Links are one of the simplest parts of a website to use. You click some text and it takes you somewhere else. From an SEO point of view, though, they do quite a bit more than that.
Links help people navigate around your website, connect related content and find useful information. They also help search engines discover pages and understand how different parts of your website fit together.
That does not mean adding more links automatically means better rankings. When it comes to links for SEO, relevance matters far more than quantity. The aim is not to hit a certain number, but to make sure every link serves a purpose.
So, what is the relationship between links and SEO, how many should you use and what should you avoid?
What do links have to do with SEO?
There are three main types of links to understand:
- Internal links take users from one page on your website to another page on the same website.
- External links take users from your website to another website.
- Backlinks are links from another website pointing back to yours.
All three work differently, but each can form part of a wider SEO strategy.
Internal links help connect your content and give users a clear route through your website.
External links can support what you are saying by directing readers to useful research, evidence or original sources.
Backlinks show that another website has chosen to reference your content, which can help build authority when those links come from relevant, trustworthy sources. The important part is context. A link should be there because it helps the reader, not because you are trying to squeeze another SEO tactic onto the page.
What are internal links?
Internal links connect pages on your own website.
For example, imagine you run an accountancy firm and write a blog explaining the difference between operating as a sole trader and a limited company.
Within that article, you might link to:
- Your company formation service
- A guide to corporation tax
- An article about business expenses
- Your contact page
These are all internal links.
They make it easier for people to continue exploring a topic without having to search around your website manually. They also help search engines understand which pages are connected.
If you have ten blogs about SEO but none of them link to each other or to your main SEO service page, you are missing an opportunity to show how those pages relate. A strong internal linking structure creates clearer pathways between your content.
It can also help prevent important pages from becoming isolated. If a page matters to your business, it should not sit on your website with no other pages linking to it.
Why are internal links important for SEO?
Internal links can support SEO in several ways.
They help search engines discover pages
Search engines follow links as they crawl websites.
If you publish a new blog and link to it from an existing page, you are providing another route for search engines to find it.
This is especially important for larger websites where pages can easily become buried several clicks deep.
They help explain your website structure
Internal linking also provides context. If several relevant articles point towards the same service page, it reinforces the relationship between those pieces of content.
For example, blogs covering keyword research, technical SEO, internal links and Google rankings could all naturally connect to a wider SEO service page.
That makes sense for the reader and creates a clearer website structure.
They keep people moving through your website
Good SEO should not just focus on getting somebody onto a page. What happens next matters too.
A well-placed internal link can help someone move from reading an informational blog to exploring a relevant service, case study or related article.
That can turn organic traffic into something much more valuable.
What are external links?
External links send users from your website to another website. You may sometimes hear advice telling you not to link away from your own site because you are sending visitors somewhere else.
That is too simplistic. If another website provides genuinely useful information, research or evidence, linking to it can improve the usefulness of your own content.
For example, if we were writing about Google’s SEO guidance, linking directly to Google Search Central would allow readers to check the original information themselves.
External links work best when they:
- Support a claim you are making
- Direct people to original research
- Reference official guidance
- Provide genuinely useful additional information
The key is quality. You would not want to send readers towards an unreliable or completely unrelated website simply because you think an article needs an external link.
What about backlinks?
Backlinks work in the opposite direction. Instead of you linking to somebody else, another website links to yours. For example, imagine Dialled In publishes original research into SME marketing budgets.
A business publication uses those figures in one of its own articles and links back to the original research. That is a backlink. Backlinks can be valuable because they show that another website considers your content worth referencing.
But quality matters much more than simply collecting large numbers of links. A handful of relevant links from credible websites can be far more useful than hundreds of links from low-quality or unrelated sites.
This is why good link building should focus on creating things people genuinely want to reference.
That might include:
- Original research
- Useful guides
- Industry data
- Case studies
- Expert commentary
- Tools or resources
- Strong PR stories
Buying large volumes of low-quality links or creating artificial link networks is not a shortcut worth taking.
Search engines have become much better at identifying manipulative link-building tactics.
How many links should you include for SEO?
This is one of the most common questions around SEO and links. The answer is that there is no perfect number.
You may see advice saying you need five internal links per article, ten links per 1,000 words or a certain internal-to-external-link ratio.
