You know that feeling when you're reading a great article, and suddenly you want to learn more about a specific topic mentioned? But there's no link to click. Just... nothing.
Pretty frustrating, right?
That's exactly what happens when websites don't have a solid internal linking strategy.
Your readers hit these dead ends, and search engines struggle to figure out how your pages fit together.
Here's the thing - most WordPress site owners pour their energy into creating amazing content.
But they miss out on one of the most powerful tools at their disposal: connecting their pages together in a way that makes sense.
When you nail your internal linking strategy, you're not just helping your readers find more relevant content.
You're also building a structure that search engines love.
We've seen sites keep readers engaged up to 40% longer simply because they found exactly what they were looking for, right when they needed it.
Whether you're running a personal blog or managing a business website, you're about to learn how to turn isolated content pieces into a well-connected network of valuable information.
What Makes Internal Links Special?
You should think of internal links as the pathways between different rooms in your house. Each room is a page on your website, and the doorways connecting them are internal links.
These links come in different shapes and sizes:
The links in your navigation menu (like the one at the top of your site)
Links naturally placed within the body of your content
Footer links that help visitors find important pages
Breadcrumb trails showing where they are on your site
Links embedded in images
You won't need to mess with any code to create these links in WordPress - it's all point and click. But knowing where and when to place them is where the real magic happens.
However, you might be wondering why you should care about internal links in the first place.
Why Internal Links Matter So Much
One of the coolest things about internal links is something called "link equity" - it's how you pass authority and ranking power between your website's pages.
You acquire link equity by doing proper link building - essentially securing the links from other websites to your own.
And when you're building your WordPress site, you're creating an internal network where this "link juice" flows from page to page.
Think of it like water flowing through pipes - the stronger the flow, the better your pages can rank in search results.
Every time you create an internal link, you're transferring some of this valuable authority from one page to another. The strength of this transfer depends on a few key things:
How much authority the linking page has
How relevant it is to the page you're linking to
The overall authority of your website
Both internal and external links play into this.
Pages with fewer outgoing links tend to pass more valuable equity to each linked page - kind of like dividing a pie into fewer pieces means bigger slices for everyone.
Here's what makes link equity really powerful for your WordPress site: it builds up over time.
As you create more high-quality internal links, you're setting up a system where your strongest pages help boost your weaker ones.
But it's not just about search engines.
Internal links make a huge difference in how long people stay on your site. Think about it - if someone can easily find related content that answers their questions, they'll stick around longer.
And this is where it gets really interesting.
From Google’s documentation leak in 2024 and their antitrust trials, we learned something fascinating: Google tracks how users interact with your site.
When people spend more time browsing your pages than usual, Google sees that as a good sign and tends to rank your site better.
So good internal linking does two big things:
It helps search engines understand and rank your content better
It keeps real people engaged with your site longer, which then signals to Google that your content is worth showing to more people
Let me show you exactly how to find the best internal linking opportunities for your site.
How to Find Internal Linking Opportunities on Your WordPress Site
You'll find that adding internal links to your WordPress site becomes second nature with the right tool at your disposal ;)
However, some would argue that you don't even need a tool.
Well, I'd even agree with them (sometimes). If your website has less than 100 or 150 pages, you'll likely be able to connect all of them without investing too much of your time and energy.
But what happens once your website reaches the stage of having hundreds or thousands of pages?
The job of making all of those internal connections becomes increasingly hard as you publish more pages, because us humans are not built to contain all of the information about every single page in our brains.
Or how we can connect each page to another page. Or with 10+ pages.
And even if we were... why spend so much of our time and energy doing it on our own?
With Linkter at your disposal, you can instantly discover highly relevant linking opportunities for every page of your website.
And not only that - you can put those internal links in place by leveraging the latest AI models within seconds, without spending unnecessary time trying to figure it out on your own.
Let me show you how.
How to Add Internal Links on WordPress in Seconds
To add internal links on your WordPress website, you'll start by signing up and syncing your website to Linkter.
The syncing process takes anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes depending on the size of your website.
Linkter uses cutting-edge tech (machine learning, LLM models, and a bunch of other smart stuff) to give you top-tier internal linking suggestions.
