Internal Linking Strategy: The Simple SEO Tactic Most Sites Get Wrong

An internal linking strategy is a deliberate plan for how pages on your own website link to each other, rather than adding links randomly whenever someone remembers. Most sites treat internal linking as an afterthought, yet it’s one of the few SEO tactics you can control without relying on backlinks.

In this blog, we’ll look at what an internal linking strategy involves, how internal linking helps SEO, and the mistakes that can quietly undermine it.

What Is an Internal Linking Strategy?

An internal linking strategy is a planned approach to connecting pages on your own website, helping both users and search engines find your most important content. It covers which pages link to which, the anchor text you use, and how many clicks it takes to reach a page from your homepage.

Done well, it brings separate pages together and gives Google a clearer picture of how your site is organised.

How Internal Linking Helps SEO

Internal linking helps SEO by giving Google a way to discover pages and understand which ones matter most on your site.

• Google’s own link best practices guidance states that Google uses links both to judge page relevancy and to find new pages to crawl.
• The same guidance is direct on coverage: every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site.
• Pages that are well linked internally tend to get crawled and indexed faster than pages sitting with no internal links at all.

For AI tools summarising your content, a clear internal linking structure can also help show which pages are the primary source on a particular topic.

Internal Linking Best Practices Most Sites Get Wrong

Internal linking best practices are fairly simple in theory, but three mistakes come up again and again in website audits.

Orphan Pages With No Internal Links

Orphan pages are pages with no internal links pointing to them. They’re often new blog posts or older service pages that nobody has linked to from elsewhere on the site. If a page matters, make sure it’s linked from at least one other relevant page.

Vague Anchor Text Like “Click Here”

Google’s own guidance flags generic anchor text such as “click here” or “read more” as unhelpful because it gives little context about the linked page. Instead, use descriptive anchor text that tells the reader what they’ll find when they follow the link and makes sense on its own.

Broken Internal Links Nobody Has Fixed

Fixing broken internal links matters because a broken link creates a poor user experience and can lead to a dead end for search engines too. Run a site crawl or check Search Console’s page indexing report periodically, then fix or remove links pointing to pages that no longer exist.

Ready to Fix Your Internal Linking Strategy?

An internal linking strategy is one of the few SEO levers you have complete control over, and it’s often relatively quick to improve. Kava Digital’s SEO services can help you audit and rebuild your internal linking properly, while our blog page covers more practical SEO guides.

Speak to Kava Digital to see where your internal linking could be improved and what opportunities your site may be missing.

FAQs

What is an internal linking strategy?

An internal linking strategy is a deliberate plan for how the pages on your website link to each other, covering which pages link where, what anchor text is used, and how easily each page can be reached.

How does internal linking help SEO?

It helps Google discover and crawl your pages, signals which pages matter most on your site, and passes context between related pages through descriptive anchor text.

How many internal links should a page have?

There is no fixed number. Google’s own guidance says there is no magical ideal number of links a page should contain, but if it feels like too many, it probably is.

How do I find and fix broken internal links?

Use a site crawling tool or Google Search Console’s page indexing report to spot links pointing to pages that return errors, then update or remove each one.

Does anchor text matter for internal links?

Yes. Descriptive, specific anchor text helps both users and Google understand what a linked page is about, while vague text like “click here” gives no useful context.

Can too much internal linking hurt SEO?

Overloading a page with links, especially several in a row with no surrounding context, makes it harder for readers to follow and dilutes the value of each individual link.