How Internal Linking Strengthens Your Local SEO Content Strategy

Internal links are the connective tissue of a well-structured website. Every link you place between your own pages tells search engines which content is related, which pages are most important, and how your site is organized. For local businesses trying to get discovered online, a deliberate internal linking strategy is one of the highest-leverage actions you can take and one of the most consistently overlooked.

This guide walks through how to build an internal linking strategy that improves your local search visibility, step by step.

Step 1: Understand What Internal Links Actually Do for Local SEO

Before building a strategy, it helps to understand the mechanics. Internal links serve three functions simultaneously.

First, they guide search engine crawlers. When Google lands on a page, it follows internal links to discover other pages on your site. Pages that have no internal links pointing to them – called orphan pages – are much harder to find and index. For a local business with a services page, a location page, or a blog post about your neighbourhood, an orphan page is effectively invisible.

Second, internal links distribute authority. Pages that earn backlinks from other sites carry stronger authority. When you link from those high-authority pages to others on your site, some of that authority flows through. This is how a well-linked services page can rank despite having few external links pointing directly to it.

Third, they clarify topical relationships. When your page about "plumbing services in Nairobi" links to your page about "emergency pipe repair," you signal to Google that these topics are connected. This reinforces your relevance for searches that span both topics.

Google's Search Advocate John Mueller has described internal linking as "one of the biggest things you can do on a website to guide Google and visitors to the pages you think are important." That guidance applies directly to local businesses competing for city- and neighbourhood-level search visibility.

Step 2: Audit Your Existing Internal Links

You cannot improve what you have not measured. Before adding new links, assess the current state of your site's internal linking.

Check for Orphan Pages

Export your site's URLs from your CMS or sitemap. Then check how many internal links each page receives. Any page with zero incoming internal links is an orphan. Common offenders include older blog posts, secondary service pages, and location-specific landing pages.

Identify Your Highest-Authority Pages

Your homepage almost always carries the most authority. Other strong candidates are pages that have earned press mentions, business directory citations, or backlinks from local publications. These are the pages you want to link from because their authority can flow to weaker pages.

Count Links per Page

A page with 30 or more incoming internal links signals importance to search engines. A page with one or two links – even if it covers a high-value service – may struggle to rank. Note which service or location pages are under-linked and prioritize them in later steps.

Step 3: Map Your Site Structure Around Topic Clusters

Internal linking works best when your content is organized into clusters rather than isolated, disconnected pages. A content silo structure groups related pages under a central pillar topic, with each supporting page linking back to the pillar and to relevant peers within the cluster.

For a local business, a typical cluster looks like this:

• Pillar page: "Dental Services in Lagos"
• Supporting pages: "Teeth Whitening in Lagos," "Children's Dentistry in Lagos," "How to Choose a Dentist in Lagos"

Each supporting page links to the pillar. The pillar links to each supporting page. Where topics overlap, supporting pages link to each other. This structure tells search engines that your site has genuine depth on the subject – not just a single page making a claim.

Destinali helps African businesses build this kind of structured online presence, connecting local SEO signals across search platforms so businesses become consistently discoverable, not just occasionally visible.

Step 4: Write Descriptive Anchor Text

Anchor text – the clickable words in a hyperlink – carries meaning for both users and search engines. Generic anchor text like "click here" or "read more" tells search engines nothing about the destination page. Descriptive anchor text reinforces the topic of the page you are linking to.

What Good Anchor Text Looks Like

Rather than writing "for more information, visit this page," write a sentence where the linked phrase describes what the destination page covers.

Good: "local businesses that rank higher on Google Maps typically maintain consistent NAP data across directories"

Poor: "click here to learn about Google Maps rankings"

Keep anchor text short – two to five words is typically enough. Avoid exact-match keyword stuffing; vary how you phrase links to the same page across different articles.

One Topic, One Target Page

Each topic on your site should have one primary page covering it. Internal links from related content should point to that page consistently. If you have three pages all targeting "accountant in Accra," search engines will struggle to determine which one to rank. Internal links help you declare which page is the authoritative one.

Step 5: Add Contextual Links Within Body Content

Contextual links – links embedded within the body of an article or page – carry the strongest SEO signal of any internal link type. They appear within relevant text, which gives search engines both the destination URL and surrounding context about why that page is related.

