Internal links connect different pages of your website. They guide users and search engines to new content, which supports your SEO efforts.
However, internal linking mistakes like orphan pages or overlinking can hurt search performance.
Fixing internal linking mistakes is important because it:
- Helps search engines crawl and index your site efficiently
- Distributes link equity to important pages
- Improves user experience by guiding visitors to relevant pages
- Boosts rankings and traffic performance
Case Study: Internal Linking as a Competitive Edge
Internal linking helps brands gain a competitive advantage. To illustrate this, we’ve analyzed the SEO performance of two marketplace software startups with similar domain Authority Scores (a metric that measures a domain’s overall quality and SEO performance).
Startup A has well-organized internal links with only a few dozen minor issues:
Startup B has thousands of major internal linking issues, including nofollow internal links and links with no anchor text. We’ll explain these issues in more detail later on.
Despite similar Domain Authority, Startup A outperforms Startup B. For example, Startup A ranks 8% of its total keywords on the first page of the search engine results pages (SERPs), whereas Startup B ranks 6.3%.
This difference translates into Startup A having more than four times the monthly organic traffic that Startup B has.
Here’s Startup A’s organic traffic performance in Semrush’s Organic Research tool:
And here’s the same view for Startup B:
Many factors affect these brands’ SEO performance. But fixing internal linking issues, like the ones below, has almost certainly helped Startup A increase search visits.
Now, let’s get into some common internal linking mistakes:
1. Using Irrelevant or Over-Optimized Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable text of a hyperlink. It should reflect the content of the page it links to. Some sites use non-descriptive “click here” or other vague, irrelevant text.
Another issue is over-optimized anchor text. This involves linking a keyword phrase repeatedly in an unnatural way to manipulate rankings, also known as keyword stuffing.
For example, if you link repeatedly to your webpage describing your “Chicago Florist” services with long, keyword-stuffed anchor text—like “Chicago florist flower shop in Chicago”—you are making this mistake.
Irrelevant or over-optimized anchor text confuses readers and search engines, violates Google’s spam policies, and makes content feel unnatural.
How to Fix This Mistake
Follow these best practices to ensure your anchor text is relevant and properly optimized.
Keep anchor text descriptive: Let users know what they’ll see after clicking a link. For example, here’s a sentence with descriptive anchor text:
Use natural language: Anchor text should flow naturally within sentences.
Use keywords sparingly: Using relevant keywords as anchor text is good. But don’t overdo it, and mix up your anchor text variations.
Prioritize user experience: Would a human easily understand where the link leads? Would the page provide users with helpful info? If not, rewrite it accordingly.
2. Sending the User to a Broken Link
A broken link is a hyperlink that points to a non-existent or inaccessible page and often returns a 404 (not found) error.
Like this one:
Broken links happen because of several reasons:
- Deleted or moved pages without proper redirects: This disrupts the flow of link equity (also called “link juice”). Pages can’t pass their authority to linked pages, hurting rankings.
- Typographical errors in the URL: This hurts the user browsing experience. Both users and search engines may see frequent typos as signs of a poorly maintained site.
- Website restructuring: Changing URL structures can lead search bots to multiple broken links. When search engines waste crawl budget on 404 errors, they may fail to index important pages promptly.
How to Fix This Mistake
Identify and replace broken links with correct URLs.
Doing this manually is time-consuming because you must track every instance of internal linking and record changes any time a page is deleted or moved.
Semrush’s Site Audit tool automates this process. It identifies broken links and other technical on-page issues.
To start, head to the tool, add your domain, and click “Start Audit.”
Follow the instructions to configure the tool.
Automate regular site audits by setting the frequency in the “Schedule” tab.
Then, click “Start Site Audit.”
Once the audit is done, navigate to the “Issues” tab. Type “broken” in the search bar to identify broken links:
Click “# internal links are broken” to see a list of broken links on the site. Click one of the links to learn more about the issue.
On the next screen, click “# URLs” under “Incoming Internal Links” to list all the pages that link to the broken link you’re analyzing.
You can now open your content management system (CMS) to remove the broken link from each linking page or add a different one.
Run regular site audits to automatically get notified about broken links.
3. Forcing Unnatural Internal Links into Your Content
Unnatural internal links appear out of context or disrupt content flow.
Like this:
A link to a local SEO guide doesn’t fit the sentence about writing blog content.
