How many internal links per page in SEO ?

How many internal links is too many? Let’s clear up the confusion! Learn how to optimize your internal linking for better SEO, smoother navigation, and higher rankings—without overdoing it.

Liana Madova

Feb 21, 2025

How many internal links per page in SEO ?

Contents

The science behind internal link quantity Research-backed data on optimal internal link density Impact on crawl budget and user experience Why does the optimal number vary?Understanding internal link authority flow PageRank and authority distribution Link juice optimization strategies Site architecture: deep vs shallow Types of internal links and their strategic use Let’s explore the main types of internal links and how to use them effectively : Building your internal linking strategy Content Audit and Opportunity Identification Advanced Internal Linking Patterns Topic Clusters and Pillar Pages Blog Architecture Strategies Internal Linking and Silo Structure Technical Implementation Guide Measuring internal linking success 1. Key Metrics to Track 2. Tools for Analyzing Internal Links 3. Regular Audit Procedures 4. Performance Benchmarking 5. Measuring Return on Investment (ROI)Common internal linking mistakes to avoid 1. Over-optimization 2. Inconsistent anchor text 3. Broken Internal Links 4. Poor Relevancy Matching 5. Ignoring User Experience Conclusion

If you're wondering how many internal links you should include on a page for SEO, the short answer is: it depends. As a general rule, you should aim for 2 to 5 internal links per 1,000 words of content, with a total of 150 to 200 links per page, depending on your site structure.

But here's the thing—the number alone isn’t enough. A good internal linking strategy isn’t just about hitting a certain quota; it’s about placing the right links in the right places to enhance user experience and help Google better understand your site.

In this article, we’ll break down the best practices for structuring your internal links effectively, based on different areas of a page, to maximize SEO benefits without overwhelming your site.

The science behind internal link quantity

Research-backed data on optimal internal link density

A study by Zyppy SEO, analyzing over 23 million internal links, discovered an interesting pattern: pages with 45 to 50 internal links saw a significant boost in organic traffic. However, after this point, the effect reversed—too many links seemed to dilute their impact, sometimes leading to lower performance. This happens because Google assigns value to links, and when too many are added, the authority of each link gets divided into smaller portions.

Impact on crawl budget and user experience

Beyond pure SEO, internal link density affects two key areas:

1. Crawl budget (the limited time search engines spend exploring your site): Google allocates a specific amount of time and resources to crawl (scan and analyze) your website. If you overload a page with too many links—especially to low-priority pages—it can waste this crawl budget, preventing Google from focusing, on your most valuable content.

Here’s an example :

eBay’s Link Overload Issue (2014)

What happened? eBay lost a significant amount of organic search traffic in 2014 after Google’s Panda update. One of the contributing factors was the massive number of links pointing to low-value pages, including excessive internal links to outdated or duplicate product pages.

Impact: Google stopped prioritizing eBay’s key landing pages, and crawl budget was wasted on pages that provided little SEO value. This caused a huge drop in rankings and traffic.

The previous graph illustrates, based on a random sample of non-branded long-tail keywords that eBay previously targeted, that 80% of them are no longer on the first page, despite relatively low competition for these highly targeted queries.

2. User experience : A well-structured internal linking strategy helps users navigate your site efficiently. However, excessive links can be overwhelming (too much to process) and make the page harder to read. On the other hand, well-placed links guide visitors to relevant content, keeping them engaged longer.

Why does the optimal number vary?

It might be tempting to follow a fixed rule for internal linking, but in reality, the optimal number depends on various factors, such as:

Content length: A 500-word page with 40 links will feel overcrowded, while a 5,000-word article can accommodate the same number of links naturally.

Site structure: On an e-commerce site, it's normal to have many links between product and category pages. In a blog, the structure is often more linear.

Page importance: Not all internal links hold the same weight. Linking to strategic pages—such as pillar pages (comprehensive guides covering a topic in depth), detailed resources, or key sales pages—is more beneficial than linking randomly to low-value pages.

So, how many internal links are too many?

Is there a limit? Absolutely.

According to Google’s John Mueller, an excessive number of internal links can reduce their effectiveness.

A survey by Zyppy highlights that while more internal links generally correlate with increased traffic, this benefit has a threshold. The study found that URLs containing 50 or more links began to see a decline in traffic.

If a page have too many internal links, Google may choose not to follow or crawl all of them. This happens because an excessive number of links can dilute the PageRank (SEO authority) passed from the page. When too many links are included, the authority is spread thin, which can undermine the effectiveness of the internal linking strategy.