Aim for Three to Five Links per Article

A good rule of thumb for most articles and service pages is three to five contextual internal links. This is enough to create meaningful connections without making the page feel artificially linked. Quality and relevance matter more than volume.

Link Deeper, Not Backward

Avoid linking back to your homepage from body content – it provides minimal SEO value and wastes a link opportunity. Instead, link to specific service pages, location pages, or related articles that take the reader deeper into a subject. A hotel in Kigali writing about weekend getaways should link to its rooms page, its dining page, or a post about things to do in Kigali – not its homepage.

Add Links to Existing Content When You Publish Something New

Every time you publish a new page, go back to two or three existing pages and add a link to the new content. This prevents new pages from starting as orphans and begins building their link equity immediately. Structured local content planning makes this easier because related pages are already grouped by topic before they are published.

Step 6: Use Navigation and Footer Links Strategically

Not all internal links live in body content. Your site's navigation and footer links are crawled on every page, which makes them powerful signals for your most important pages.

Navigation Links Signal Priority

Pages linked from your main navigation are treated as high-priority by search engines. Reserve navigation slots for your core service categories and primary location pages. A restaurant with branches in multiple cities might include a "Locations" dropdown – this signals that each location page is important, and search engines will crawl those pages more frequently.

Footer Links for Secondary but Important Pages

Footers are appropriate for pages that matter but do not need prominent placement: contact pages, privacy policies, secondary service categories, or a link to your business listing. Keep footer links focused; a footer overloaded with dozens of links dilutes their value.

Step 7: Track and Refine Your Internal Linking Over Time

Internal linking is not a one-time task. As your site grows and your content strategy evolves, your link structure needs to grow with it. Tracking your local SEO performance over time reveals which pages are gaining visibility and which remain underperforming despite strong content.

Monitor these signals monthly:

• Crawl coverage: Are all your important pages being indexed?
• Pages with few incoming links: Which service or location pages are still under-linked?
• Traffic to cluster pages: Are supporting articles driving users toward your pillar pages?
• Rankings for location-specific queries: Are your linked clusters starting to rank for neighbourhood and city searches?

When a page gains new backlinks from external sources, revisit it and check whether it links to your most important underperforming pages. Fresh authority on any page is an opportunity to redistribute strength across your site.

FAQ

What Is an Internal Link in Simple Terms?

An internal link is a hyperlink that connects one page on your website to another page on the same website. When a user clicks an internal link, they stay on your site and navigate to related content. Search engines follow these links to discover pages, understand topic relationships, and determine which pages are most important.

How Many Internal Links Should a Page Have?

Most articles and service pages benefit from three to five contextual internal links within body content. There is no strict maximum, but every link should be relevant and genuinely useful. Links in navigation and footer menus are counted separately and do not reduce the value of body links.

Does Internal Linking Help Local SEO Specifically?

Yes. Internal linking is particularly valuable for local SEO because it reinforces topical clusters around specific services and locations. When your "catering services in Abuja" page links to your "event planning in Abuja" page, you signal depth and relevance for location-based queries. This helps search engines surface the right page for the right local search.

What Is Anchor Text and Why Does It Matter?

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. Descriptive anchor text tells search engines what the linked page is about, which reinforces the topic and keyword relevance of the destination page. Generic anchor text like "click here" provides no topical signal and should be avoided.

What Is an Orphan Page and Why Is It a Problem?

An orphan page is a page on your website that has no internal links pointing to it from other pages. Search engines discover pages by following links, so orphan pages are often missed during crawling. Even if an orphan page contains strong content, it will struggle to rank because search engines have no internal signal that it exists or matters.

How Often Should I Update My Internal Links?

Review your internal link structure whenever you publish new content, and do a full audit at least once every six months. Every new page you publish is an opportunity to link back to existing content and to update existing pages with a link to the new one. For growing websites, monthly reviews prevent orphan pages and ensure link equity flows to your most important pages.

What to Do Now

1. Run a quick audit of your site and list any pages with no incoming internal links.
2. Identify your two or three highest-authority pages and add links from them to your most important under-linked service or location pages.
3. Group your content into topic clusters and map out which pages should link to each other.
4. Update your next three published articles to include at least three contextual internal links each.
5. Set a monthly reminder to review crawl coverage and internal link distribution as your site grows.

African businesses that build this kind of structured, interlinked content presence get discovered more consistently – across search engines, maps, and AI-powered discovery platforms. Create a free business listing on Destinali and start building the visibility foundation your business deserves.