Unnatural links can also appear in headers or callout boxes, which distracts from the main content.
Imagine reading the title:
| “How to Write Better Blog Posts – Read Our Guide”. |
This encourages the user to click away from the current page, and it’s unclear where the link is sending them.
Unnatural links negatively affect SEO and user experience in several ways:
- Diluted topical relevance: Search engines may misunderstand the relationship between pages when links feel forced or irrelevant.
- Disrupted content flow: Unnatural links interrupt the reader’s path and make text harder to follow.
- Reduced user trust: Users may question the credibility or intent of links that appear out of place, damaging trust.
- Increased bounce rates: Visitors who land on unrelated pages are more likely to leave quickly, lowering key engagement metrics like session duration.
How to Fix This Mistake
Link in contextually relevant places: Surround the link with related text. Such as in this example:
|
“When optimizing your website, it’s important to consider site structure, as it helps search engines and users navigate your content more effectively.” |
Use descriptive anchor text: Avoid “click here” or other vague anchor text that doesn’t tell users what to expect. Here’s a good example:
|
“For a deeper dive into this topic, check out our internal linking best practices guide.” |
Avoid forcing links in headers or callout boxes: Headers and callout boxes should be concise and easy to read. If a link disrupts their clarity, it’s better to place it within the body text.
Space out your links naturally: Spread internal links throughout your content. Each link should serve a purpose without overwhelming the reader.
Think about user intent: Before adding an internal link, ask if the user would logically want to visit the linked page next.
4. Adding Too Many Links on a Page
A page overloaded with internal links is hard for users and search engines to follow.
Instead of guiding them to relevant pages, excessive linking distracts users and reduces readability. John Mueller, a Google Search Relations coordinator, notes that too many links dilute site structure:
… if you do dilute the value of your site structure by having so many internal links that we don’t see a structure anymore, then that does make it harder for us to understand what you think is important on your website.
A common internal linking mistake is linking multiple times to the same article within a single page. This practice won’t necessarily help the target article.
How to Fix This Mistake
Keep links purposeful: Every internal link should serve a relevant purpose, such as helping visitors or bots navigate.
Link strategically to the same resource: If repeated links are needed, space them out.
Audit your internal links: Use Semrush’s Site Audit to identify pages with excessive internal links. Run the audit, navigate to the “Issues” tab, and check if the audit identified too many on-page links on some pages.
Then, review and cut excessive linking on selected pages.
Of course, not all problematic links are broken. Sometimes links work, but only after sending users or crawlers on a detour.
5. Incorrectly Using Redirects
Redirects are instructions that automatically send users and search engine bots from one URL to another. They guide visitors to the correct page when a URL has been changed or deleted.
Common types include:
- 301 redirect: A permanent redirect that transfers most link equity (SEO value) to the new URL.
- 302 redirect: A temporary redirect that does not pass full link equity as it’s expected that the original URL will return.
When internal links rely on faulty redirects, you lose the very benefits of internal linking: fast navigation, strong link equity, and efficient crawling. Here are common mistakes to avoid:
- A 302 is mistakenly used for a permanent page change. Search engines won’t pass link equity to the new page, hurting its SEO performance.
- Using a 301 redirect when a 302 is needed means that the original URL is likely to be deindexed. The page loses its rankings even though you plan to bring it back later.
- Two or more URLs redirect to each other in an infinite cycle, such as Page A → Page B → Page A. This creates a dead end called a redirect loop and prevents users and bots from reaching the content.
- Multiple redirects occur in a sequence, creating a redirect chain. Each redirect increases page load time and dilutes link equity.
How to Fix This Mistake
Use Semrush’s Site Audit to identify faulty redirects. Once the audit is completed, head to the “Issues” tab and check if redirect loops and similar issues have been flagged.
Also, ensure you apply redirects properly by following these rules:
- Use a 301 redirect if the page has been permanently moved or deleted
- Use a 302 redirect only for temporary changes (e.g., A/B testing, seasonal promotions)
- Replace redirect chains by redirecting the original URL directly to the final destination (e.g., Page A → Page D)
- Ensure that every redirect points to a valid, accessible URL and doesn’t create an endless loop
Even if your redirects are correctly implemented, your most valuable pages won’t benefit if they’re buried too deep in your site structure.
6. Burying Important Pages
Service pages, high-converting articles, and other important pages should be no more than three clicks away from the homepage, via internal links. Burying them too many clicks away reduces their visibility.
