Internal Linking: The Simplest System That Works

Links between your pages help readers navigate and give Google discovery paths and context. Google’s link guidance recommends crawlable links with descriptive text. You control where your website links, but not the ranking effect of a particular change.

Why internal links matter more than you think

Internal links do three distinct jobs, and each one is worth understanding before you place a single link.

• Related-page context. A link can help readers and search engines understand how pages relate. Place it where the destination answers a useful next question rather than describing it as a guaranteed transfer of ranking strength.
• Crawl discovery. Google can find pages through crawlable links. Every important page should have a link from another page; a missing link is a check to investigate, not a complete explanation of an index status. See our indexing guide.
• Relevance. Concise, descriptive anchor text explains the destination to the reader and gives Google context. Avoid forced repetition or keyword stuffing.

The hub-and-spoke model for small sites

A hub-and-spoke structure is one useful option. A hub explains a service or broad task; supporting pages answer distinct related questions. Link between them where useful. Do not create supporting pages merely to fill a prescribed number or repeat the hub.

A worked example: a Sheffield builder

Say the money page is “Loft Conversions Sheffield” — that is the hub. The spokes are the questions every customer asks before they buy:

• “How much does a loft conversion cost in 2026?” → links to the hub with the anchor “loft conversions in Sheffield”
• “Do I need planning permission for a loft conversion?” → links to the hub, and sideways to the cost guide
• “Dormer vs Velux: which loft conversion adds more value?” → links to the hub, and sideways to the planning guide
• The hub links out to all three, each with a descriptive anchor.

This is an illustrative page map, not a claim about search volume, fees or ranking difficulty. Each supporting page needs verified information and its own purpose. The links help readers move from a question to service details; they do not guarantee a job. Our industry guides supply further questions to consider.

Anchor text: descriptive beats “click here” every time

The anchor is the part most sites waste. “Click here”, “read more”, “this page” — these tell Google nothing about the destination. Google’s own link best practices say it directly: use concise, descriptive anchor text that tells people and search engines what the linked page is about.

• Bad: “To learn about our boiler services, click here.”
• Good: “We also handle boiler servicing and repairs across south Manchester” — with “boiler servicing and repairs” as the linked anchor.
• Write anchors naturally and describe the destination. Do not force a keyword into most links or vary wording just to influence a ranking system.

The 30-minute monthly routine

Internal linking fails as a one-off project and works as a habit. Here is the entire routine — set a calendar reminder and do it with your coffee on the first Monday of the month.

1. List what you published last month (usually one to three pages). For each new page, add two or three links TO it from your strongest relevant pages, with descriptive anchors.
2. From each new page, add links OUT to its hub and one sibling page. New pages should never be dead ends.
3. Open Search Console, find one page whose ranking you most want to improve, and search Google for site:yourdomain.co.uk plus its topic phrase. Every page in those results that does not already link to your target page is a linking opportunity — add the best two or three.
4. Spot-check three old blog posts for “click here” anchors and rewrite them.
5. Done. Log it and stop — consistency beats volume here.

A site: search can suggest relevant pages to review, but it is not a complete inventory or a ranking-strength report. Check your own page list and crawl as well. This can accompany the evidence review in our Search Console guide.

Orphan pages: the leak in most small sites

An orphan page has zero internal links pointing at it. It might be in your sitemap, it might even be indexed, but no visitor can reach it by browsing and no authority flows into it. Orphans happen innocently: a page gets removed from a menu during a redesign, a blog post predates your current template, a landing page was built for one email campaign and forgotten.

Three ways to find them, no paid tools

• Compare your sitemap to your navigation. Open /sitemap.xml and ask, for each URL: could a visitor reach this from the homepage by clicking? Anything you hesitate on is a candidate.
• Use Search Console’s internal Links report as a reported sample, not a complete live graph. A missing URL does not prove it has no links. Check it against your own page inventory and a crawl. Our Search Console guide explains the wider context.
• Compare a current crawl from the homepage with your sitemap or known URL inventory. Pages in the inventory that the crawl cannot reach need investigation; JavaScript, authentication and crawl limits can also affect the comparison.

For each orphan, decide: link it (add two or three contextual links from related pages), merge it (fold thin content into a stronger page and redirect), or delete it. Do not leave it floating.

How many internal links per page?

Google says there is no magical ideal number of links on a page. Add links where they help a reader, using concise descriptive anchors and enough surrounding context. Review excessive or repetitive links for usability rather than claiming a precise link-count formula or first-anchor rule.

A clear title and useful links address different reader needs. Check both when reviewing an important page; our title guide explains how to make the subject clear without predicting a CTR lift.

VantageRank uses connected search evidence and available page checks to propose work for review. A true orphan diagnosis needs a current link graph or comparable inventory evidence; query data alone does not show every internal link.