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What Is Internal Linking?
SEO
Updated 18 September 2026
Quick Answer
Internal linking is linking from one page on your own website to another — helping visitors navigate, and helping search engines understand your site's structure and which pages matter most.
Internal Linking vs. Backlink — What's the Difference?
| Internal Linking | Backlink | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it points | To another page on your own site | From an external site to yours |
Why It Matters
- It helps visitors discover related content and stay on your site longer, rather than leaving after one page.
- It also helps search engines understand your site's structure and pass authority between related pages.
How It Works
- Relevant pages on a site are linked to one another using descriptive anchor text.
- Visitors follow these links to related content, staying engaged longer.
- Search engines follow the same links to understand relationships between pages and discover new ones.
Key Takeaways
- Internal linking connects pages within your own site, unlike backlinks from external sites.
- It helps both visitor navigation and search engine understanding of site structure.
- Descriptive anchor text makes internal links more effective for both.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many internal links should a page have?
Enough to genuinely help navigation and relevance — a handful of well-placed, relevant links beats forcing in many unnecessary ones.
Does internal linking help SEO?
Yes — it helps search engines discover and understand the relationship between pages, and can help distribute ranking authority across a site.
What's good internal linking practice?
Use descriptive anchor text relevant to the destination page, rather than generic phrases like 'click here.'