Internal linking

Internal linking connects a reader's current question to the next useful page on the same site. It also gives search crawlers routes to discover pages and context for understanding them. The useful unit is a relevant connection, not a target number of links per page.

Start with your important pages and the journeys that lead to them. A broad guide may point to a focused explanation when the reader reaches that decision. A focused article may point back to the guide when more context is needed. Navigation and breadcrumbs handle site structure; contextual links should explain why a destination matters at that point in the text.

Google's link guidance provides a technical baseline for discovery, not a promise of ranking. A link hidden behind a click handler or pointing to an irrelevant page can fail the reader even if a crawler finds it.

Types of internal links and crawlable format

Internal links can appear as navigational links in the top navigation bar, sidebar links, footer links, breadcrumb links, and contextual links within content. They can also be call-to-action links as buttons or highlighted elements, and anchor links that jump to sections on the same page.

For a link to be crawlable by Google, it usually needs to be an HTML <a> element with an href attribute. Google's guidance says its algorithms cannot process most links in other formats and cannot efficiently extract URLs from <a> tags without an href or from other tags using script events. Links with an href can also have an onclick attribute and remain crawlable, but formats such as routerLink or a span with an href are not recommended.

Anchor text gives users and Google an idea of the destination's content. Google recommends placing link text between the <a> tags it can process. If an <a> tag has no text, Google may use its title attribute as the link text. When an image is the link, Google uses the alt attribute of the img tag as the link text.

Crawlable vs. Non-Crawlable Link Formats

How internal links help SEO

Internal links help organise a site's pages and make it easier for people to navigate between related content. Their placement within a site's hierarchy can also indicate which pages are important.

Choose, check and maintain

Keep internal links relevant and use anchor wording that accurately reflects the destination, without forcing keywords.

Review links periodically, particularly after publishing, merging or retiring pages.

Keep a small change log of source, destination and purpose. When a page is merged or retired, update links in the highest-value journeys first. Recheck rendered navigation as well as raw content where JavaScript or templates build links.

Test internal linking changes as experiments

SEO North Sydney's Tony Nikolovski recommends treating important SEO changes as experiments. Before changing internal links, decide what you expect the change to accomplish. For example, if you believe improving internal linking between service pages and location pages will help Google discover and understand those pages more effectively, that becomes the hypothesis.

Change one variable at a time. If you are testing internal linking, focus on internal linking rather than simultaneously rewriting title tags, rebuilding navigation and publishing new articles. Otherwise you cannot know which change produced an improvement. Grand Cru Digital advises having Google Search Console set up and monitored, and using tools such as SEMRush and Ahrefs to monitor technical elements.

Structure, click depth and local SEO

Search Scope describes a logical hierarchy from homepage to service pages to location pages. For a business in Western Australia, a structure might run Homepage → Cleaning Services → Commercial Cleaning Perth. Breadcrumb navigation, such as Home > Services > Perth, provides another path. The Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress can implement breadcrumb schema automatically.

Search Scope cites a rule of thumb from Sterling Sky's Local Search Forum and John Mueller's office hours: important pages — money pages, top location pages, highest-converting service pages — should be reachable from the homepage in three clicks or fewer. Mueller has been clear there is no hard threshold, but as click depth grows, Google crawls those pages less often and less internal PageRank flows to them.

Search Scope describes internal linking as the cheapest local SEO lift most Australian businesses ignore. The agency says a smart internal linking strategy tells search engines exactly where you operate and what you do. It boosts authority for location-specific searches.

Search Scope reports that its clients have generated over $5M in tracked revenue and more than 30,000 qualified leads. The Marketing Project similarly describes internal linking as a way to guide visitors deeper into the funnel.

A technically sound website should load quickly, avoid broken links, and have a great structure and internal linking. Monitor your site with Google Search Console; tools such as SEMRush and Ahrefs can also help monitor technical elements.

Impact of Internal Linking in Local SEO