When determining the number of links to include on a page, remember that header, footer, and menu links are also counted as part of your total on-page links.

Optimizing Link Depth

In addition to the number of links, link depth is another important factor. Pages should ideally be no more than three clicks away from the homepage. This helps to improve both user experience (UX) and the site’s crawl efficiency. Pages buried deep in the site structure tend to receive significantly less SEO traffic. A study by My Rankings Metrics found that pages at depth 1 to 3 generate 9 times more SEO traffic than those at depth 4 or beyond.

Understanding internal link authority flow

Internal link authority plays a key role in optimizing a website for search engines, especially when it comes to distributing "link juice" (the SEO value passed from one page to another through hyperlinks, helping to improve rankings).

Link juice refers to the positive impact a link, particularly a "dofollow" link (a link that allows SEO authority to pass from one page to another), can have on a page’s ranking.

For example, if site A receives a dofollow link from site B, which has strong SEO metrics, site A benefits from site B’s authority. This helps improve site A’s visibility in Google’s search results.

Imagine a culinary blog (site A) receiving a dofollow link from a well-established site like Marmiton (site B). The blog will gain visibility by benefiting from Marmiton’s strong authority.

PageRank and authority distribution

PageRank is an algorithm used by Google to evaluate the importance of a page based on the quantity and quality of its incoming links. A site with a high PageRank (like Wikipedia) passes more powerful link juice through its internal and external links.

For example, if a page on your site receives a link from a high-authority site like Wikipedia, it will pass significant link juice to your page. Therefore, pages with a high PageRank, like those on Wikipedia or a major news site, pass more authority through their internal links.

Link juice optimization strategies

To optimize link juice, it’s important to manage the distribution of internal links. The position of these links plays a significant role in how effectively link juice flows.

For example, on an e-commerce homepage, you could add an internal link to a key product page, such as a page featuring new arrivals. Placing this link near the top of the page will give it more weight than if it were positioned at the bottom.

Links placed in the footer (bottom of the page) pass less link juice because search engines prioritize links "above the fold"—the part of the page visible without scrolling.

Site architecture: deep vs shallow

The site structure also plays a crucial role. Imagine a site with a deep architecture, where important pages are buried in subpages across several levels. This will dilute the link juice being passed between pages, as the authority decreases the further down the page is in the site hierarchy.

On the other hand, a shallow site structure (where key pages are easily accessible from the homepage) allows link juice to circulate more effectively between pages, improving overall SEO.

To avoid this issue, it's important to optimize the internal linking. Here are some best practices:

Make sure important pages are easily accessible.

Each page should have relevant internal links to help Google crawl them better.

Organize the site well with logical categories and subcategories.

Example:

Bad structure (too deep)

Home → Category → Subcategory → Page 1 → Page 2 → Page 3

Optimized structure

Home → Category → Page 1

Home → Category → Page 2

Home → Category → Page 3

The closer a page is to the homepage, the better it is for SEO.

Types of internal links and their strategic use

Let’s explore the main types of internal links and how to use them effectively :

Contextual Links

Contextual links are placed directly within the text of an article. For example, in an article about digital marketing, you might add a link to another article on popular marketing tools. These links guide readers while also strengthening your site's SEO by connecting different pages.

Here’s an example :

Navigation Links

Navigation links are found in the main menu of your site, such as links to the homepage or "About Us" page. These links help visitors quickly orient themselves on your site. Well-organized navigation improves the user experience and helps Google identify your site's most important pages.

Footer Links

Footer links are placed at the bottom of each page. For example, a link to your FAQ or contact page. These links redirect users to less visible but important pages, like legal notices or privacy policies. They can also improve the SEO of pages that are less visited.

The footer of Airbnb's website features a clear navigation with essential links, including help, resources for hosts and travelers etc.A clean design that makes accessing important information easy.

Sidebar Links

Sidebar links are typically found in the sidebars of your site, often on blog pages, linking to similar articles or popular categories. These links help guide users to other interesting content, increasing engagement and facilitating easy navigation across pages.

Hub and Spoke Model

If you want to organize your content effectively and boost your SEO, the Hub and Spoke model is a great way to do it. But what really makes this structure work? Internal links.

Here’s how it all connects:

The Hub links to the Spokes → The main page (hub) includes internal links pointing to related, more specific pages (spokes).

Spokes link back to the Hub → Each spoke page contains an internal link leading back to the central hub.

