Internal linking

Internal linking is the practice of connecting pages within your own website. Unlike backlinks, you control every one of them. They tell search engines which of your pages matter and how the site is organised, and they distribute the value that incoming links bring in.

Why this belongs next to link building

Because a backlink rarely lands on the page that needs to rank. It lands on the page a publisher was willing to link to, often the homepage or a well-known article. Internal links carry that value onward to the page that earns money. Without them, the value stops where it arrived.

The practical consequence

If you buy placements to a blog post, make sure that post links to the commercial page it supports, with wording that describes the target. Many campaigns underperform for this reason alone, and it costs nothing to fix.

What a sound structure looks like

Important pages reachable within a few clicks of the homepage. Links placed in body text rather than only in menus. Descriptive wording instead of read more. And no page that nothing links to, because those are invisible no matter how many external links point at the site.

The honest limitation

Internal links cannot replace external ones. They redistribute what is there, they do not add anything. A site with no incoming links has nothing to distribute.

Plan placements for the right pages.

Related: link building strategy · anchor text · URL structure