After syncing wraps up, you'll spot all your internal linking chances right in the Copilot section.
Copilot shows you every linking opportunity on your site. It ranks them based on how well two pages match up content-wise.
You can pick between matching pages by topic or by specific keywords too.
But what if you want to build internal links for specific pages only? That's where Matchmaker comes in handy.
Just head to Matchmaker, drop in the URL you want to build links for, and boom - you'll see all your options laid out.
Matchmaker runs on the same engine as Copilot, but it lets you zero in on opportunities for one specific page.
If you're curious to learn more about these features and when to use them, check out our video:
Choosing the Right Anchor Text (And What to Skip)
When I pick anchor texts for my website's internal links, I focus on words that tell readers exactly what they'll find when they click, while keeping the writing smooth and easy to read.
To make this easier, I use Linkter's "Anchor text manager". By connecting your Google Search Console data to Linkter, the anchor text manager gets all the relevant keywords for your pages.
This puts valuable data right into your workflow. From there, you can pick and choose which anchor texts fit best for each internal link.
Don't worry if you're just starting out and don't have Search Console data yet. Our system will suggest relevant anchor texts based on your content.
You can also add any anchor text you think works well - it's totally up to you.
Here are some rules you should try to follow when it comes to picking anchor texts:
Use specific words that tell readers what they'll find. Skip generic stuff like "click here" or "read more". Go for clear descriptions like "WordPress security tips" or "beginner's guide to SEO"
Mix up your anchor text variations. Using the exact same words over and over can make search engines suspicious. Use different ways to say the same thing while keeping it clear
Keep your anchor texts short but meaningful. Single words usually don't say enough, but you don't want a whole sentence either. Aim for 2-4 words that capture the main idea
Take a look at your anchor texts now and then to make sure you're keeping things varied and natural.
Should You Link Between Posts and Pages?
Yes! Linking between posts and pages on your WordPress site creates a network that both visitors and search engines will appreciate.
It also plays a huge role in spreading that ranking power to the pages you want to rank better.
Here's something interesting about SEO that most people miss: landing pages (like service or feature pages) don't naturally get as many quality backlinks as blog posts do.
If you think about it - why would another website link to your service page? They're way more likely to link to a helpful blog post that teaches their readers something valuable.
What does this mean? Your blog posts end up with most of the link power, while your service pages might struggle to rank.
This is where smart internal linking saves the day. Once your blog has built up that sweet link power, you can spread it around to your service pages, giving them the boost they need to climb up in search results.
Linkter looks at all the pages on your site when making suggestions, making sure that link power flows where it needs to go.
What About Internal Linking Between WordPress Categories?
When it comes to category pages, things work a bit differently. While linking between posts and pages is great, linking to categories isn't something you'll do as often.
Again, put yourself in your reader's shoes - how useful is it to send them to a category page with dozens or hundreds of posts to choose from?
Most readers will bounce right off those pages because they're not sure where to go next.
But that doesn't mean you should write off category pages completely! They're super important for organizing your site. You just need to use them the right way.
Categories work best when they're:
Listed in your top navigation menu
Included in your footer menu
Used to help readers browse related topics
You should imagine categories like sections in a store - you want signs pointing to them, but you don't need every product to reference the section it's in.
The most natural direction for category links is categories → posts. That makes perfect sense because it helps readers discover more specific content about topics they're interested in.
Best Practices for WordPress Internal Linking
Let me share 6 key practices I've seen make a real difference in how websites perform. These come from years of working with WordPress sites of all sizes.
Don't Overdo Your Link Text
I see this mistake all the time - people try so hard to perfect their link text that they end up making it look unnatural to search engines.
Mix things up naturally. Instead of using the exact same keyword every time, try different ways to say it. If you're linking to a page about site security, you might use:
"site protection tips"
"security best practices"
"ways to keep your site safe"
This feels more natural to readers and keeps search engines happy too.
More Links Usually Mean Better Results
Unlike most SEO stuff where you need to be super careful, internal linking is pretty forgiving. More links usually work better, as long as they make sense for your readers.