Spokes can link to each other → If two spoke pages are closely related (e.g., SEO and content marketing), they can also be internally linked.

Why does this matter?

✔️ It helps visitors find what they need more easily.

✔️ It signals to Google how your content is structured, which can improve your rankings.

✔️ It spreads authority across your pages, making your site stronger overall.

Internal links are what make the Hub and Spoke model powerful. Use them wisely, and you’ll create a site that’s both easy to navigate and great for SEO!

Breadcrumb Navigation

Breadcrumbs are a simple but powerful navigation tool that helps you and your visitors understand where they are on your site. Think of them like a trail of links that show the path from the homepage to the current page.

For example, if you're shopping on an e-commerce site, you might see something like this at the top of the page:

Home > Products > Shoes > Leather Sneakers

This makes it easy to go back to a previous category without hitting the back button or starting over. But breadcrumbs aren’t just great for users—they also help Google understand your site’s structure, making it easier to index your content properly.

By adding breadcrumbs, you're improving both user experience and SEO at the same time. So if your site has multiple categories or deep pages, using breadcrumbs is a smart move!

Each of these are breadcrumbs:

Effectively using contextual, navigation, and footer links, along with tools like the Hub and Spoke model and breadcrumbs, makes your site smoother and more efficient for users and Google.

Building your internal linking strategy

An effective internal linking strategy is essential for improving your website’s SEO and ensuring that your content gets the attention it deserves.Here’s a comprehensive approach to creating a robust internal linking strategy.

Content Audit and Opportunity Identification

The first step in building your internal linking strategy is performing a content audit. This means analyzing your existing content to identify pages that are performing well, those that need optimization, and those that should be deleted or merged. A content audit helps you see where your SEO stands and where improvements are needed. Identifying high-performing pages and content gaps will help optimize your site for better search engine visibility.

1. The next step is to identify priority pages on your site. These are the pages that should be prioritized in your internal linking strategy because they drive the most traffic or conversions. Typically, these are pillar pages, which cover broad topics central to your business. For example, if you run a travel blog, a pillar page could be "The Best Destinations in Europe," and the clusters would cover more specific topics like "Top Cities in Europe" or "European Vacation Tips."

Use tools like Google Analytics or SEMrush to track traffic and identify well-ranked pages that could benefit from additional internal links.

Google Analytics helps pinpoint your most visited pages, while SEMrush shows which pages could improve their rankings with better internal linking.

A key indicator is a page that ranks on the first page of Google but hasn’t yet reached the top 3—adding relevant internal links to this page can give it the boost it needs to climb higher.

2. Once you've identified your priority pages, the next step is to plan how to distribute link value (or link equity) across your site. Every internal link you create passes value from one page to another.The most important pages, like your pillar pages, should receive more internal links. This helps boost their authority and visibility on search engines.On the other hand, less critical pages should receive fewer internal links. By strategically placing your internal links, you help search engines understand which pages are most important on your site.

For example, let's say you have a website about SEO, and your main article is "The Ultimate Guide to SEO." This is an important page that you want to rank well on Google.

You also have other articles on related topics, like:

"What Are Backlinks and Why Do They Matter?"

"How to Write a Great Meta Description"

"Why Internal Linking Is Important"

In these articles, you add internal links pointing to your Ultimate Guide to SEO. This tells Google that your guide is a key page and should be ranked higher.

On the other hand, a page like "About Us" should have fewer internal links since it’s not as important for SEO.

3. Analyze content gaps for internal linking opportunities : Content gaps are areas on your site where there is missing or underdeveloped content. These gaps represent great opportunities to create new pages or blog posts that target important topics. After creating the new content, you can add internal links to your pillar pages, strengthening your internal linking structure.

Tools like InLinks help identify internal linking opportunities and optimize the internal link structure. These tools allow you to quickly find pages that lack internal links or need more. Google Search Console can also provide insights into which pages are receiving internal links and help you adjust your strategy as needed.

Topic Cluster Mapping

Internal links play a key role in the Topic Cluster strategy. By organizing your site's content around main topics (pillars) and subtopics (clusters), each subtopic page links back to the pillar page. This helps search engines better understand your site's structure and improves its ranking.

For example, if your pillar is “Vacations in France”, your clusters could be “France Travel Essentials” or “Best Cafés in France.” These supporting pages provide specific insights while reinforcing the main topic. This method enhances both user experience and your site's SEO.

