Choose the commercial owners
Identify the pages that own the main services and markets. Supporting content should reinforce those URLs rather than compete with them.
Internal linking SEO guide
Build internal links that explain the whole website.
A practical internal-linking framework for connecting service pages, location pages, industries, case studies and guides into a crawlable commercial structure.
Browse all SEO guides01 / THE OUTCOME
Internal links should help customers move to the next useful answer while showing search engines which pages are related, specific and strategically important.
Design clear hub-and-cluster relationships
Improve discovery of priority pages
Use descriptive anchors without over-optimisation
Find and repair orphan or buried content
02 / THE CONTEXT
A link is both navigation and editorial context
The main menu cannot carry every relationship on a growing website. Contextual links inside useful copy explain why one page supports another and move authority toward the pages closest to business value.
A strong structure normally flows from broad hubs to focused services and guides, then returns through breadcrumbs, related resources and relevant calls to action. The result should feel natural to a visitor even if SEO did not exist.
Best suited to
Websites with growing content libraries
Service businesses with several locations
Sites containing orphan pages
Teams restructuring navigation
03 / THE WORK
Seven rules for a useful internal-link system
Apply these rules to templates and editorial reviews so the structure improves whenever a new page is published.
Create meaningful hubs
Use service, industry, area and resource hubs to organise related pages and explain the distinctions between them.
Link where the question arises
Place contextual links inside the paragraph where the related service or guide becomes the visitor's logical next step.
Write descriptive anchors
Use wording that tells the reader what is behind the link. Vary phrasing naturally and avoid forcing the exact same keyword everywhere.
Control crawl depth
Keep priority pages within a few useful clicks of the homepage or a strong hub. Deep nesting can hide content even when it appears in the sitemap.
Repair broken and orphaned pages
Crawl the site after each structural release. Redirect retired URLs and ensure every indexable page receives at least one deliberate link.
Review link concentration
Template links can overwhelm contextual signals. Confirm that important pages receive relevant editorial links, not only repeated footer navigation.
04 / HOW WE WORKClear priorities.
Clear priorities.
Visible progress.
Diagnose
We establish the search demand, competitive gap, technical condition and business priority before recommending work.
Build
We improve the structure, page experience and content around one clear search and conversion purpose.
Prove and improve
We measure visibility and enquiry signals, strengthen what works and correct weak assumptions early.
05 / STRAIGHT ANSWERS
Questions this guide should settle.
Reviewed 15 September 2026
How many internal links should a page have?
There is no fixed number. Include the links that genuinely help the visitor continue the task and make the topic hierarchy clear.
Do footer links help SEO?
They support discovery and navigation, but contextual links usually communicate a more specific relationship. Use both according to purpose.
Should I use exact-match anchor text?
Descriptive anchors are useful, but repeating the same exact phrase unnaturally is unnecessary. Write for clarity and vary the wording where appropriate.
What is an orphan page?
An orphan page has no crawlable internal link pointing to it. A sitemap may expose it to search engines, but users and site authority have no normal route to reach it.