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Do you want to know how many internal links per page are best for SEO, why they’re essential, and how to add them using the best 3 plugins on the market?
If you do, pull up a chair and pay attention because I’m about to tell you exactly this and more.
By the time you have finished reading, you’ll be an expert at internal linking, and your webpages will be able to gain more traction in the search engines.
Not only that, you’ll also learn why internal links are crucial for siloing and creating content pyramids.
Let’s get straight to it.
Why Are Internal Links Important?
Google uses internal links to understand the structure of your website and to discover what the content is about.
The internal link also tells them about important content on your website and helps the search engine to find new or relevant content.
By using the correct link text (anchor text) and structure, the internal links can increase the page rank for specific pages.
As a result, it helps Google understand the value of a page and provides a better user experience for the reader.
Here’s a snippet of what Google Search Central has to say:
Link text is the visible text inside a link. This text tells users and Google something about the page you’re linking to. Links on your page may be internal—pointing to other pages on your site—or external—leading to content on other sites. In either of these cases, the better your anchor text is, the easier it is for users to navigate and for Google to understand what the page you’re linking to is about.
Internal links are an essential part of your SEO strategy and are valuable links on your website.
How Many Internal Links Should A Page Have?
How many links you should use per page varies, and what’s classed as too many internal links depends on other factors such as topical relevance to the page, anchor text, siloing, and pyramid structures.
However, a good rule of thumb is to only link to essential pages related to the particular webpage, the exact matched anchor text, and when they are part of a structure.
If you do this and end up with 10 internal links, it should be OK, but you need to be aware that too many internal links to non-relevant pages could dilute the link value.
For example, suppose you link from your home page to a category page, then link to pages related to the category. In that case, this is what’s known as a pyramid structure.
If the internal links inside an article (inside the category) point to another article within the category, it should be fine if the link is relevant to the page.
If the link points to a completely different topic, Google gets confused about whether it’s important content, and the links get diluted.
Search Engine Journal has a great article on internal links (including quotes from Google’s SEO advocate, John Mueller, who talks about the danger of adding too many links). In addition, it explains more about the importance of structure, navigation, and internal linking strategy in general.
Internal Link Examples
Before showing some examples, you need to be aware that there are two main types of internal links — contextual and navigation links.
Contextual links are found in the content of your blog posts and have a higher link value, while navigation links are in your sidebars, headers, and footers.
Here are some examples of internal links.
If you look at the image below, you’ll see the footer of a website. These links in the footer are internal navigational links that point to other pages on a website.
The following image shows the internal linking structure from a website’s home page using a pyramid structure to link to other related pages in the category.
The pyramid is similar to a silo, but you can link from one topic to another if relevant.
The last image is an internal contextual link.
These are the main types of internal links and ways of using them for a website or article.
How Do You Add Internal Links?
Now that you know what internal links are and why they’re essential, let’s add them to a blog post or website.
You typically have 2 ways to add internal links — manually or by using one of the best internal link checkers or plugins.
Manually
Adding internal links by yourself isn’t difficult, and you use the same process as creating an external link, but instead of linking out to some website, you link to pages on the same site.
You need to highlight anchor text on your web pages and link to important pages relevant to the anchor text.
However, it’s time-consuming, and finding link opportunities on specific webpages isn’t as easy as it sounds and is more time-consuming than finding external links.
You’ll have to search through internal pages, and if you have a big site, it becomes annoying and draining and can take up a lot of your time.
Plugins
On the other hand, internal linking plugins make the job of internal linking much easier and faster. For example, they allow you to highlight a word and then find a list of posts related to the keyword.
The best internal link plugins work in sync with SEO plugins like Yoast and RankMath and come packed with useful features like auto-linking, bulk link changing, reporting, and more.
Top 3 Internal Link Plugins
As mentioned above, internal linking plugins are helpful, convenient, and good for SEO. I’ve researched the top plugins, and the following 3 are the best internal link plugins available to use.
Link Whisper
Link Whisper is an internal link plugin designed by Spencer Haws. The plugin uses AI technology and works like a dream.
Creating internal links with the plugin is a simple process. First, highlight potential internal link anchor text on your web pages, and the plugin will display a list of posts on your site to choose from related to the keyword — all you do then is click the blog post and save.
You can auto-link with the plugin too. You add the keyword you want to use and the page to link to, and when the keyword is in the content, it will be internally linked automatically.
This plugin offers a solid internal linking strategy that is perfect for bloggers and niche website creators, especially those with lots of content and internal links to add.
Read about how niche site owners are using Link Whisper to grow their sites.
Some of the standout features include:
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Add or remove broken links
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Connect to the Google Search Console
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Combine the plugin with Yoast, All In One SEO, and RankMath plugins.
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In-depth reports of internal link structure
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It helps you to find orphan pages to add contextual links
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Find internal linking opportunities as you type in real-time
The plugin costs $77 for a single license, $117 for three, and $116 for ten licenses. It comes with multi-language support and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Link Whisper is an incredible plugin with lots of positive reviews and feedback.
