Internal & External Linking in SEO

Two Main Types of Links

What Is Internal Linking?

Internal linking is the practice of adding links from one page to another page on the same website.

Example

If you have a blog about SEO and another page about keyword research, you can link the keyword research page from the blog.

Benefits of Internal Linking

• Helps users navigate your website
• Helps search engines discover pages
• Creates a logical website structure
• Helps distribute internal authority across pages
• Can encourage users to visit more pages
• Helps establish relationships between related content

Internal Linking Best Practices

1. Link Relevant Pages: Link pages that are genuinely related to the current content.
2. Use Descriptive Anchor Text: Make the clickable text meaningful and useful.
3. Create a Logical Structure: Organize links so important pages are easy to discover.
4. Avoid Excessive Links: Do not add links only to increase the number of links.
5. Check Broken Links: Regularly check whether internal links still work.

What Is Anchor Text?

Anchor text is the clickable text used in a hyperlink. It gives users and search engines context about the linked page.

Good Example

Weak Example

What Is External Linking?

An external link is a hyperlink that points from your website to a page on another website.

HTML Example

For example, an SEO article may link to an authoritative source to support a fact or provide additional information.

Benefits of External Linking

• Provides additional useful resources to readers
• Can support factual claims with authoritative sources
• Improves the usefulness of content
• Helps users explore related information
• Can provide context and references

Internal vs External Links

Follow and Nofollow Links

Links can also use attributes that provide search engines with additional information about how a link should be treated.

Regular Link

Nofollow Link

Nofollow is one of several link relationship values. Other values such as sponsored and ugc can also be used when appropriate.

Sponsored and UGC Links

Sponsored

Use the rel="sponsored" attribute for links associated with advertisements, sponsorships or paid placements.

UGC

UGC stands for User Generated Content. It can be used for links posted by users, such as comments or forum posts.

Example of a Good Internal Linking Structure

Common Linking Mistakes

• Using too many irrelevant internal links
• Using the same anchor text unnaturally everywhere
• Adding links that do not help the user
• Leaving important pages difficult to discover
• Ignoring broken links
• Linking to poor-quality external resources
• Using misleading anchor text
• Adding links only for SEO instead of user value

SEO Linking Checklist

Final Thoughts

Internal and external linking are important parts of a well-structured website. Internal links help users and search engines navigate your website, while external links can provide useful references and additional resources.

The goal should not be to add as many links as possible. Instead, use links naturally where they provide value to the user and make the relationship between pieces of content clear.