links like internal roads in a city. If a street isn’t connected to anything, no one’s getting there — not even Google.

Pro tip: When publishing a new blog post, I use Writesonic’s SEO AI Agent to quickly find older related articles that aren’t linking to it yet. Then I add 2–3 relevant internal links from those pages to ensure the new post gets crawled and indexed quickly.

13 Internal Linking Best Practices that Helps Improve Rankings

These are the best practices most SEO professionals — including me — have been following when publishing a new piece of content. You don’t need a complex setup. Just a consistent process and a focus on relevance.

I’ve consolidated all the info into this quick checklist. Use this as a reference as we go through each of the steps:

1. Use Clear, Descriptive Anchor Text

Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. For internal links, the best anchor text is descriptive, natural, and specific to the page it’s linking to.

Instead of vague phrases like “click here” or “read this post”, use anchor text that tells both users and Google what to expect:

“Download the keyword mapping template here” — links to a downloadable template

“Uncover keywords your competitors are ranking for” — links to a practical guide on finding competitor keywords

Exact-match keywords are fine in internal links, such as this one for a “keyword cannibalization” blog.

But don’t overdo it. Repeating the same phrase across 10+ pages isn’t helpful. Instead, use slight variations and related terms to provide context.

2. Link To — and From — Important Pages Often

Internal links don’t just pass authority — they also highlight importance.

If you have a product or service page that drives conversions, or a detailed guide that supports multiple blog posts, make sure:

• You’re linking to it from relevant supporting pages.
  
• You’re also linking from it to related, lower-priority content.
  

This two-way linking helps create a stronger topical network around key themes.

Example: If your “AI Blog Writer” page is central to your product offering, link to it from blog posts about content strategy, programmatic SEO scaling, or AI tools. 

And link from it to specific use cases or tutorials on writing optimized blog posts.

3. Don’t Let Pages Sit Without Links (Orphan Pages)

Pages that aren’t linked to from anywhere else on your site are called orphan pages. These pages are hard for users to find — and often missed entirely by Google’s crawlers.

Even if the page is technically in your sitemap, a lack of internal links is a strong signal that it’s not important.

Use the SEO AI Agent to go through your related blogs and find orphan pages. A simple prompt like:

“List all blog posts published in the last 3 months that have no internal links pointing to them. Suggest 2–3 older posts where I can naturally insert relevant internal links to these pages.”

The SEO AI Agent analyzes your website, goes through all your pages and links, and finds the best internal linking opportunities.

My strategy is simple:

No page goes live unless it has at least 2–3 internal links pointing to it from older, related content. This ensures it gets discovered, crawled, and indexed faster — especially if it’s a new post without backlinks.

4. Connect Related Content Together

If you’ve written multiple pieces of content around the same topic, don’t leave them floating in isolation. Link them together to create a topic cluster.

This is commonly called the hub-and-spoke model:

• The hub is your main, comprehensive page on a topic.
  
• The spokes are related supporting articles.

Each spoke should link back to the hub, and the hub should link out to the spokes. But don’t stop there — if two spoke articles are closely related (like “SEO audit checklist” and “technical SEO tools”), link them together too.

This structure:

• Helps Google understand topical relationships.
  
• Passes authority to deeper content.
  
• Keeps users exploring more of your site.
  

You don’t need to force links either. If a post feels too distant, skip it. Relevance always comes first.

If you’re unsure which pages to link to, use SEO AI Agent to generate hub-and-spoke internal linking models for you.

Use the prompt: “Check the domain [exampledomain.com]. Generate a few topic clusters in hub and spoke model for internal linking based on the blogs available.”

5. Link From High-Authority Pages to New or Low-Performing Ones

Pages that already get traffic or backlinks are great sources of internal link equity or — in common words — “link juice”.

You can use them to lift up newer or underperforming pages by:

• Linking from your most visited blog posts to newer ones.
  
• Adding contextually relevant links from high-authority guides to landing pages.
  

Here’s a simple way to do it:

1. Use Google Search Console to identify pages with steady traffic or external backlinks.
   
2. Open those pages and look for natural places to add a link to a newer or lower-ranking piece.
   

It’s an easy way to help Google crawl and value the new page faster — and it often boosts rankings without needing a single new backlink.

6. Place Internal Links Where Users Will Actually Click

Links buried at the bottom of a page, in the header, or hidden in sidebars might be technically crawlable, but they’re not as useful. Keeping company information pages there is a good idea.

But for other links:

• Place internal links within the main body of your content.
  
• Include a relevant link within the first 150 words if it makes sense contextually.
  
• Use internal links as a way to guide the reader, not just check an SEO box.

I’ve tested this extensively. Internal links placed earlier in the content tend to:

• Get clicked more often.
  
• Keep users on-site longer.
  
• Help Google prioritize crawling sooner.
  

You don’t need to overthink the placement. Just make sure the links appear where they naturally support the user’s next step.

Pro Tip: Try reading the anchor text independently from the sentence. Does it clearly describe what the link is about? If not, try tweaking the anchor text or place the link elsewhere.

7. Update Old Content With New Links

Whenever you publish new content, it’s not enough to just promote it. You also need to support it with internal links from existing pages.

The easiest way to do this:

1. Make a list of your most recently published posts.
   
2. Search your site (e.g. using site:yourdomain.com “topic keyword”) to find older articles that mention similar topics.
3. Add 1–2 internal links in context from those older articles to the new one.
   

This not only gives your new content faster visibility and indexing, but it also refreshes your old content — which can help improve its performance through content optimization, too.

This is part of my monthly SEO workflow. Every time I hit “publish,” I also spend 15 minutes updating at least 3 older posts with internal links to the new one.

