Internal linking is free SEO. Almost nobody does it right.
How to distribute PageRank across your site without spending a penny
“Every backlink you earn distributes authority across your site — but only if your internal links let it flow.”
When Google crawls your site, it follows links. The more links pointing to a page — internal and external — the more authority that page accumulates.
Most sites have a PageRank problem they don't know about: authority is pooled on the homepage and a few top posts, while valuable pages that could rank are starved of signals because nothing links to them.
The three-step internal linking audit:
1. Find your orphaned pages Pages with zero internal links pointing to them. Google finds them eventually, but they rank far below their potential. Run a crawl tool or search your own site for pages you can't reach by clicking from the homepage. These are your biggest quick wins.
2. Find your high-authority pages These are usually your homepage, your most-linked blog posts, and your pricing page. These pages have the most authority to give away. Check Google Search Console → Links → Top linked pages internally to confirm.
3. Link from high-authority to underperforming Add contextual links — naturally within body copy — from your strongest pages to the pages you want to rank better. Use descriptive anchor text, not "click here".
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Audit my site →Anchor text matters: "Learn more about our pricing" passes no keyword signal. "See our SEO audit pricing" passes the keyword "SEO audit pricing" to the linked page. Every internal link is a ranking signal — use it intentionally.
The hub-and-spoke model: For blog-heavy sites, create a pillar page on a broad topic (e.g., "Complete Guide to Technical SEO") and link all related posts back to it. This concentrates authority on the pillar page, which then ranks for the competitive head term while individual posts rank for long-tail variants.
How many internal links per page? There's no hard limit. The practical rule: link when it's genuinely useful to the reader. 3–10 contextual links per long-form page is a reasonable range. Sitewide navigation links (header, footer) pass minimal authority — contextual body links are significantly more powerful.
What to avoid: - Exact-match anchor text on every link (looks manipulative) - Linking every page to the homepage (dilutes the signal) - Using the same anchor text for different destination pages
This takes an afternoon to audit and fix. The payoff compounds over months as Google reassesses your site's internal link structure.
Put this strategy to work on your site
See exactly where your site stands today. Free audit, no signup, 30 seconds.
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