Information checked: 21 July 2026.
Internal linking connects related pages so that visitors can continue a task and search engines can discover and understand the site. A useful strategy is editorial, not numerical: each link should explain why the destination helps at that point in the reader's journey.
In brief: Give every important page at least one crawlable incoming link, connect articles to their parent hub or pillar and use concise descriptive anchor text. Do not automate links solely from repeated keywords.
Build links from the site structure
| Source page | Primary relationship | Typical useful links |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage | Top-level editorial routes | Main categories and start-here guide |
| Category hub | Topic map | Pillar, sub-hubs and selected decision guides |
| Pillar guide | Complete overview | Detailed supporting articles |
| Supporting article | Specific task | Parent pillar and genuinely adjacent tasks |
| Comparison or cost guide | Decision support | Implementation, ownership and maintenance guides |
Use real crawlable HTML links
Google generally expects a normal <a> element with an href that resolves to a real URL. Do not rely on a JavaScript click handler, an empty icon or text that looks like a link but is not an anchor. Links inserted dynamically should still appear in rendered HTML and should be checked with the URL Inspection tool after launch.
Write anchors for people
Anchor text should set an accurate expectation. “How to test a WordPress backup” is more useful than “click here”. Avoid repeating an exact commercial phrase across dozens of articles. Natural variation is appropriate when the surrounding sentence genuinely changes, but the anchor must still identify the destination.
Prioritise editorial value
Do not add five links simply because a template requires five. A short diagnostic article may need its parent guide and one next action. A broad pillar may need links to many supporting steps. Keep the most useful links inside the relevant paragraph; a related-guides block can supplement them but should not replace contextual linking.
Avoid common architecture failures
- Orphan pages: an indexable page has no incoming internal link.
- Self-links: a related block points to the page already being viewed.
- Broken planned links: the article links to a URL that has not been published.
- Navigation overload: hundreds of links appear in every footer or mega-menu.
- Keyword automation: every occurrence of a word becomes a link, harming readability.
- Redirect dependence: internal links continue to point to old URLs after a migration.
Measure and maintain the system
Keep a relationship map containing the article ID, final URL, parent hub, pillar and planned related pages. After import, crawl the site and check response codes, redirect chains, orphan pages and click depth. Search Console can help confirm that important pages are discovered, but the editorial map remains the source of intended relationships.
Acceptance check
- Every indexable priority page has an incoming link from a relevant page.
- Every supporting article links back to its parent hub or pillar.
- Anchors describe the destination without repetitive keyword stuffing.
- No internal link targets a draft, self, redirect or error page.
- The site remains navigable with JavaScript unavailable.
Next practical step
Use the final relationship map to activate links only after the engine has created the target URLs. Crawl the first publication batch and correct orphan pages and redirected internal links before opening it to indexing.
Sources and date checked
Search guidance was checked against the following primary Google documentation. Date checked: 21 July 2026.
Keep the decision under your control
Retain the relevant accounts, source material, supplier terms and recovery information. Recheck changing prices, interfaces and rules before acting.