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Internal Linking and Site Structure

Internal links connect related pages, help visitors choose a sensible next step and help search engines discover the site structure. A useful linking system is editorial: links are placed because the destination…

3 published guides0 subtopicsUpdated 21 July 2026

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Practical guide

XML Sitemap Guide

An XML sitemap lists the canonical URLs a website wants search engines to know about. It supports discovery and monitoring, but it does not replace internal links, make a blocked page indexable or gua…

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Practical guide24 October 2026

XML Sitemap Guide

An XML sitemap lists the canonical URLs a website wants search engines to know about. It supports discovery and monitoring, but it…

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Practical guide14 September 2026

Internal Linking Strategy

Internal linking connects related pages so that visitors can continue a task and search engines can discover and understand the si…

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Practical guide11 September 2026

How to Improve Website Navigation for SEO

Navigation should help a visitor predict where a link goes and reach an important task without learning the organisation's interna…

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About this section

Information checked: 21 July 2026.

In brief: Use internal links to express meaning and user journeys, not merely to distribute an abstract score.

Design a navigable hierarchy

Linking roles in an editorial site
Element	Role	Good practice
Main navigation	Stable access to core sections	Keep labels clear and the number of choices manageable
Hub page	Map a broad topic and routes	Explain subtopics and link to the strongest guides
Pillar guide	Provide an overview and context	Link to detailed supporting pages where needed
Supporting article	Resolve a narrow task	Link back to its pillar and relevant next actions
Related guides	Offer further help	Choose manually meaningful destinations

Rules for body links

Use descriptive anchor text that makes sense outside the surrounding sentence.
Link to the canonical public URL and avoid chains through redirects.
Do not link every occurrence of a phrase.
Do not create a self-link merely to repeat the page title.
Keep important destinations in normal crawlable HTML links.
Remove or replace links when a destination is merged or retired.

A practical audit

Export all indexable URLs and in-links.
Find important pages with no useful internal links.
Check whether each supporting page links to a hub or pillar.
Identify pages receiving many sitewide links without strategic value.
Correct broken links, redirect chains and misleading anchors.
Review navigation on mobile and with keyboard access.

Sitemaps are not a replacement

An XML sitemap can help discovery, but it does not communicate context to readers and does not repair an orphaned architecture. Important pages should be reachable through the site itself.

How to check the result

Every publishable page should have a clear parent or contextual relationship and at least one genuine path from another useful page.

The most common weak point

Automated related-post tools can create large numbers of weak links while genuinely important pages remain orphaned. Another common problem is keeping redirected URLs in menus and body links long after a migration.

Architecture records

Canonical URL inventory.
Hub-to-pillar and pillar-to-supporting relationship map.
Broken-link and redirect-chain reports.
Editorial reason for navigation and sitewide links.

Your next action

Draw the intended path from the homepage to one category, pillar and supporting article. Confirm that every step uses a normal descriptive link and that the user can return or continue without relying on search.

Sources and date checked

Search, product and regulatory information was checked against the following primary sources. Interfaces and policies can change, so recheck operational details before acting. Date checked: 21 July 2026.