Internal links are one of the most underused and underrated tools in your SEO arsenal. While backlinks get all the attention, internal links are what glue your website together. They help users navigate, distribute link equity across your pages, and signal topical relationships to search engines.

If you’re running a blog, eCommerce store, or anything in between — getting your internal linking strategy right can make a genuine difference in how well your pages rank. In this post, we’ll break down why internal links matter, how to structure them effectively, and how to visualise your internal linking strategy using a free tool from The SEO Corner.

 

Why Internal Links Matter for SEO

Let’s be clear: Google uses internal links to understand your site structure. The more connected and logical your internal linking is, the easier it is for Googlebot to crawl your content and group your pages topically. And it’s not just about crawlability — internal links help transfer authority (PageRank) from high-performing pages to those that need a boost.

For example:

  • Got a new blog post that you want to rank faster? Link to it from an already authoritative guide.
  • Have a high-converting sales page? Strengthen its performance by funnelling internal links from relevant blog posts.
  • Want to establish topical authority? Use smart internal linking to build out content clusters.

Put simply: smart internal linking = better indexing, stronger topical relevance, and improved rankings.

 

Which Pages Benefit the Most from Internal Links?

Not all pages are created equal when it comes to internal links. Some types of content benefit more than others and should be prioritised in your strategy:

  1. New Content

Fresh pages with few or no inbound links are often invisible to search engines. Point internal links from older, high-authority pages to new articles to help them get indexed and ranked faster.

  1. High-Converting Pages

Whether it’s a product page, lead-gen form, or sales landing page — driving traffic to these pages through internal links can improve user flow and conversions.

  1. Orphaned Pages

These are pages with no internal links pointing to them. Use internal linking to bring them into your site’s architecture and give them a chance to rank.

  1. Supporting Content in Topic Clusters

Pages that support your pillar content (e.g. guides, tutorials) can benefit greatly from internal links that reinforce topical relationships and signal depth.

  1. Content With High Engagement Potential

Articles that earn good time-on-page, shares, or comments can benefit from more visibility. Linking to them from relevant content helps surface what’s already resonating.

 

Best Practices for Internal Linking

Here’s what you should keep in mind when building your internal linking strategy:

1. Use Descriptive Anchor Text

Avoid vague phrases like “click here” or “this page.” Instead, use anchor text that describes the target content. This helps both users and Google understand the destination page.

Example: Instead of “click here to read more about technical SEO,” try “our technical SEO best practices guide.”

2. Link Deep

Don’t just link to your homepage or category pages. Link directly to deeper, more specific pages to help distribute link equity more evenly.

Example: From a blog post on keyword research, link to your tutorial on using Google Keyword Planner, not just your blog homepage.

3. Prioritise Contextual Links

Footer links and sidebar links are fine, but contextual links within the body of your content carry more weight in terms of SEO. Focus on natural, in-text linking that adds value for readers.

4. Keep Link Volume Balanced

Avoid overloading any one page with dozens of internal links. Too many links can dilute the value passed through them. A good rule of thumb: quality over quantity.

5. Update Older Posts With Fresh Internal Links

Have you published a new article? Go back to older related posts and add internal links pointing to it. This helps pass link equity and drive traffic.

 

Visualise Your Internal Links With a Free Tool

Knowing internal links are important is one thing — actually seeing how your pages connect is another. That’s where The SEO Corner’s Free Internal Link Tool comes in.

This free web-based tool lets you:

  • Instantly crawl your website and generate a visual map of internal links
  • Identify orphaned pages with no internal links pointing to them
  • Spot pages with too few or too many internal links
  • Filter out nav/footer links and focus on contextual, in-body links
  • Export a list of internal link data to CSV for deeper auditing
  • Use filters to clean up visual noise and isolate key sections of your site

How to Use It:

  1. Enter your website’s URL — either your homepage or a specific page. This is the page from which you will start crawling the site. If you need a full site structure, homepage is a good choice, whereas if you are exploring specific content cluster, you may wish to start your crawl from a relevant page.
  2. Set the crawl depth — determine how many levels of internal links you want the tool to follow. For example, depth of 1 will show up only the pages directly linked to from initial page. Depth of 2 will show up pages linked to from the initial page and all the pages linked to from those level 1 pages and so on.
  3. Adjust the connection limit slider — this helps filter out pages with too many links (like your homepage or blog feed).
  4. Remove external or homepage links — these filters help you focus on internal, contextual relationships.
  5. Use the visual network map — zoom and click on nodes (representing URLs) to see how each page connects. You can drag nodes and highlight connections to explore clusters.
  6. Use the table view — see every page, number of internal inbound/outbound links, and search/filter by keyword.
  7. Export to CSV — take your data offline to plan your next round of SEO updates.

It’s built for site owners, SEOs, and content teams who want clarity on how their internal structure really looks — without needing to sign up for expensive SaaS tools. Whether you’re fixing your own site or analysing a competitor’s, this tool gives you instant visibility into what’s working and what’s broken.

Most importantly, the tool is completely free, so make sure to include it in your SEO tech stack!

 

Putting It All Together: Example Workflow

Let’s say you run a blog with 50+ articles. Here’s how you could use internal links to boost SEO:

  1. Crawl your site with the Internal Link Analysis Tool.
  2. Spot orphaned content — these are high-priority for new internal links.
  3. Identify key pages with lots of authority (e.g. lots of backlinks) and link out from them to your newer or underperforming content.
  4. Group related pages into topic clusters using smart internal links (e.g. guide > supporting blog posts).
  5. Fix broken structures — if certain sections are overly isolated or link to irrelevant content, update the links.

 

Conclusion

Internal links don’t get the SEO spotlight as often as they should — but if you care about improving rankings and user experience, they’re a must.  You don’t need fancy dashboards or overblown audits. Just solid content, smart links, and a clear picture of how your pages are connected.