Internal links turn six pages into one topic. Every page of a topic links to the others where the reader's next question comes up, the topic's main page links to all of them, and your strongest pages send links down to the pages that need them. Five minutes per page, every time you publish, and the map on your sheet becomes the map Google sees.
The next question
I think of every internal link as 'the next question'. A reader on "single or dual boiler" is about to ask "do I need a separate grinder" and, a bit later, "how often will I have to descale this thing". Each of those is a link, placed in the sentence where the question comes up. That is the whole art of it. Not "related posts" at the bottom. The next question, in the text, where it is asked.
The rule: every page of a topic links to at least two other pages of the same topic, and is linked from at least two. The consequence is that there are no orphans, a reader can travel the whole topic without using the search box, and Google sees a group of pages about one thing instead of six pages that happen to share a domain. Its starter guide says the same in plainer words: link to relevant resources, and use anchor text that says what the page is about (SEO starter guide (opens in new tab)).
| Link | From, to | Anchor text | Espresso example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sibling | A page, to another page of the same topic | The question | From "which type of machine" to "do you need a separate grinder?" |
| Up | A page, to the topic's main page | The topic | From "gasket swap" to "maintaining your espresso machine" |
| Down | The topic's main page, to every page in it | The questions | The maintenance page lists descaling, leaks, backflushing, gaskets |
| Strongest first | Your most-linked page, to a new gap page | The question | From the descaling page (the one other sites link to) to the new "water leaking" page |
| Across | A page, to a page in another topic, when the next question crosses | The question | From "which type of machine" to "how often should you descale?" |
Publishing "water leaking", five minutes. The page goes live. Open the map: its topic is "maintaining it", its siblings are descaling, backflushing, gasket swap and water filters. Add a sentence to the descaling page where scale and leaks meet, and link the new page from it. That page is also the one other sites link to most, so the new page gets your strongest link on day one. Add a link from the gasket page, where a worn gasket is one cause of a leak. Add the new page to the list on the maintenance main page. Then from the new page, link out to gasket swap and descaling where they come up. Three in, two out. Done.
Worked example: linking one new page into its topic
Step by step
- When a page goes live, open the map and find its siblings. The topic row tells you which pages should link to it. No guessing.
- Link to the new page from two siblings and from the topic's main page. In a sentence where the reader would ask that question, with the question as the anchor text.
- From the new page, link out to two siblings. Where their question comes up in the text, not in a list at the bottom.
- Send one link from your strongest page. The page with the most external links pointing at it, found in Search Console under Links. It passes the most weight.
- Once a quarter, look for orphans. Search Console's internal links report, sorted ascending. Anything with zero or one link gets two.
- Link down, not up. Your home page has enough. The gaps need it. And keep it to the links a reader would actually follow, not every phrase you could underline.
When you need this, and when you don't
You need this every time you publish, and once as an audit if you have an existing site. In my experience the audit finds a handful of good pages with no links to them at all, and fixing that is the cheapest ranking gain you will get this year.
You don't need to count the links in your navigation and footer. They are not next-question links, and Google treats them as furniture. The links in the text are the ones that build the topic.
Next
- Step 3 is done. Next: step 4, Write pages that get quoted, starting with What makes a page rank.
- If you would rather have the map built, sorted and linked for you: Done for you.