By following these steps you can significantly improve your site’s SEO. Internal links help search engines understand your site structure and allow users to find content more easily. Additionally, using a topic cluster strategy to organize your internal links further enhances SEO and increases visibility in search engine results.

Advanced Internal Linking Patterns

Topic Clusters and Pillar Pages

When it comes to SEO, organizing your content into topic clusters (groups of related content) and pillar pages (broad, central pages) is crucial.

A pillar page acts as the foundation, covering a broad topic, while linking to specific subpages that dive deeper into related subjects.

This structure helps search engines understand your website better, improving your ranking. It also makes it easier for users to find relevant content, creating a smoother browsing experience and increasing your site's relevance.

Blog Architecture Strategies

A well-structured blog supports your overall SEO efforts by improving site navigation.

Think of your blog as a tree with clear branches: each blog post should link logically to relevant pillar pages and category pages. This setup helps both search engines and users find related content easily.

Strategic internal linking spreads link value across your site, improving authority and rankings. A clear blog structure, with relevant links, also helps search engines index your content more efficiently.

Internal Linking and Silo Structure

An effective internal linking strategy and silo structure (grouping related content into separate sections) are essential. A silo structure organizes content by theme, with a broad topic page (pillar) linking to specific subpages.

This method helps search engines understand your site's structure, which can improve rankings. Keep your internal links within the same silo to maintain relevance.

While silo structure is strict, cluster mapping (a more flexible linking approach) also improves SEO by linking related content around a central pillar page.

Both strategies enhance site organization and search engine crawling.

These elements work together to make your site easier to navigate, improve rankings, and provide users with a seamless browsing experience.

By organizing content logically and ensuring search engines can easily crawl your site, you can boost both visibility and performance.

Technical Implementation Guide

1. Structuring Links Properly in HTML

To ensure Google can read your links correctly:

Always use the <a> tag with a clear URL, for example: <a href=”https://my-site.com/page”>View the page</a>. This tells search engines and users where the link leads.

Avoid using JavaScript-generated links. JavaScript is a programming language used to make websites interactive, but some search engines struggle to read links created with it.

Ensure important links are visible as soon as the page loads and not hidden behind user actions like clicks.

2. Choosing the Right Anchor Text

Anchor text (the clickable words in a link) should be clear and relevant to the linked page.

Be specific: instead of "Click here", write "Check out our SEO tips".

Use different anchor texts: if you always use the same text, search engines might think you’re manipulating rankings.

Avoid vague words like "Learn more", which don’t describe the page’s content.

3. Fixing Broken Links and Managing Redirects

A broken link (one that leads to a deleted or missing page) creates frustration for users and harms SEO.

Check your links regularly with tools like Google Search Console.

Use 301 redirects when a page changes URL. A 301 redirect permanently sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one, ensuring users don’t land on an error page and that SEO value is preserved.

Avoid redirect chains (multiple redirects in a row), which slow down loading times.

4. Handling Pagination and Search Filters

If your site has many pages (like an online store or a blog with many articles), navigation should be well-structured.

Pagination refers to the way a website divides long lists of content into multiple pages, like Page 1, Page 2, Page 3.... It helps users browse content without overwhelming them with too much information at once. For SEO, each paginated page should be correctly linked so search engines can understand the relationship between them.

For search filters (price, size, color, etc.), prevent Google from indexing too many variations to avoid duplicate content and wasted crawl budget (the limited number of pages Google can index on your site).

5. Optimizing Links for Mobile Users

Since Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites, internal links should be easy to use on phones.

Make links easy to tap: if they’re too small or too close together, users may struggle to click them.

Ensure menus don’t hide important links.

Test your site on mobile using Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.

By following these steps, your site will be more user-friendly, better indexed by Google, and more effective at guiding visitors to the right content.

Measuring internal linking success

To improve your site's internal linking strategy, it's important to track key performance indicators (KPIs) and use the right tools. Here's how to measure and enhance the success of your internal linking efforts.

1. Key Metrics to Track

Number of internal links per page: Ensure that each important page is properly linked to other relevant pages on your site.

Clicks and Impressions (Google Search Console): These metrics show how often your pages appear in search results and how many times users click on them.

Click-through rate (CTR): Measures how many users actually click on internal links compared to how many times they were displayed.

Session Time: The longer a user stays on your site and navigates through different pages, the better your internal links are guiding them to relevant content.

Bounce Rate: If your bounce rate is high (users leaving the site quickly), it may indicate that your internal linking isn’t effectively leading users to useful pages.

