Internal linking for findability

Links are part of the structure

The hierarchy gives each page a home. Links are how people and search engines get there, and how they move sideways between pages that belong to different branches. A site with a sound hierarchy but weak linking still hides good content. A guide that answers an everyday question is no help if the only path to it runs through a news item from two years ago.

What Google says about links

Google Search Central's link guidance sets out a few clear rules:

• Use real links. Google follows a link only when it is an <a> element with an href attribute. Elements that act as links only through JavaScript, such as a <span> with a click handler, may not be followed.
• Link the pages you care about. Each one needs a link from "at least one other page on your site", in Google's words.
• Write useful anchor text. Google wants link words that are "descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant" to both ends of the link. Generic phrases such as "click here" are too vague.
• No magic number. There is no ideal number of links per page, but too many is a sign to cut back.
• Images as links need alt text that describes the destination.

Hub pages

A hub is a page that introduces a topic and links to the detailed pages within it. A "Planning and building" hub on a council site might explain the permit process briefly and link to each permit type, the fees page, the application form and the guide to neighbour notification.

Hubs help in three ways:

1. People get a single front door to a topic, with an overview before the detail.
2. Detailed pages get a strong, relevant link from a page that is itself easy to reach.
3. Search engines see how the pages in a topic relate.

Each detailed page should link back to its hub, so readers who arrive from search can find the rest of the topic.

Related links

Related links connect pages across branches of the hierarchy. A guide to choosing a course might link to fees, entry requirements and scholarships, which live in different sections.

There are two ways to produce them:

• By hand. Editors choose related pages as they write. This gives the best relevance but depends on editors remembering, and on them knowing what exists.
• From the taxonomy. The content system shows pages that share topics or audiences. This scales but is only as good as the tagging. The taxonomy guide explains how to make tags reliable enough for this.

We suggest a mix: automatic related links as a baseline, with a few hand-picked links in the body text where they help readers directly.

Link text that works

Good link text tells people where they will go before they click. It also matters for screen reader users, who can list every link on a page and hear them out of context.

Avoid giving several different links on one page the same text, such as five "Learn more" links pointing to five different places. And avoid linking the same text to different destinations across the site; consistency helps people predict where a link goes.

Links in navigation

Menus, breadcrumbs and footers are links too, and they appear on every page. They carry a lot of weight for discovery, so check that they point to current pages rather than legacy sections. Under the Multiple Ways criterion in WCAG 2.2 (2.4.5), each page needs at least two routes in. A combination of menus, breadcrumbs, hub pages, related links and search covers it.

Finding orphan and weakly linked pages

1. Export the list of pages from your content system or XML sitemap.
2. Crawl the site from the home page with a desktop crawler, following only links.
3. Compare the two lists. Pages in the first list that the crawl never reached are orphans.
4. For pages the crawl did reach, check how many internal links point to them and from where. A page linked only from one old article is weakly linked.

For each orphan worth keeping, find one or two relevant pages that should link to it. For each orphan not worth keeping, decide whether to redirect it or remove it.

Linking from the pages people already visit

Your busiest pages are the best places to add links to content that deserves more readers. Check your analytics for pages with steady visits, such as a popular guide or a frequently used form, and ask what a reader of that page might need next. One well-placed link from a busy page can do more for a neglected page than ten links from pages nobody reads. Review those busy pages after each content change, because they are also where a broken or outdated link does the most harm.

Links in documents and downloads

PDFs and other downloads can contain links back to your site, and those links break without warning when pages move. When you publish a document, link to stable addresses such as section pages or hubs rather than to deep pages likely to change. When you restructure, search your document library for links to old addresses and plan replacements or redirects for them.

Keeping links healthy

Links break when pages are renamed, merged or deleted. Redirects catch some breakage, but Google's site move guidance notes that redirects slow visits down, so internal links should point directly at the final address. Build link checks into your routine:

• After any restructure, update internal links to new addresses rather than relying on redirects.
• When a page is retired, search for links to it and update them the same day.
• Run a crawl for broken links on a schedule.

Work through it

The internal linking checklist turns this guide into sixteen checks you can tick off, with the open items exported as a to-do list. For larger sites, an internal linking strategy produces a full link inventory, a hub plan and rules for editors.

Questions about this topic

What is an orphan page?

An orphan page is a page that no other page on your site links to. People can reach it only from search results, bookmarks or external links, and search engines may struggle to find it at all.

How many internal links should a page have?

Google says there is no ideal number of links per page. Link where it helps the reader take a next step, and cut back if a page has so many links that none stands out.

Should internal links open in a new tab?

We advise against it. Opening internal links in the same tab keeps the back button working as people expect. If a link must open a new tab, say so in the link text.

Sources checked 4 November 2026 for internal linking for findability

1. Multiple Ways (2.4.5), W3C
2. SEO Starter Guide, Google
3. Site moves, Google
4. Links, Google