Internal linking
Links between pages of the same site. Distributes link equity and helps indexation.
Full definition
Internal linking is links from one site's page to another page on the same site. One of the top-3 SEO factors alongside content and external links.
Why it matters
1. Transfers link equity (PageRank) between pages 2. Helps indexation — Google finds pages faster via internal links 3. Signals relevance — anchor text = signal about the linked page's topic 4. Improves behavior — users stay longer, depth increases
Types of internal links
- •Navigational — navbar, footer, breadcrumbs
- •Contextual — inside article text (most valuable for SEO)
- •Related — "Related articles", "Recommended" blocks
- •HTML sitemap — separate page with all links
Good structure
Pyramid principle: - Homepage links to all main sections - Categories link to products/articles + neighboring categories - Cards/articles link to parent category + 3-5 related items
Rules
- •Use varied anchors for one target page — Google dislikes identical links
- •On one page — max 100-150 outgoing links (Matt Cutts rule)
- •Click depth — every important page should be 3 clicks from homepage
- •Don't use rel="nofollow" between your own pages — wasted equity
Top mistakes
1. Orphan pages — no incoming links. Google barely sees them. 2. Duplicate links — dozens of links to one page with the same anchor = over-optimization 3. Broken links — reduce trust; fix via GSC "Pages" 4. Depth 5+ clicks — Google treats the page as "secondary" 5. All links via JS — without proper rendering, Google can't see them