Internal Link Juicer
Internal Link Juicer is another internal linking plugin that can improve your site’s SEO and user experience. It offers a convenient way to add internal links and other cool features.
With this plugin, you add a few keywords, and when you type the article, the plugin will link automatically to related content. You can also add gap keywords to produce more natural internal anchor text and links.
The plugin is free and beneficial for most users; however, if you want to use the extra features like manual linking or targeting links in a specific category, you’ll need to purchase the pro version, which costs $69.99 per year or $209.99 for a lifetime license.
You get a 14-day money-back guarantee and premium support.
Internal Link Juicer Features:
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Reports telling you about internal link opportunities
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Highlights pages with not enough links
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Add custom links, including affiliate links
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Fast loading times
Internal Link Juicer is suitable for bloggers and website builders looking for a simple plugin with few features. It’s lacking slightly compared to Link Whisper, but it’s still a helpful plugin.
Internal Links Manager
The final internal link plugin is Internal Links Manager by Webraketen. Internal Link Manager is a free plugin that provides a primary option to add internal links.
You add the keyword and URL, and whenever the keyword is used in the content, it links to the article automatically.
It’s a basic plugin that does the job it’s supposed to do, but if you want extra features, consider Link Whisper or Internal Link Juicer.
Internal Links Manager benefits:
Internal Links Manager is bare-bones, but this is perfect for some, so check them out if you’re after a simple solution to add internal links.
Which Internal Linking Plugin Is The Best?
The 3 plugins mentioned above are practical and can boost your site architecture, on-page links, and search engine rankings.
Out of the 3 plugins, the one that offers the most value for money and a complete internal linking solution is Link Whisper.
It’s a fantastic plugin that I have used, and it’s the best on the market, in my opinion.
Internal Links FAQs
The following questions are related to internal linking and will address the essential aspects of using internal links.
Are External Links Important Too?
Internal and external links are vital if you want your website to appear higher in the search engines.
External links pointing to a particular website with high page authority will show Google that you’re linking to a different website which can further help the reader.
Internal links on a page send your readers to a related piece of content on the same website. They show Google that you have a good site structure and can improve the link value.
What Is Link Juice?
Link juice (sometimes called link equity) is an SEO term that describes how linking to another webpage can add value to the page.
For example, if the page you are linking from is an important page ranking high in the search engines, it can provide a boost because it has powerful link juice.
For example, a link from a high DA (domain authority) blog post like one featured on Moz or CNN will add some good link juice to the page it’s linking to, and the same if it’s connecting to an internal web page on the same site.
Are There Any Other Internal Link Tools?
Yes, a few tools on the market can help manage and create links internally. Although I prefer the plugins mentioned above, some of these are an excellent addition to your website tools.
Here’s a brief list of alternative tools, extensions, and plugins to consider:
- Auto Links Manager Pro
- Google Search Console (great for checking broken internal links)
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider
- Integrity Link Checker (Macbook Users)
- WordPress Broken Link Checker
- Site Audit On Semrush
- Ahrefs
Are Internal Links Useful For Siloing?
Yes, internal links play an essential role in siloing content and can help you get better search results. Siloing is an SEO tactic that involves adding relevant links to a specific area of content — you effectively isolate a category, and all the links point to topics within the category.
Are Internal Links For Pyramids Important?
Search engine crawlers love it when they establish site architecture with internal navigational links pointing to a different page related to the one it came from.
For example, pyramids have your essential pages at the top, and links point to related pages.
This site structure involves more links than siloing. Unlike siloing, you can link from one page to another page outside the topic, as long as it is semi-related.
For example, with a pyramid structure, such links can point from within a category about pink velvet hats to another category in the same domain about pink velvet bags.
But, of course, if you were using a silo structure, the site owner wouldn’t do this, and that’s why more links are used with pyramids.
Should You Use Exact Match Anchor Text For Internal Links?
Yes, if you perform keyword research, you should have a list of keywords to use in your anchor text. However, using exact match anchor text when creating an internal link on a given page will improve SEO, as long as you don’t overdo it and use them for every single link.
For example, imagine you have an article on your website about ‘the best WordPress themes available today’.
Now, imagine you were writing a blog post on building a website using WordPress, and a section of the article talks about the best themes to use to help with the building process.
You would want to create a link to another page on the website that focuses on WordPress themes.
You highlight the exact match anchor text (or close to it) and link to the article you have already written. So, for this example, you would use the anchor text ‘Best WordPress Themes.’
It tells the search engines that the page you’re linking to is in relation to the same page and is a great resource that enhances the quality of the article and helps the reader out.
Final Thoughts On How Many Internal Links On A Page Is Best For SEO
Hopefully, you now understand the importance of internal links and why they’re crucial for your readers and SEO rankings.
The right internal linking strategy will improve your search results and show Google that your website does the right things.
You can add internal links manually or by using a WordPress plugin.
The best plugin is Link Whisper; it helps you to create a linking structure that can benefit your site with top rankings in the search results.
As long as you don’t overdo it with the links on a single page and only link to relevant content related to the page it’s coming from, the search engine’s index will find it easier to rank your pages, and you should start to see improvements on Google.
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