Content and links
What is internal linking.
In short
Links between pages of the same website. They help Google discover pages, understand what they are about and which matter most, and help users move on to related content.
Also known as: internal links
Why it matters
Internal links are the main way Google discovers pages and one of its strongest hints about which pages matter most. A page linked from the menu, home page and articles stands stronger than one buried five clicks deep.
Good practices
- Use plain
<a href>links crawlers can read, not buttons that only work through JavaScript. - Write descriptive anchor text, such as "e-commerce SEO audit" rather than "more".
- Link from articles to the service and product pages they relate to.
- Keep important pages close to the home page, a few clicks at most.
- Regularly check for links to 404 errors and redirects.
What to avoid
- Orphan pages with no links pointing to them.
- Hundreds of footer links pointing to everything.
- Using the same anchor text for different pages, which confuses Google and can lead to cannibalization.