Internal Links: How Many in a Blog Post is Enough?

If you’re wondering how many internal links are ideal for a single blog post, there’s no specific number. However, hyperlinking 1-5 internal links for a 1000-word post or 5-10 links for a 2000-word post is recommended for SEO.

An internal link is a hyperlink within text that connects one page to another page within a website. Internal links help readers or users find more relevant information to satisfy their queries.

If you’re writing on digital marketing, for instance, and you’ve already written a detailed blog on keyword research, you can hyperlink keyword research to help readers find more information. The strategy is to ensure the internal links you hyperlink are relevant to the reader or article.

Internal links save you time and prevent you from adding ‘irrelevant’ information to an article at a specific time. It also helps you to respect your readers’ time, and search intents, and give them options on how to find information.

Why You Should Include Internal Links in Blog Posts

Below are significant reasons to include internal links in your blog posts.

Improves Website Navigation and User Engagement

Your readers and search engines use internal links to find content on your website. They also use internal links to navigate through pages to discover the content they want to locate.?

This process by which users and search engines utilize links to find content is called crawling. Having a strong internal link structure will ensure that your website is crawled efficiently, which is an essential SEO component.

Thus, hyperlinking internally helps users and search engines find the content they need.

Enhanced SEO and Search Engine Rankings

When searchers find content related to their keywords on your website and pages, they spend time navigating the site.

As far as the contents are relevant, readers will return to consume other content, recommend your site to others, or reference them. The more people find your content relevant and engage them, the higher the content ranks in search result pages.?

Hence, internal links improve SEO and search engine ranking.??

Increased Page Views and Reduced Bounce Rate

If you include a new statement or idea in a blog, chances are a curious audience won’t hesitate to find more information on that statement at that moment. This means they’ll leave your site to find the information elsewhere if you don’t have more details on the new idea internally.?

This process increases your site’s bounce rate and decreases your chance of appearing in search results pages. But when you include internal links, readers will remain on your website, although on different pages.

Establishing Content Hierarchy and Topical Relevance

Internal linking establishes a logical hierarchy and structure within your website. You can link to important pages that direct users to find more information.

A link from a high-priority or cornerstone article to supporting or related content helps search engines understand the significance of each page on your website.

Best Practices for Internal Linking

Use Relevant Anchor Text and Descriptive Link Labels

When you're linking internally, use words that describe what the linked text is about. For example, if you’re linking to help readers find more information on search engine optimisation, hyperlink search engine optimisation.?

Besides, ensure the anchor text is relatable to the links and not a similar anchor text on similar content on other pages.

Avoid Excessive Linking?

You don't want to overwhelm your readers with many links, because that can be frustrating for the user experience. Keep the important pages within a few clicks of the homepage so your audience and search engines can find and navigate them easily.?

Moreover, using many internal links can create problems for search engine crawlers. The Google crawler will not crawl pages with more than 150 links, so avoid spamming your blog with internal links.

Regularly Audit and Update Internal Links for SEO

You should always check the relevance of your internal links. In the long run, you will rank higher in search engine result pages if you make things easy for users and search engines through internal links.

Activate Open in New Page

While this tip is more relevant to external links, it’s helpful to activate the open-in-a-new page at the backend when you hyperlink. This technique helps the first piece of content stay open while the readers navigate to other pages to find information.

Activating the open-in-new page reminds users to return and finish reading or engage with the content.?

Keep it Natural

Don’t push texts into an article so you can hyperlink them. Always keep the word or words in your hyperlink internally natural. Avoid incorporating excessive internal links that might appear spammy and affect reading flow.?

Best Tools for Checking Internal and External Links

There are unique tools for different SEO purposes. While there are tools for keyword research or content analytics, there are also tools for checking links.?

You can find tools for investigating links, their strengths and weaknesses, and building link opportunities. While some of the tools are free with limitations, there are others you can pay for and enjoy the whole meal.?

Below are some linking tools you may find valuable.

SEMrush Site Audit

The SEMrush Site Audit tool provides a comprehensive overview of the SEO performance of your website, including an audit of your internal and external links.

Google Search Console

This free tool from Google provides insights into your website's performance in Google Search, including a list of broken links.?

If you're starting your website, try a free tool like Google Search Console. Once you have a better understanding of your website's linking needs, you can upgrade to a paid tool if necessary.?

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

This valuable tool can crawl your website and identify broken links, duplicate links, and other linking issues.

With the Screaming Frog SEO Crawler, you can crawl both small and large websites efficiently and interpret the results in real-time. Additionally, it collects critical onsite data to assist SEOs in making informed decisions.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs offers a variety of features for SEO professionals, including a link checker that can identify broken links and backlinks. This tool analyses websites and finds technical SEO and on-page SEO issues.

Check My Links

Using Check My Links, you can find broken links on your webpage. With this Chrome extension, you can locate broken links and repair them quickly.???

In Wrapping Up

The number of internal links you use depends on the length of a blog post, content depth, and user intent. It’s critical to prioritise quality, relevance, and the anchor text over quantity when it comes to internal linking.?

You should also ensure the linking strategy supports user navigation and provides additional valuable resources within your content.