Internal Linking Strategy
Session 8.6 · ~5 min read
Internal links are the plumbing of your website. They determine how PageRank flows between pages, how Google discovers content, and which pages Google considers most important. For entity architecture, internal linking is not just about SEO mechanics. It is about declaring entity relationships through link patterns. Every internal link is a statement: "This page is related to that page." When those links consistently point toward entity-critical pages, you are telling Google, repeatedly, which pages define your entity.
The principle is straightforward. Your about page should be the most internally linked page on your site (after the homepage). Your contact page should be linked from every page. Your service pages should link to the about page and to each other. Your blog posts should link to relevant service pages and to the about page. Every link reinforces the entity architecture.
PageRank Distribution for Entity Pages
PageRank is Google's measure of page importance based on link equity. External links bring PageRank into your site. Internal links distribute it across your pages. If your blog has strong external links but none of those posts link to your about page, the PageRank stays on the blog. Your entity identity page starves.
The diagram shows healthy PageRank flow. External links enter through blog posts. Those posts distribute PageRank to the about page and service pages through internal links. Service pages link back to the about page. The homepage distributes PageRank through navigation links. The result: entity-critical pages accumulate PageRank from multiple sources.
Link Distribution Targets
Not all pages deserve equal internal linking attention. Entity-critical pages should receive disproportionately more internal links than supporting pages. The table below provides target link counts based on page type and entity importance.
| Page Type | Target: Links Received | Target: Links Given | Link Source Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| About page | From every page on the site | To services, team, homepage | Navigation + contextual from all content |
| Homepage | From every page (logo/nav link) | To about, services, contact, featured content | Navigation (automatic) |
| Contact page | From every page (nav or footer) | To about page, homepage | Navigation or footer link |
| Service pages | From about page, related blog posts, homepage | To about page, related services, case studies | Contextual from relevant content |
| Blog posts | From related posts, category pages | To about page, relevant services, related posts | Contextual from related content |
| Team/author pages | From blog posts (author byline links), about page | To about page, authored posts | Automatic byline links |
| Case studies | From service pages, about page | To service pages, about page | Contextual from service pages |
The key takeaway from this table: the about page should receive links from every page on your site. This is not an exaggeration. If your about page is in the main navigation, this happens automatically through the nav link. If it is not in the main navigation, you need to add contextual links from every content page.
Key concept: Your about page should be the most internally linked page on your site after the homepage. It is your entity identity document. Every internal link pointing to it is a vote saying: "This page defines who we are." Make sure every page on your site casts that vote.
Contextual vs. Navigational Links
There are two types of internal links: navigational and contextual. Navigational links appear in your header, footer, and sidebar. They are the same on every page. Contextual links appear within the body content of a page. They are unique to each page and link to relevant related content.
Both types matter, but they serve different purposes. Navigational links ensure baseline accessibility and distribute PageRank uniformly. Contextual links create topical relationships and distribute PageRank based on relevance. For entity architecture, you need both.
Navigational links handle the entity core: about, contact, and homepage are linked from every page through the navigation. Contextual links handle entity-topic associations: a blog post about SEO links to your SEO service page, which reinforces the entity-offering connection.
Anchor Text Optimization
The anchor text of your internal links matters. When you link to your about page, the anchor text tells Google what that page is about. Generic anchor text like "click here" or "learn more" wastes an opportunity. Descriptive anchor text like "about Acme Corp" or "our company history" reinforces entity identity.
For service page links, use the service name as anchor text: "our SEO audit service" rather than "this page." For the about page, use variations that include the entity name: "about Acme Corp," "Acme Corp's history," "who we are at Acme Corp." For the contact page, "contact Acme Corp" is better than just "contact us."
Do not over-optimize. Varying your anchor text naturally is better than using the exact same phrase every time. Google can detect over-optimized anchor text patterns and may discount the links. Aim for natural language that includes the relevant entity or topic keyword.
Link Audit Process
Auditing your internal links does not require expensive tools. You can use Screaming Frog (free for up to 500 URLs) or Google Search Console's Links report. The goal is to identify which pages receive the most internal links and which pages are under-linked.
If your about page has fewer internal links than your latest blog post, you have a distribution problem. If service pages only receive links from the navigation and nowhere else, they are under-supported. If blog posts never link to service pages, you are missing entity-offering connection opportunities.
Further Reading
- Google: Links Crawlable Best Practices
- Ahrefs: Internal Links for SEO
- Moz: Internal Links Guide
- Screaming Frog: SEO Spider Tool
Assignment
Audit and improve your internal linking for entity architecture.
- Use Screaming Frog or a similar crawler to generate an internal link report for your site. List the top 10 pages by number of internal links received.
- Check whether your about page is in the top 3. If not, identify 10 pages that should link to the about page but currently do not, and add contextual links.
- Review your 5 most recent blog posts. Does each one contain at least one contextual link to a service page and one to the about page? Add missing links.
- Check the anchor text of links pointing to your about page and service pages. Replace any generic anchors ("click here," "learn more") with descriptive, entity-relevant anchor text.