Someone reads your blog post, gets an answer, and leaves. That is not necessarily a problem. But what if you have another page that would help them—and you never link to it?
An internal link takes a reader from one page on your website to another. It might connect a guide to a related article, a service page, or a pricing page.
Good internal linking helps people find what they need next. It also gives search engines paths to discover pages and clues about what those pages cover.
Add a link when the reader has a reason to follow it
Imagine you have written an article about website maintenance costs. When you explain backups, you could link to a guide that explains how backups work. When you explain what your plan includes, you could link to the service page.
Each link answers a different question:
- “I do not understand this yet. Where can I learn more?”
- “Does this business offer what I need?”
- “What does it cost, and how do I get started?”
If you cannot explain why the reader would want a link at that point, leave it out. A paragraph full of unrelated links makes the article harder to follow.
A product link is useful when it continues the task. It is distracting when it interrupts an answer the reader has barely started.
Make the link text say where it goes
The clickable words are called anchor text. Those words should help a reader predict the destination.
Compare these two sentences:
- “For more information, click here.”
- “Read our guide to choosing a website maintenance plan.”
The second gives the reader a reason to click before they leave the page.
Use wording that fits the sentence. Do not squeeze “best affordable website maintenance SEO services” into a link just to include more keywords.
Also check that the destination delivers what the link promises. “See our prices” should not lead to a home page with no prices.
Google's guidance on crawlable links explains why clear link text and normal web links matter. If a developer builds your site, ask them to use actual links with destination addresses, not elements that only behave like links after a script runs.
Link into a new article, not just out of it
After publishing a post, add it to the blog listing. Then look for an older page where the new guide would genuinely help.
For example, this website's introduction to SEO leads to the step-by-step SEO guide. That guide can point here when a reader needs more help with links.
The connection works in both directions when each page has a reason to refer to the other. It does not mean every article needs to link to every other article.
A page with no incoming internal links is often called an orphan page. Even if its address is in a sitemap, visitors may struggle to discover it through the website. Check important articles for at least one useful path from an existing page.
Check the links you already have
Start with a few important pages rather than your entire website. Open each link and ask:
- Does it load the intended page?
- Does the destination still answer the question?
- Is the link text accurate?
- Would this link help a first-time reader?
- Can someone find this page from elsewhere on the site?
Repair broken links. If a link goes through an old address before reaching a replacement, point it directly to the current address where possible.
Keep navigation consistent too. A visitor should not have to return to Google to find your blog, services, or pricing.
Use SEO Dispatcher when preparing the next article
Open your website's content library in SEO Dispatcher and identify existing pages that help with the new topic. Use a live-page audit to investigate link issues on relevant pages.
Include the actual page addresses in your writing brief. For example:
In the maintenance-cost guide, link to our service page when explaining what our plan covers. Link to the backup guide only where it helps explain backups. Use clear wording and do not invent URLs.
SEO Dispatcher can help prepare the article and send the approved Markdown or MDX file to GitHub. Check every link in the draft before publishing.
Then review older articles for a place to link to the new guide. Adding links inside the new draft does not automatically create those incoming links elsewhere on your site.
How many links should you add?
There is no universal ideal number. A short answer may need one related link. A detailed guide may need several.
Use the reader's needs as the limit. If two nearby links lead to the same place, one may be enough. If an essential explanation lives elsewhere, link to it instead of forcing the reader to search your site.
A “See also” section is useful for optional reading. A link inside the explanation is better when the reader needs it to understand the next step.
Check whether the path makes sense
Ask someone unfamiliar with your website to read the page. Can they find the next useful resource without your help?
If you track link clicks in your analytics, you can also see which links people use. Low clicks do not automatically make a link bad; the original page may already answer the question.
The practical goal is simple: help readers continue when they need more help, without making them work to find it.