Share

TL;DR: Internal links matter a lot—but not because of some fancy SEO framework. They work when they’re intentional, descriptive, and point to pages you actually want Google (and humans) to understand and trust.

Internal links are one of those SEO things everyone talks about… but few people actually use well.

You’ll hear advice like:

  • “Build topic clusters”
  • “Create hub pages”
  • “Link everything to everything”

And while none of that is wrong, it misses the point.

Internal links don’t work because of a structure.

They work because they create context.

A real example from my own site

This didn’t happen on a client site. It happened on HeyTony.ca.

About a year and a half ago, we optimized our SEO services page. It ranked on page one—but toward the bottom. Nothing exciting.

Then one day, I noticed we were ranking #1.

No new content updates.

No backlink campaign.

No page changes in over a year.

So I asked the team what we’d been doing.

The answer?

We’d been consistently adding internal links to that page from new blog posts.

That was it.

Google didn’t suddenly “like” the page more.

We just kept reinforcing its importance and relevance through internal links—over time.

How many internal links should a page have?

There’s no magic number, but here’s my rule of thumb:

  • 3–5 internal links per page is a great baseline
  • Longer content can support more
  • Too many links dilute their impact

If you have 100 internal links on a page, none of them are special.

And more importantly: If your content feels like it’s just links stacked on top of links, it’s a bad experience for real people—and Google notices that too.

Internal linking should feel natural, not forced.

When internal linking does nothing

I’ve absolutely seen internal linking have no effect.

The biggest reason? Bad anchor text.

If you’re using things like:

  • “Click here”
  • “Read more”
  • “Learn more”

…you’re wasting the opportunity.

Anchor text is context. Descriptive anchor text helps Google understand what the linked page is about before it even crawls it.

Generic anchors don’t help users.

They don’t help Google.

They don’t help rankings.

Every new blog post we publish follows a simple approach:

  1. Link to 3–5 relevant blog posts
  2. Include at least one link to a relevant service or product page

Not because “SEO says so,” but because it makes sense for the reader.

If the content doesn’t naturally support a link, we don’t force it.

If it does, we use it to guide users toward the next helpful step.

For example, a post about internal linking should absolutely link to an SEO services page. That’s not manipulation—that’s clarity.

What about hubs, silos, and cornerstone content?

We’ve tested them.

Hub pages. Cornerstone content. Silo structures.

Honestly? I haven’t seen them outperform simple, consistent internal linking from useful content.

A lot of SEO strategies sound impressive.

Very few outperform this question:

Is this content helpful—and does this link help someone go deeper?

If the answer is yes, you’re doing it right.

Internal links don’t just keep people on your site longer.

They help people make decisions.

Here’s a real example.

I once searched: “Can you start a community on Slack?”

That led me to a blog post from Mighty Networks.

Inside the post was a line that said something like:

“You can use Slack—but if you’re looking for an all-in-one community platform…”

Those words linked to their sales page.

I clicked. I signed up. I eventually spent around $30,000 with them.

That single internal link changed my buying decision.

Internal links build trust. They show depth. They guide users when they’re ready—not when you force them.

How do we measure if internal linking is working?

We don’t track a fancy KPI for it.

SEO takes time. Internal linking is no different.

What we watch instead:

  • Impressions
  • Clicks
  • Indexing speed (How fast Google adds your link to the results)

When internal linking is done right, pages get crawled faster and visibility trends upward. That’s how you know it’s working.

I think they will.

AI systems care about efficiency. Context reduces effort.

Internal links help search engines understand:

  • What pages are important
  • How topics relate
  • What content supports what intent

The more clearly you map that out, the less work search engines have to do—and the more likely they are to trust your site.

Don’t build internal links to pages you haven’t optimized.

If the page:

  • Isn’t targeting the right keyword
  • Is thin or outdated
  • Doesn’t clearly explain what it’s about

…then internal links won’t save it.

When Google follows an internal link, it can re-evaluate the destination page.

If that page isn’t ready, the effort is mostly wasted.

Optimize first.

Then reinforce with internal links.

Key Takeaways

  • Internal links work best when they add context, not complexity
  • 3–5 internal links per page is a strong baseline for most content
  • Descriptive anchor text matters more than volume
  • Internal links can directly influence conversions—not just rankings
  • Always optimize destination pages before building internal links to them

If you get internal linking right, it quietly becomes one of the most reliable SEO levers you can pull.

Originally published . Last updated .

Categories:

Share

Related Articles

Blog

Explore More