@noelcetaSEO: Most sites link from important...

Most sites link from important pages to unimportant pages.

Homepage → about page → privacy policy.

That's backwards.

Link equity should flow TO money pages, not away from them.

Client had 10,000 internal links.
95% were pointing the wrong direction.

Fixed it. Rankings jumped 40% in 6 weeks: 🧵👇

1/ How internal linking should work

Link equity = ranking power.

Every page has it.
Links pass it to other pages.

The rule:
Link FROM less important pages TO more important pages.

Not:
Homepage → Privacy Policy

But:
Product pages → Homepage
Blog posts → Product pages
Support docs → Product pages

Flow equity upward to money pages.

2/ The hub and spoke model

Create content hubs that feed main pages.

Example for "running shoes" category:

Hub (money page):
/running-shoes/

Spokes (supporting content):

- /blog/best-running-shoes-for-marathons/ → links to hub
- /blog/running-shoe-sizing-guide/ → links to hub
- /blog/running-shoe-care-tips/ → links to hub
- /blog/trail-vs-road-running-shoes/ → links to hub

10 spokes = 10 internal links pointing to your money page.

Client implemented for 20 categories.
All categories ranked page 1 within 8 weeks.

3/ The orphan page problem

Pages with ZERO internal links pointing to them.

Google finds them through:

- Sitemap
- External backlinks
- Direct crawl

But they have no internal link equity.
They struggle to rank.

Found 847 orphan pages on client site.
Added 3-5 internal links to each.
67% saw ranking improvements.

Tool: Screaming Frog
Filter: Inlinks = 0

4/ Link equity distribution errors

Common mistakes:

❌ Every page links to every other page (footer links)
❌ Homepage links to 500 pages
❌ Important pages get 1-2 internal links
❌ Unimportant pages get 50+ links

Fix:

- Remove sitewide footer links (except legal)
- Limit homepage links to 50-100
- Give important pages 20+ internal links
- Give unimportant pages 2-5 links

Audit with Screaming Frog:
Export Inlinks report.
Sort by Link Score.

5/ Anchor text strategy

Most sites use:

- "Click here"
- "Read more"
- "Learn more"

Worthless for SEO.

Use descriptive anchor text:

- "best running shoes for flat feet"
- "complete guide to keyword research"
- "how to fix crawl budget issues"

Target keyword in anchor text = ranking signal.

But: Don't over-optimize.
Vary your anchors:

- 40% exact match
- 40% partial match
- 20% branded/generic

6/ The contextual linking opportunity

Links in content > links in navigation.

Why?

- Surrounded by relevant context
- Google understands relationship
- More natural
- Better user experience

Implementation:
When writing blog post, link to:

- 3-5 related blog posts
- 1-2 product/service pages
- 1 category page

Every piece of content = link building opportunity.

Client published 200 blog posts.
Each linked to 5 internal pages.
= 1,000 new contextual internal links.

7/ Monitoring internal link health

Check monthly:

□ Screaming Frog: Inlinks report
□ Which pages have most internal links?
□ Should be: Money pages

□ Google Search Console: Links report
□ Top linked pages from your site
□ Are they the right pages?

□ Broken internal links
□ Fix all 404 internal links
□ Update links to redirects

Client had 2,400 broken internal links.
Wasting link equity.

Internal linking checklist:

✅ Important pages get 20+ internal links
✅ Blog posts link to product pages
✅ No orphan pages (all have 3+ links)
✅ Use descriptive anchor text
✅ Remove excessive footer links
✅ Contextual links in body content
✅ Fix all broken internal links
✅ Link deeper (not just homepage)

Internal linking = free SEO boost.
Most sites completely ignore it.