# Internal link An internal link is a hyperlink from one page on your site to another page on your site. It tells crawlers and users how your pages relate, and which should rank. If you run a small site, good internal links make a few key pages win sooner. Updated 2026-09-13 ยท Source: https://porteur.ai/glossary/internal-link ## What an internal link does for a small site Internal links spread crawl paths and meaning. They point Page A to Page B, and the anchor text explains what B is about. That helps Google pick a best page for a query. On a small site you have few pages and fewer backlinks. Internal links are the lever you control. Link from high traffic pages, such as "/blog/what-is-x", to your money pages, such as "/pricing" or "/features/automation". Anchor text matters. If you want "/features/automation" to rank for "workflow automation", link with that phrase or a close variant in the sentence. Avoid "click here". ## How to check and measure internal links - In Search Console, open Links, then Internal links. Note which important pages have few links. - Crawl your site with a crawler to get a list of inlinks and anchor texts for each URL. - In Search Console Performance, filter by Page, pick a target URL, and review queries and clicks. Compare the last 28 days to the previous period after you add links. - On the page, scan above the fold and the first two sections. Count contextual links in body copy, not only nav or footer. - List orphan pages. Any URL you want indexed must be linked from at least one indexed page. A healthy target page has several contextual links from relevant articles, guides and product pages. Anchors mention the topic, for example "pricing plans" or "workflow automation". Clicks and impressions rise for the right queries over 28 days. ## How to add internal links that help ranking 1. **Pick target pages and queries** Choose two to five pages that make you money, like "/pricing" or "/features/automation". For each, pick a primary query, like "workflow automation". 2. **Find linking opportunities** Search your site for mentions. Use site:yourproduct.com "workflow automation". List pages where that phrase, or a close synonym, appears or belongs. 3. **Add contextual links high on the page** Edit those pages. Add a sentence that naturally links the phrase to the target. Place at least one link in the first third of the content. 4. **Tune the anchor text** Use descriptive anchors. Mix exact, partial, and natural variants: "workflow automation", "automate workflows", "set up automation". 5. **Connect related pages into a hub** From a hub page like "/guides/automation", link out to all subpages. From each subpage, link back to the hub with "automation guide". 6. **Recheck in 28 days** Compare clicks and relevant queries for each target in Search Console. If the wrong queries rise, adjust anchors and linking pages. Example: on "/guides/getting-started", add a line, "See our pricing plans", linking "pricing plans" to "/pricing". On "/blog/automate-reports", add "workflow automation" linking to "/features/automation". ## Traps and edge cases - Orphan pages: pages with no internal links rarely rank. Link them from a relevant indexed page, and add them to your sitemap. - Competing targets: if two pages both get links with the same anchor, you can cause keyword cannibalisation. Pick one page per main query. - Template noise: hundreds of repeated footer links dilute value and signal nothing. Body links carry more context. - Broken and redirected links: fix or replace them. Link directly to the canonical URL, not through a chain. - Nofollow on internal links: avoid it. If a page should not be indexed, use noindex and remove links, rather than nofollowing your own site. - JS-only links: if a link requires user interaction or rendering to exist, crawlers may miss it. Use standard anchor tags in HTML. ## Questions ### What is an internal link? A link from one page on your site to another page on your site. It helps users navigate and helps search engines understand structure and relevance. ### How many internal links should a page have? There is no fixed number. Add as many as are useful to a reader. Prioritise a few contextual links near the top to your key pages, then add more where they fit. ### Do footer or navigation links help? They help discovery and hierarchy. For ranking specific queries, contextual links in the body carry stronger topical cues through their anchor text. ### Should I use nofollow on internal links? Usually no. If a page should not be indexed, use noindex and limit links to it. Nofollow on your own pages wastes signals and confuses crawlers. ### How do I find internal link opportunities? Search your site for the target phrase using site:yourdomain.com. Review top articles in Search Console to add links from high traffic pages to your target. ### Does anchor text need an exact match? No. Use a mix of exact, partial, and natural variants. The anchor should describe the destination in plain language and fit the sentence. ## Read next - [Internal linking for a small site: which pages link to which](https://porteur.ai/guides/internal-linking-for-seo): Decide which pages rank. Build hubs, write clear anchors, fix orphans, and crawl your site to map links you control. - [Orphan pages: finding the pages nothing links to](https://porteur.ai/guides/orphan-pages): Find orphan pages on your site, why they happen, how to compare crawl, sitemap and Search Console, and what to do: link, merge, redirect or remove. - [Orphan page](https://porteur.ai/glossary/orphan-page): An orphan page is a URL with no internal links. Why that hides it, how to find yours on a small site, and the fixes that make it earn traffic. - [Keyword cannibalization: two pages, one search, and how to fix it](https://porteur.ai/guides/keyword-cannibalization): Two pages ranking for one query cost you clicks. See it in Search Console, pick a winner, merge or canonicalise, and know when to keep both. - [The Search Console performance report, column by column](https://porteur.ai/guides/search-console-performance-report): Every column in the Google Search Console performance report explained with the traps that trip small sites, and how to act on each. - [Broken link checker](https://porteur.ai/tools/broken-link-checker): Every link on one page, up to 150, fetched eight at a time: the ones that 404 with the words they carry, the ones that redirect and where to, as a list. - [Anchor text](https://porteur.ai/glossary/anchor-text): Anchor text is the visible, clickable text of a link. Use clear, specific anchors to help users and search engines understand your pages. - [Internal link checker](https://porteur.ai/tools/internal-link-checker): Paste your home page and get up to sixty pages fetched and their links read: the orphans, the pages sitting deepest, the least and most linked, links per page. Paste your homepage URL, and in about thirty seconds the free check shows three findings on pages that need internal links and which rivals win those searches. Free check: https://porteur.ai/