5 Internal Linking Best Practices
Use Descriptive Anchor Text
Internal links can be image-based, but they most often appear as a clickable text hyperlink in a piece of content or as part of a navigation menu. Text hyperlinks often appear as blue and underlined, and the text itself is commonly known as “anchor text” or “link text”.
A text hyperlink should be attached to keyword-rich anchor text that describes the contents of the destination page. If the destination page is about chocolate milk, the anchor text should include the phrase “chocolate milk”.
Position Internal Links High on the Page
Internal links should be positioned high up on the page where users can immediately see them as the page begins to load, ideally above the fold. Positioning internal links near the top of the page makes it quick and easy for users to navigate around your website, lowering your bounce rate and increasing pages per session on your website. This is the main reason why navigation menus are so often positioned at the top of the page.
Build Internal Links to Key Pages
The internal links on your website should funnel visitors to high-intent sales pages, including product, service, and sales pages where they can complete your most highly-valued conversion actions.
Add Internal Links to Older Content
As your website continues to grow, you should occasionally revisit some of your older pages and update them with new internal links to pages that you’ve published more recently. This practice keeps the link juice flowing around your website and helps with overall page rankings.
Use a Reasonable Number of Internal Links
According to Google, webmasters should limit the number of links on each webpage to a “reasonable number (a few thousand at most)”. In practice, the number of internal links you include on a page can vary widely, and it largely depends on the purpose and importance of that page.
Most web pages include a page footer and a navigation menu with internal links to every important section of the site. As your site grows, these menus get larger and the number of internal links on every page increases.
You’ll also want to include internal links within the content of any blogs or guides you post, directing visitors to your most important pages and other relevant content on your site. A typical blog post might include 10 or 15 internal links.
For pages that appear in your checkout process, minimizing the number of internal links helps your customers stay focused on completing the transaction and reduces shopping cart abandonment. It is not uncommon to see checkout pages with only 1 internal link on them (e.g. a button that says “Next Step” or “Confirm”).