Those figures can be useful as rough starting points, but they are not rules. A 700-word blog may only need three useful internal links. A 3,000-word guide covering several different topics could naturally contain far more.
The simplest approach is to ask:
Would clicking this link genuinely help someone reading this section?
If the answer is yes, there is probably a good reason to include it.
If the link has been added purely because an SEO checklist says you need another one, it probably does not need to be there. For a typical business blog, around three to five relevant contextual internal links can be a sensible starting point. Just do not force them.
Can you have too many links on a page?
Yes, but the problem is usually less about hitting a technical limit and more about usability.
A page packed with links can quickly become distracting. If almost every sentence contains blue anchor text, readers may not know where they are supposed to go next.
Too many unnecessary links can also weaken the hierarchy of the page.
If you are linking to twenty different services, twelve blogs, five external websites and three contact pages within a short article, none of those links feels particularly important.
Use links where they naturally support the content. Quality over quantity applies here too.
How should you use anchor text?
Anchor text is simply the clickable wording used for a link.
For example:
Poor anchor text: To find out more about SEO, click here.
Better anchor text: Find out more about our SEO services.
The second version tells the reader what they are going to find before they click. It also gives search engines more context about the page being linked to.
Good anchor text should be:
- Descriptive
- Relevant
- Natural within the sentence
- Concise where possible
You do not need to cram your exact target keyword into every link.
If every internal link to an SEO page uses exactly the same phrase, it can make your content sound unnatural. Use variations that make sense in context.
Should external links open in a new tab?
This is more of a user experience decision than a direct SEO one.
Many websites choose to open external links in a new tab so visitors can access the source without completely leaving the original page.
Internal links are usually kept in the same tab because the user is still navigating around the same website.
Whichever approach you choose, consistency is useful. The more important SEO consideration is whether the destination is trustworthy and relevant.
Common mistakes with links and SEO
Links are fairly simple in principle, but there are a few mistakes we regularly see.
Linking every keyword
If the same phrase appears ten times, you do not need to link every instance. It makes the article harder to read and adds little value.
Using vague anchor text
“Click here” and “read more” do not tell users much about where they are going.
Descriptive anchor text is usually more helpful.
Forgetting older content
Internal linking should not only happen when you publish something new. When a new page goes live, look at your existing blogs and see whether any of them could naturally link to it. That creates links in both directions and helps integrate the new page into the rest of the site.
Leaving broken links in old blogs
Websites change. Pages get deleted, URLs are updated and external resources disappear.
That means links which worked two years ago may not work today. Checking old blogs for broken links should form part of ongoing website maintenance.
Linking to irrelevant pages
Do not link to a service simply because you want to push more traffic towards it. If the connection feels forced, readers will notice. The strongest internal links are the ones that feel like a natural next step.
Buying poor-quality backlinks
A cheap package promising hundreds of backlinks might sound appealing. In reality, those links often come from low-quality or completely irrelevant websites. A good backlink strategy focuses on earning relevant links, not collecting as many as possible.
A simple internal linking strategy
You do not need a complicated spreadsheet containing thousands of URLs to improve your internal linking.
Start with the pages that matter most.
For each new blog you publish:
- Identify three to five existing pages that are genuinely relevant.
- Add contextual internal links to those pages where they naturally fit.
- Publish the new article.
- Go back to older relevant blogs and add links towards the new article.
- Review older pages periodically for broken or outdated links.
Over time, this creates a much stronger network of related content.
It also helps avoid one of the biggest problems we see on websites, valuable content sitting in isolation with very few routes leading to it.
Links for SEO should help people first
The relationship between SEO and links does not need to be complicated. Internal links should help people move around your website. External links should provide useful context or evidence. Backlinks should ideally be earned by creating something worth referencing.
And none of them should exist purely because you are trying to hit an arbitrary number. A good link gives the reader a useful next step.
When your website is structured around that principle, you are helping people navigate it while also making it easier for search engines to understand how your content fits together.
At Dialled In, we look at the bigger picture when it comes to SEO. From keyword research and content strategy to technical SEO, on-page optimisation and website structure, we help businesses build websites that are easier to find and easier to use.
If your website is getting traffic but not the rankings, enquiries or leads you expected, get in touch with Dialled In and let’s take a closer look.