Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteInternal links are links from one page on your website to another page on the same site. Used well, they help visitors find the next useful resource and help Google discover pages and understand how your content relates. The practical approach is straightforward: use real, crawlable links; write concise, descriptive anchor text; place links where they help the reader; and review important pages for discoverability.
What internal links do for SEO
Google uses links to discover pages and as a relevance signal. Its documentation says it can generally crawl an <a> element when the href resolves to an actual web address. A link is therefore both a navigation path for people and a machine-readable connection between documents. See Google’s link best practices.
Every page you care about should be linked from at least one other page on your site. This prevents valuable articles, product documentation, and landing pages from becoming difficult to find through your own site, even when they are included in an XML sitemap.
Make every important link crawlable
Use a normal HTML anchor
Link to a real destination with an href and readable text:
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallCrashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minute#1 Best Overall
<a href="/guides/internal-link-audit/">internal link audit checklist</a>A button, an empty anchor, a click event, or a framework-specific attribute such as routerLink should not be assumed to work as a normal crawlable link. JavaScript can add links dynamically, but the rendered markup still needs an anchor with an href. For JavaScript-rendered pages, inspect the rendered result with Google’s URL Inspection Tool.
Write anchor text that explains the destination
Anchor text should tell a visitor what is on the other side of the link. Keep it reasonably concise, accurate, and natural in the sentence. Read the anchor by itself as a quick clarity test.
Rank #2
- Specific: “internal link audit checklist” identifies the destination.
- Weak: “click here” or “read more” gives little context.
- Avoid: long, awkward anchors and repeated keyword phrases that do not read naturally.
Do not repeat links back-to-back or pack every related term into one anchor. The surrounding sentence should set an honest expectation about the linked page as well as the anchor itself. Google’s recommendations cover descriptive link text and avoiding generic labels in its link guidance.
Place links where the reader needs them
Add links while publishing or refreshing
For each new or updated page, identify the few existing resources that genuinely answer the reader’s next question. Link to those pages in the relevant paragraph rather than collecting unrelated links in a final list. Then review older, closely related pages for natural opportunities to point to the new work. This is an editorial workflow for cross-referencing useful resources, not a promise of a particular ranking effect.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Give key pages an incoming path
Check that each important page receives at least one internal link from another page. A page can be technically indexable yet still be hard for users and crawlers to reach if no internal page points to it. Main navigation, category pages, related-content modules, and in-body references can all provide legitimate paths when they match the site’s purpose.
Organize content logically
Use topic groupings and navigation that make relationships obvious to people: for example, a networking guide can link to pages about routers, Wi-Fi standards, and troubleshooting. Logical organization can help users and search engines understand how pages fit together, but there is no required silo diagram or universal architecture. Google’s SEO Starter Guide notes that existing pages may already be understood as they are, so do not rebuild a working site solely to satisfy an arbitrary structure.
How many internal links should a page have?
There is no official ideal count. Google states, “There’s no magical ideal number of links a given page should contain.” Add enough links to help the reader continue, and remove links that make the page cluttered, repetitive, or difficult to scan. A short support article may need only a few references; a detailed hub page may reasonably contain more. Relevance and usability are the deciding tests, not a quota.
Choose an internal-link audit workflow
Manual review for small sites
- List the pages that matter most to users or the business.
- Open each page and record whether it has a useful incoming link.
- Read anchors in context and replace generic or misleading wording.
- Check that links resolve to the intended URL and are not repeated without a reason.
Crawl-based review for larger sites
When page counts make manual inspection impractical, a crawler can report patterns across the site. Screaming Frog describes its SEO Spider as able to analyze internal links, link counts, crawl depth, and Link Score, and it publishes an internal-linking audit tutorial. These are vendor-described functions, not independent evidence that the tool produces better rankings.
| Workflow | Useful when | What to inspect | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual editorial review | Small or tightly focused site | Relevance, wording, destination, and reader flow | Judgment is strong; coverage becomes slower as the site grows |
| Crawl-based audit | Large site or frequent publishing | Incoming links, link counts, crawl depth, and reported link metrics | Scales well, but still needs editorial review of context and usefulness |
Choose based on the question you need answered: editorial judgment, pages with few or no incoming links, anchor-text reporting, crawl-depth reporting, or whether the crawler can render your site’s JavaScript. The available evidence does not establish one tool as best for every site.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Evaluate changes without promising a ranking lift
Internal-link edits can improve navigation and discovery, but no official source establishes a guaranteed ranking increase, traffic percentage, or ideal link count. Treat the work as an improvement to be measured. Google’s guidance says a site change may take from a few hours to several months to be reflected and suggests waiting a few weeks before assessing Search performance. Compare impressions, clicks, indexed-page status, and engagement against the period before the change while accounting for other site changes and seasonality.
Common internal-linking mistakes
- Non-crawlable controls: relying on a click handler or a button instead of an anchor with an
href. - Generic anchors: using “click here” when a destination-specific phrase would be clearer.
- Forced relevance: linking unrelated pages to hit a target count.
- Orphaned important pages: publishing a page without an incoming internal link.
- Arbitrary architecture rules: rebuilding navigation around a fixed silo template rather than user needs.
- Overclaiming results: treating a link edit as a guaranteed ranking or traffic boost.
Further reading
For a broad SEO reference, O’Reilly lists The Art of SEO, 4th Edition by Eric Enge, Stephan Spencer, and Jessie Stricchiola as published in September 2023 at 773 pages, with coverage of SEO-friendly development, crawlable link structures, and information architecture: O’Reilly’s book page. It is a general SEO reference rather than a dedicated internal-linking manual.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