You can also do this using the SEO AI Agent with the prompt:
“Find older blog posts on my site [exampledomain.com] that are topically related to my 5 most recently published articles. For each new post, suggest 2–3 older articles where I can naturally add internal links pointing to it.”

8. Limit the Number of Internal Links Per Page

Google can crawl hundreds of links on a page, but that doesn’t mean you should include that many. Too many internal links can dilute their value — and distract users.

There’s no “perfect” number, but here’s what works in most cases:

• Blog posts: 5–10 internal links, depending on length or around 1-2 internal links per 300 words.
  
• Pillar pages: up to 15–20, if the structure is well organized.
  

If a link genuinely helps the reader, include it. But avoid dumping a long list of loosely related links at the end of every article — it’s not helpful for users, and Google may treat them as noise.

9. Use Dofollow Links for Internal Navigation

By default, internal links should be dofollow — meaning they pass authority (PageRank) to the page they point to.

Sometimes, internal links get marked nofollow by mistake. This often happens when:

• A plugin automatically adds nofollow to all external links and misfires on internal ones.
  
• A manual setting is carried over from a template or CMS.
  

Double-check your site settings and make sure internal links use regular <a href=””> tags with no rel=”nofollow” attributes.

This is a small technical detail, but it ensures your internal links do what they’re supposed to: distribute authority and help Google crawl your site properly.

10. Avoid Linking to the Same Page With the Same Anchor Text

Using the same anchor text for multiple internal links that point to different pages is a common issue — and it can confuse Google.

For example, if you link to two separate pages using the anchor “content marketing strategy,” Google may struggle to understand which page should rank for that keyword.

Instead:

• Make anchor text specific to each page.
  
• If two pages cover similar topics, differentiate their focus with variations like:
  
  • “B2B content marketing strategy”
    
  • “content calendar planning for SEO”
    

This helps Google understand each page’s unique intent — and prevents keyword cannibalization within your own site.

11. Link to Pages That Are Just One Step Deeper

Internal links are most effective when they guide users (and crawlers) to the next logical step — not to pages buried deep in your site.

If you’re linking to a page that’s four or five clicks away from the homepage, chances are it’s not getting enough visibility. These links are still valuable, but they’re less likely to be crawled often or prioritized by Google.

Instead:

• Link to pages that are one or two levels deeper than the current page.
  
• If you’re writing a blog post, link to a related guide or tool — not a category archive or outdated asset.
  
• This keeps the crawl path tight and ensures important content doesn’t get lost in the structure.
  

Good internal linking isn’t just about distributing equity — it’s about reducing friction in how your site is explored.

12. Use Internal Links to Reinforce Keyword Themes

Internal links aren’t just for navigation — they also help build keyword relevance.

When you consistently link between pages that cover related topics or search terms, you help Google understand how your content fits into a broader theme. This is especially useful for demonstrating topical authority across clusters.

For example:

• A guide on “email campaign strategies” can link to posts on “email subject lines,” “A/B testing,” and “segmentation tactics.”
  
• These aren’t just helpful links — they show Google that your site thoroughly covers the topic of email marketing.
  

It’s a simple but effective way to strengthen semantic connections between your content without needing new pages.

13. Avoid Linking to Pagination or Utility Pages

Not every page on your site needs internal links — especially if it doesn’t offer much value to users or search engines.

Avoid pointing internal links to:

• Paginated blog pages (e.g., /blog/page/2)
  
• Admin or login URLs
  
• Legal or utility pages like privacy policies, terms, or cookie notices
  

These pages don’t contribute to SEO and can dilute the effectiveness of your internal linking strategy.

Instead, prioritize internal links to valuable content (like blog posts, feature pages, or resources), pages that can rank, pages that support conversions or help users go deeper into your topic.

Learn how to handle paginated content in our guide on pagination SEO best practices.

Your internal links should guide users toward meaningful content — not dead ends.

Final Thoughts: 13 Internal Linking Best Practices to Follow in 2025

Internal linking isn’t complicated, but it is powerful. It helps users find what they need, tells Google what matters on your site, and accelerates indexing and rankings — all without needing to build a single backlink.

The best part? It’s entirely within your control.

If you want to make internal linking a repeatable part of your SEO workflow — instead of a task you forget until the next audit — let SEO AI Agent do the heavy lifting. 

From spotting orphan pages to building hub-and-spoke models to updating old posts with smart, contextual links, it automates the grunt work and gives you strategic recommendations in seconds.

[Try SEO AI Agent for free!]

FAQs on Internal Linking Best Practices

How do I do proper internal linking?

Start by identifying your most important pages — the ones you want to rank. Then, link to them from relevant content using clear, descriptive anchor text. Make sure every new page has at least 2–3 internal links pointing to it. Keep links contextual, avoid overusing the same anchor text, and use a hub-and-spoke structure to group related topics.

Is internal linking good for SEO?

Yes — internal linking is one of the most effective on-page SEO strategies. It helps search engines understand your site structure, distribute authority across pages, improve indexing speed, and guide users to more relevant content. A well-linked site sends clear signals to Google about which pages matter most.

How many internal links should I use for SEO?

There’s no fixed number, but a good rule of thumb is 1–2 internal links per 300 words. For standard blog posts, 5–10 well-placed internal links are usually enough. Prioritize relevance and user experience over quantity — every link should serve a clear purpose.

Niyati Mahale

Niyati Mahale is a Content Writer @Writesonic. She specializes in artificial intelligence and B2B, with a flair for combining effective storytelling and SEO best practices to create impactful content.