2. Tools for Analyzing Internal Links

Google Search Console: Provides data on your pages’ performance and the links leading to them, helping you understand how well your pages perform in search results.

Google Analytics: Tracks user behavior on your website, including how internal links impact session duration and conversion rates.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider: Crawls your website to identify broken internal links and analyze your site's link structure.

Paid Site Audit Tools (Ahrefs, Semrush): These tools provide insights into internal link distribution and their impact on SEO performance.

Internal Link Juicer (WordPress Plugin): Automatically suggests and adds relevant internal links with customizable settings and anchor text (free with premium features available).

LinkWhisper: Uses AI to suggest internal linking opportunities, provides link reports, and monitors broken links—especially useful for WordPress sites.

Sitebulb: Offers visual link graphs, site architecture analysis, and reports on orphaned pages and linking opportunities.

3. Regular Audit Procedures

Conducting audits on your internal links is key to maintaining a healthy website structure. Here’s how to do it:

Fix broken links: Tools like Screaming Frog and Ahrefs help you identify and fix broken links (links that lead to pages that no longer exist). Broken links can hurt both your user experience and SEO rankings.

Review your website structure: Make sure important pages are just a few clicks away from the homepage. This will improve both user navigation and search engine indexing.

Optimize anchor text: Use clear, descriptive anchor text (the clickable text in a hyperlink) that tells both users and search engines what the linked page is about.

4. Performance Benchmarking

It’s essential to compare your metrics over time to see if your internal linking strategy is working. Here’s how to benchmark your performance:

Compare current data to past performance: Look at changes in traffic, rankings, and other key metrics from previous months to see the effect of your internal linking efforts.

Set concrete goals: For example, aim to reduce bounce rates or increase page views per session by improving the internal links on your site.

5. Measuring Return on Investment (ROI)

Tracking the ROI of your SEO efforts is one of the most important ways to prove the value of your internal linking strategy. Here’s how to do it:

Track conversions: Are your internal links driving users to take important actions, like making a purchase or signing up for your newsletter?

Before and after comparisons: Measure the success of your internal linking improvements by comparing performance before and after optimization. A good internal linking structure should result in higher traffic, lower bounce rates, and increased engagement.

By following these steps and using the right tools, you’ll be able to measure the success of your internal linking strategy and make data-driven decisions to improve your website's SEO performance.

Common internal linking mistakes to avoid

Here are some common mistakes to watch out for:

1. Over-optimization

It’s tempting to add as many internal links as possible, thinking it will improve SEO.

But stuffing a page with too many links spreads out its ranking power, making each link less effective.

Instead, focus on quality over quantity—only link when it makes sense for the reader.

2. Inconsistent anchor text

Your anchor text (the clickable words in a link) should clearly tell users and search engines what to expect.

Using vague phrases like "click here" or "this page" doesn’t provide any context. Instead, be descriptive.

For example, instead of "Learn more about this tool," say "Discover how InBlog’s SEO features can improve your content strategy."

3. Broken Internal Links

A broken link (one that leads to a non-existent page) frustrates users and makes Google think your site isn’t well maintained. Regularly check your site for 404 errors (pages that no longer exist) and update or remove broken links to keep everything running smoothly.

4. Poor Relevancy Matching

Every internal link should have a logical connection to the page it leads to. Linking unrelated pages just for SEO confuses users and weakens your content’s credibility.

A good rule of thumb: if the link doesn’t add value to the reader’s journey, it doesn’t belong there.

5. Ignoring User Experience

SEO is important, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of a good user experience (UX = how easy and enjoyable it is to use a website). If links are placed randomly or clutter the page, visitors may feel overwhelmed. Keep links natural, useful, and easy to follow—your readers (and Google) will thank you.

By avoiding these mistakes, you’ll create a clear, helpful, and SEO-friendly internal linking strategy that improves both your rankings and your visitors’ experience.

If you want to make this even easier, InBlog offers a great feature: the Google Search Console integration. It shows your top-performing pages directly in the dashboard, helping you quickly identify which pages to link to.

Conclusion

By now, you know that internal linking isn’t just about throwing links on a page—it’s about creating a strategic, user-friendly structure that helps both search engines and visitors navigate your site.

There’s no magic number of internal links per page, but the key is to keep them relevant, natural, and well-structured. Focus on guiding users to valuable content, distributing authority effectively, and avoiding common pitfalls like broken links or over-optimization.

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