What Is Internal Linking and Why Does It Matter?
If you've spent any time reading about SEO, you've probably heard plenty about backlinks — links from other websites pointing to yours. But there's another type of link that's just as powerful and completely within your control: internal links. These are links from one page on your website to another page on the same website.
For Australian small business owners, internal linking is one of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to improve your Google rankings. Yet it's something most businesses either ignore entirely or do without any real strategy. That's leaving a serious competitive advantage on the table.
How Internal Links Help Google Understand Your Website
Google uses software called crawlers (sometimes called bots or spiders) to explore your website. When a crawler lands on a page, it follows links to discover other pages. If a page on your site has no internal links pointing to it, Google may struggle to find it — or worse, consider it unimportant.
Internal links do two key things for your SEO:
- They help Google discover and index your pages — making sure your content actually shows up in search results.
- They pass 'link equity' (or 'link juice') between pages — signalling to Google which pages on your site are most valuable.
Think of it like a vote. When you link from your homepage to your services page, you're telling Google: 'This page matters.' The more internal links a page receives, the more authority it carries in Google's eyes.
The User Experience Bonus
Beyond SEO, internal links keep visitors on your website for longer. If someone lands on your blog post about, say, kitchen renovations and you link them to your portfolio page or a relevant service, they're more likely to explore further — and ultimately get in touch.
In Australia's competitive small business landscape, keeping a potential customer engaged for an extra 60 seconds could be the difference between a bounce and a booking.
Common Internal Linking Mistakes Australian Small Businesses Make
Before we get into best practices, let's look at what most businesses get wrong:
- Only linking from the main navigation — Your nav menu links are important, but internal links within your page content carry additional SEO weight.
- Using vague anchor text — Anchor text is the clickable words in a link. Phrases like 'click here' or 'read more' tell Google nothing. Use descriptive text like 'website design for Brisbane tradies' instead.
- Orphan pages — These are pages with no internal links pointing to them at all. They're essentially invisible to Google and users alike.
- Overdoing it — Stuffing 30 internal links into a single blog post looks spammy. Aim for quality and relevance over quantity.
- Never updating old content — When you publish new pages or posts, go back and add internal links from relevant existing pages. Many Aussie businesses publish and forget.
A Simple Internal Linking Strategy for Small Business Websites
You don't need to be an SEO expert to build a solid internal linking structure. Here's a practical approach you can start today:
1. Identify Your Most Important Pages
Start by listing the pages that matter most to your business — your homepage, key service pages, contact page, and any high-converting landing pages. These are your 'pillar' pages and they should receive the most internal links from other parts of your site.
2. Create Supporting Content That Links Back
Blog posts, FAQs, and resource pages are perfect for linking back to your pillar pages. For example, a blog post titled 'What to Look for in a Plumber in Melbourne' is a great place to link back to your plumbing services page. This type of content strategy — often called a 'hub and spoke' model — is used by some of Australia's most successful local businesses online.
3. Use Descriptive, Keyword-Rich Anchor Text
Instead of writing 'learn more about our services,' try something like 'explore our small business web design packages.' This gives Google context about what the linked page is about and can help it rank for that term.
4. Link Deep, Not Just to the Homepage
Many businesses accidentally funnel all their internal links back to the homepage. While your homepage is important, Google wants to see that your inner pages also hold value. Link to specific service pages, location pages, or blog posts whenever it makes sense.
5. Audit Your Existing Pages for Orphans
Use a free tool like Google Search Console or a crawler like Screaming Frog (free up to 500 URLs) to identify pages on your site that have no internal links pointing to them. Then find logical places on your site to add those links.
How Many Internal Links Should a Page Have?
There's no magic number, but a useful rule of thumb for Australian small business websites is to aim for 2–5 meaningful internal links per page or blog post. The key word is 'meaningful' — every link should serve either the reader or Google (ideally both).
For longer content pieces (like this one), you can go higher. But always ask yourself: 'Would a real person find this link helpful?' If the answer is no, leave it out.
Real-World Example: A Brisbane Café
Imagine a Brisbane café with a website featuring a homepage, a menu page, an events page, a gallery, and a blog. Their blog post about 'Top Brunch Spots in West End' could naturally link to their menu page and events page. Their homepage could link to their most recent blog post. Their events page could link to a contact form. This web of connections tells Google the whole site is active, relevant, and interconnected — which can meaningfully improve rankings for local searches like 'café West End Brisbane.'
Internal Linking Is Free — But It Takes Strategy
One of the best things about internal linking is that it costs nothing. It doesn't require a big budget or a paid tool subscription. What it does require is a clear content strategy and a habit of thinking about connections between your pages whenever you create or update content.
If you're not sure where to start, or if your current website structure makes good internal linking difficult, it might be time to talk to a professional. A well-structured website makes SEO far easier from the ground up. To learn more about how a professionally designed website can support your SEO goals, visit our website design for small business page and see how WebDevise can help your Australian business grow online.