Your latest post isn’t getting the traffic it deserves. You’ve checked all the SEO boxes, researched keywords thoroughly, and created genuinely helpful content. Yet Google barely notices. For many bloggers, this moment is equal parts confusion and heartbreak.
So why can’t search engines, or readers, seem to find it?
One likely culprit: Your internal linking is not pulling its weight.
Unlike many SEO tactics, internal links are fully in your control, and when used strategically, they quietly work in the background to help both visitors and search engines navigate your site while boosting your visibility.
In this guide, you’ll:
- Learn why internal links are essential for WordPress SEO.
- Get six best practices that actually move the needle.
- Understand how to place links for maximum impact.
- Explore how tools like SEOPress can streamline your approach, turning your site into a tightly connected, high-performing content ecosystem.
Let’s dive in.
Why internal linking matters for WordPress SEO success
Internal linking is all about creating connections between pages on your own website. Think of it as building a network of signposts that help both your visitors and search engines move smoothly through your content. Each link passes along a bit of SEO value, or “link equity”, which tells search engines which pages on your site matter most.
When done well, internal linking offers three big wins:
🚀 It boosts your SEO by spreading authority across your site.
🧭 It makes navigation easier for users by providing clear paths to follow.
🛑 It encourages people to stick around longer by pointing them to related content they’re likely to find useful.
Unlike tactics that rely on outside validation, internal linking puts you in the driver’s seat, letting you shape how search engines understand your site’s structure and priorities.
Internal vs. external links
Internal links point from one page on your domain to another (like example.com to example.com/page), helping keep users on your site while sharing SEO value among your pages.
External links, on the other hand, lead to different websites entirely (like example.com to otherdomain.com), sending both visitors and authority away. Both play a role in solid SEO, but internal links can be especially powerful for building engagement and reinforcing your site’s credibility.
6 WordPress internal linking best practices that get results
Internal linking is one thing, but knowing how to do it well is the secret to driving real gains in rankings, traffic, and engagement. Here’s what to focus on:
1. Optimize your anchor text
Anchor text – the visible, clickable words in a hyperlink – plays a big role in helping both users and search engines understand what the linked page is about. To get the most out of it, steer clear of vague phrases like “click here,” “read more,” or “this article,” when you’re adding internal links. These don’t give any context and won’t help your SEO.
Instead, aim for anchor text that’s descriptive and rich in relevant keywords, so it’s crystal clear what someone will find when they click.
❌ Avoid these:
- Click here to learn about SEO.
- Read more about WordPress.
- This page has useful information.
✅ Better examples:
- Our WordPress SEO guide explains how to optimize meta descriptions.
- Learn how to set up XML sitemaps for better crawlability.
- Check our step-by-step tutorial on fixing broken links.
2. Maintain a logical link structure and hierarchy
Think of your internal links like a roadmap – it should be obvious where the most important destinations are.
- Start by identifying your pillar content: The in-depth, high-value pages that sit at the heart of your site. These are the ones that should receive the lion’s share of internal links to signal their importance to search engines.
- Position your most valuable internal links higher up in the content (ideally within the first few paragraphs) to give those priority pages the best shot at visibility. Links buried at the bottom are far less likely to be clicked or crawled, meaning they pass on less authority.
- Structurally, aim for a clear pyramid-style hierarchy: Your homepage at the top, key category or topic pages in the middle, and individual blog posts at the base. This kind of linking structure not only supports better indexing but also helps visitors intuitively navigate your site.
3. Avoid link stuffing or spamming
Internal links are a smart SEO tool, but going overboard can backfire. Along with overwhelming your readers, stuffing an article with dozens of links can water down their value and make the content harder to navigate.
Your goal is a smooth, helpful experience for humans, not just ticking boxes for search engines.
So, how many links is too many? There’s no hard limit. Google’s John Mueller has said there’s no cap and no optimal number on the number of links.
Best practice is to simply use links that serve your reader.
✅ Example: Linking to a deep-dive post when you mention a related concept adds value.
❌ Example: Linking every third word to another article quickly becomes noise.
Focus on reader benefit. Every link should serve a purpose, enhancing understanding, offering next steps, or answering a related question.
4. Only link to relevant and important pages
Relevance is key when it comes to building a strong internal linking strategy. Every link should have a clear purpose, connecting readers to content that genuinely builds on what they’re already exploring. Dropping in unrelated links is a fast track to confusing your visitors and weakening your SEO.
When deciding what to link to, focus on pages that deliver real value, like:
- High-converting pages, like product or service pages.
- Cornerstone content, including your in-depth guides or big-topic explainers.
- Helpful explainer posts that unpack key concepts you’ve mentioned.
- Recent expansions, such as newer content that continues the conversation.
Don’t overlook WordPress taxonomies like categories and tags. These tools create automatic archive pages that naturally group related content – great for both SEO and user experience.
