SEO & Search
What is internal linking?
Internal linking is the practice of linking between pages on the same website. It serves three purposes at once: it helps readers find related material, it helps search engines discover pages and understand how topics relate, and it distributes authority from stronger pages to others. Deliberate internal linking is one of the most controllable and neglected parts of SEO.
Why it matters
Internal links are the connective tissue of a site, and one of the few SEO levers entirely in your control. They help readers continue to the next useful thing rather than leaving; they help search engines discover pages and understand which subjects belong together; and they pass authority from established pages to newer ones, often the quickest legitimate boost available to a page sitting just off page one.
How to link well
Link from relevant context, where the connected page genuinely helps the reader
Use descriptive anchor text that says what the destination covers, not “click here”
Link new articles from established related pages, not only the other way round
Keep clusters connected: supporting pieces to the central guide, and to each other where relevant
A practical example
A specialist mortgage broker publishes a new article on self-employed applications. Left alone, it waits to be discovered. Linked from the firm’s established self-employed hub page, its two related articles and the relevant service page, with anchors describing the topic, it is discovered quickly, placed in context, and inherits standing from pages that already have it.
Related terms
Internal linking is the mechanism that makes topic clusters real, a routine step in content optimisation, and a frequent fix for striking-distance pages flagged by keyword tracking.