Here’s a visual example of good website architecture:
And here’s an example of a deep architecture in which more than three clicks are needed to reach certain pages:
As important pages get buried, they also receive less link equity through internal links. And miss on this important ranking boost.
How to Fix This Mistake
Keep pages within three clicks of the homepage by reducing crawl depth.
The key step here is to choose a site structure that aligns with your business’ goals, users, and size.
An ecommerce site, for example, might use product categories as its core structure. These categories would link to related products and enable users to find the desired page quickly.
Content assets should be structured similarly.
For instance, Semrush’s blog groups content into four broad categories: “SEO”, “Marketing”, “News & Research”, and “Product.” Each category includes subcategories with related blog posts.
SaaS sites, meanwhile, should offer shallow paths to their product or solution pages. A well-structured SaaS site typically follows a flow like: Homepage → Product Pages → Feature Pages.
Baremetrics’ homepage is a case in point:
This SaaS site structure ensures prospects never have to dig through layers to understand the product.
7. Unintentionally Creating Orphan Pages
Orphan pages are webpages with no links pointing to them from anywhere on your website. They are “orphaned” because no internal linking connects them to the site’s navigation or other content.
Orphan pages are bad for SEO. Search engines may struggle to find and index pages with no internal links. Especially if those pages aren’t included in a sitemap.
And without internal links, pages also miss out on link equity from other pages. This makes it harder for them to rank well in search.
Site owners often create orphan pages accidentally. For instance, new content is published but not linked from any existing page. Or a page URL is changed but old internal links are not updated.
How to Fix This Mistake
Semrush’s Site Audit can identify orphaned pages. Complete the audit and then head to the “Issues” tab. You can find orphaned pages listed in the “Notices” section.
Review these orphaned pages and link to them from relevant pages.
Also, ensure each newly published page receives internal links. And include important pages in the navigation menu and sitemap to make sure they get indexed and don’t end up orphaned.
8. Linking to the Wrong Pages in Your Menu and Footer
Your homepage, which hosts menu and footer sections, is usually the most authoritative page of your site. It gets more backlinks than most other pages. As in this example:
You can pass the homepage’s link equity to other pages by linking to them in your menu and footer.
Also, the menu and footer appear on every page of your site. This means that linked pages will receive link equity from every page your menu and footer appear on.
And as linked pages appear in multiple places, it will take less time for search bots to find and index them.
A website’s menu and footer shouldn’t be used to link to low-value pages such as outdated blog posts or PPC landing pages. And these areas shouldn’t contain too many internal links either.
How to Fix This Mistake
Prioritize high-value pages: Link to product pages, category pages, and high-converting pillar pages because these drive traffic and conversions. And category pages will pass link equity to their individual pages.
Analyze user intent: Understand what kind of pages your users frequently search for or visit, such as “Pricing” or “Case studies.” Link to these pages because they can impact conversions.
Keep menu and footer concise: Remove any pages that don’t contribute to revenue and traffic goals. Too many links in the menu and footer dilute the amount of link equity your homepage can pass on.
Use descriptive anchor text: Use anchor text that teaches Google and users what the linked page is about. For instance, use “Enterprise CRM Software” instead of “Solutions.” Like in this footer example:
9. Using the Nofollow Attribute
The rel=”nofollow” attribute instructs search engines not to pass link equity to a linked page. Here’s what it looks like in HTML:
Applying the nofollow attribute to internal links isn’t the best idea. Internal linking is typically meant to distribute link equity to linked pages and help search engine bots discover and crawl important pages.
There are rare exceptions. For instance, you might use the nofollow links for pages that shouldn’t be indexed, like login pages or PPC landing pages.
How to Fix This Mistake
Semrush’s Site Audit can be of help. Complete the audit and head to the “Issues” tab. You’ll find nofollow internal links in the “Warnings” section.
You can then remove nofollow attributes from internal links.
Also, consider using noindex to prevent Google from indexing specific pages. Or block pages in a robots.txt file if you don’t want them crawled.
Avoid Internal Linking Mistakes on Your Website
Internal links can boost the organic performance of target pages. And improve your site’s rankings, visits, and conversions.
Semrush offers a powerful tool to aid these efforts. Site Audit can analyze your site continuously and flag any internal linking problems. So that nothing is holding back your search performance.