5. Fix broken links
Broken links are annoying for visitors, and they also drain your SEO potential. When a page leads to a 404 error, you lose valuable link equity and disrupt both user flow and site authority. This usually happens when URLs change, pages get deleted without redirects, or typos slip in.
Make it a habit to run regular broken link audits as part of your WordPress upkeep. 🛠️ Tools like SEOPress’s site audit can scan your site automatically and flag any issues.
Once you spot a broken link, you’ve got three smart fixes:
🔗 Update it if the page still exists under a new URL.
📄 Swap it for a related piece of content if the original is no longer available.
❌ Remove it altogether if there’s nothing relevant to link to.
For pages with strong backlinks or high traffic, always set up a 301 redirect to a relevant alternative. That way, you preserve your link equity and keep both users and search engines happy.
6. Find orphaned content
Orphaned content refers to pages or posts on your site that don’t have any internal links pointing to them. Without links connecting them to the rest of your site, they’re often overlooked by both users and search engines.
Spotting and fixing orphaned content is a quick way to strengthen your SEO.
Tools like Ahrefs, Screaming Frog, or Semrush can help you pinpoint these hidden pages by analyzing your site structure. If you’re using SEOPress, the Content Analysis tool can surface these pages and suggest other pages on your site to link them to.
Once you’ve found them, the fix is simple: Build internal links from related articles. Look for natural places in existing content to reference these pages, or create new posts that link to them in context. Reconnecting them helps improve discoverability, enhances their ranking potential, and strengthens your site’s overall SEO performance.
How to add internal links in WordPress
The good news is that adding internal links in WordPress is super simple and doesn’t require any technical skills. Here’s how to do it:
- Highlight your anchor text. Just select the words you want to turn into a link.
- Click the link icon. Hit the chain icon in the toolbar (or use the shortcut Ctrl+K / Cmd+K 🔗).
- Insert your URL. Paste the link to the target page. WordPress will even suggest matching content as you type.
- Adjust your settings. For internal links, it’s usually best to keep “open in new tab” and “nofollow” unchecked. This helps keep users on your site and ensures your link equity flows properly.
Easy enough. But here’s the catch: As your site grows, doing this manually for every post can become a major time sink. If you’re looking to speed things up, tools like Link Whisper and Internal Link Juicer can help automate the process.
However, for an all-in-one SEO toolkit that includes smart internal linking plus dozens of other powerful features, SEOPress is the best bet. Titles, meta, sitemaps, schema, breadcrumbs, redirects, sitemaps, etc. – it’s all built in. The full package in one plugin – clean, efficient, and made to scale.
Need a hand? Automate your internal linking strategy with SEOPress
Manually adding internal links is fine, but it’s a huge time drain and soon gets tedious. That’s where SEOPress PRO steps in.
SEOPress PRO’s internal linking suggestion tool takes the grunt work out of the process. It helps you build a smarter, more strategic linking structure in a fraction of the time.
Here’s how to use it:
- Install and activate SEOPress PRO.
- Open any post or page in WordPress.
- Scroll to the SEOPress metabox beneath the content editor.
- Click the Content Analysis tab.
- Enter your target keyword and hit Analyze.
Go to the Internal Linking section to view up to 5 suggested pages that relate to your article.
Each suggestion comes with the post title and a direct edit link, so jumping between content and adding reciprocal links is a breeze.
By automating your internal linking this way, SEOPress helps you:
- Spot connections you might’ve overlooked.
- Strengthen your site structure.
- And free up valuable time for strategy, not busywork.
It’s a smart upgrade for any serious SEO workflow, which is why seasoned professionals make adding it to their toolkit a priority.
“It’s well designed, clean, and spacious, making the plugin easy and pleasant to use… the content analysis goes beyond that of some of the other plugins I have looked at… it definitely deserves a spot among the best WordPress SEO plugins.” – Nick Schäferhoff, freelance content writer.
Supercharge your WordPress SEO with SEOPress
Internal linking is one of the most underrated ways to level up your SEO. When done right, it improves page rankings and creates a smoother, more engaging experience for your visitors.
The strategies in this guide will give you a strong foundation to build on. But if you’re serious about scaling results, the right tools can take your efforts even further.
That’s where SEOPress PRO makes the difference, offering a powerful suite of features designed to streamline and supercharge your internal linking strategy, including:
- Site Audit Tool to quickly pinpoint orphaned content and broken links.
- XML & HTML Sitemaps to strengthen your internal architecture and guide search crawlers.
- Content Analysis to optimize anchor text and suggest relevant internal links.
With SEOPress taking care of the technical heavy lifting, you’re free to focus on what you do best: Creating high-quality content that connects. That simplicity is exactly what users love.
“Really good and simple to use – Bravo.” @palmajs.
Ready to take your SEO up a level? Give SEOPress PRO a try and see the difference for yourself.