I usually aim for a minimum 5-7 relevant internal links in each post, spread throughout the content where they fit naturally. Sometimes I even go for big numbers, like 20 or 30 internal links. I have yet to see a moment where more internal links gets me punished.
More internal links simply help to:
Keep readers moving through your site
Spread more link juice between pages
Make your content network stronger
Show search engines how your pages connect
Plan Your Linking Structure
You should always start with your most important pages at the top of your structure. These might be:
Your main service or product pages
Key resource articles
Core topic pages
Then connect your other content to these main pages in ways that feel natural and helpful. The higher up the structure certain pages are, the more value Google places on them.
Give Every Page Some Love
Nothing's worse than orphaned content - pages that sit alone with no links pointing to them.
I check regularly for these lonely pages and make sure they get connected back into my site's network.
A practical way to solve this within seconds is to:
Use Linkter's orphan page report to spot pages that have no internal links pointing to them
Add those links immediately by choosing one of the options Linkter gives you
That's it. It's really that easy.
However, make sure you remember to check your links now and then to make sure they still work and lead to relevant pages. A quick scan every few months keeps everything running smoothly.
And also, here's the in-depth video talking about orphan pages and how to use Linkter to ensure you got none!
Skip the Random Links
You know what can really hurt your WordPress site's SEO and make readers scratch their heads? Putting in links that don't match what you're talking about.
Let me paint you a picture: imagine reading a post about garden tools, and suddenly there's a link to cryptocurrency trading (and while we're at it, please don't write about crypto and gardening on the same website).
When I build internal links, I stick to connecting pages that naturally fit together. Here's why this matters so much:
Your readers want links that help them learn more about what they're reading right now
Search engines look at link context to figure out what your pages are about
Random links make your site feel messy and unprofessional
Think about every internal link as part of a conversation with your reader. Would it make sense to bring up that topic right now? If not, skip it.
Some tips to keep your links relevant:
Link pages that share the same general topic
Use different words in your link text, but keep them on-topic
Make sure older content links to newer stuff about the same topic
Build connections that help readers find more of what interests them
Keep Your Link Power Flowing
Here's a simple but super important tip about the technical side of internal links: don't block their power with the "nofollow" tag.
Quick tech check: right-click on any page, pick "view page source," and use Ctrl + F to look for "rel=nofollow" in your internal links.
If you find any, you're accidentally telling search engines not to pass link power between your pages.
Lots of other ways to check for this:
Nofollow browser extension for individual pages
Screaming Frog for a site-wide report
When you're linking between your own pages, you want that link power to flow freely. Save the nofollow tags for external stuff like user comments or sponsored content.
Frequently Questions About Internal Linking
Can I automate all of my internal linking?
Complete automation isn't the right way to do internal linking - at least not yet.
While we are seeing groundbreaking changes in the world of AI agents and them being applied to varying SEO processes, there's a lot of nuance when it comes to internal linking that LLM models are not capable of grasping yet.
If and when we get to the point of complete automation - we'll make sure you can do it with Linkter.
What's the simplest way to add internal links in WordPress?
Have you heard of this tool… what's it called?
Oh, yeah, it's Linkter. Super easy and simple to do it. It usually takes me about 30-60 seconds to build an internal link using it.
And minimum brain power too.
What makes internal links good or bad?
Good internal links feel natural - like they belong right where they are. Bad ones stick out like a sore thumb and confuse readers.
Good internal links:
Connect related topics together
Use clear, descriptive words
Help readers learn more about what interests them
Spread link power to pages that need it
Bad internal links:
Jump between unrelated topics
Use vague words like "click here"
Lead readers down random paths
Block link power with technical mistakes
Let's Put This All Together!
Building a solid internal linking structure takes time and attention, but the payoff is worth it. Your readers find what they need, search engines understand your site better, and your content works harder for you.
Remember why this matters:
You help readers discover more useful content
Search engines rank your pages better
People spend more time on your site
Your most important pages get the attention they deserve
Start small, keep it natural, and focus on making helpful connections between your pages. Whether you do it manually or use tools like Linkter to help, the key is making those connections make sense for your readers.
Good luck building those links! And if you ever feel stuck, you know where to find us - we are here to make this whole process a lot easier for you.
