{"id":2151,"date":"2026-08-27T13:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T13:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/?page_id=2151"},"modified":"2026-08-27T14:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:16:16","slug":"internal-links","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/learn\/internal-links\/","title":{"rendered":"Internal links: types, placement, and how many"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"2151\" class=\"elementor elementor-2151\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-il000001 ilm-article elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"il000001\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-il000002\" data-id=\"il000002\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-il000003 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"il000003\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<style id=\"ilm-art-css\">\n.ilm-article .elementor-widget-text-editor{font-size:17.5px;line-height:1.72;color:var(--ilm-ink);font-family:var(--ilm-sans)}\n.ilm-article .elementor-widget-text-editor p{font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;margin:0 0 18px}\n.ilm-article .elementor-widget-text-editor p:last-child{margin-bottom:0}\n.ilm-article .elementor-widget-text-editor a{color:var(--ilm-magenta);text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:3px}\n.ilm-article .elementor-widget-text-editor strong{font-weight:600}\n.ilm-article h2,.ilm-article h3{scroll-margin-top:90px}\n.ilm-toc{background:#fff;border:1px solid var(--ilm-line);border-radius:14px;padding:22px 26px;font-family:var(--ilm-sans)}\n.ilm-toc .k{font-family:var(--ilm-mono);font-size:10.5px;letter-spacing:.1em;text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--ilm-magenta)}\n.ilm-toc ol{margin:12px 0 0;padding-left:20px}\n.ilm-toc li{margin:0 0 7px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.5}\n.ilm-toc li:last-child{margin-bottom:0}\n.ilm-toc a{color:var(--ilm-ink);text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid var(--ilm-line-2)}\n.ilm-toc a:hover{color:var(--ilm-magenta);border-bottom-color:var(--ilm-magenta)}\n.ilm-callout{background:#fff;border-left:3px solid var(--ilm-magenta);border-radius:0 12px 12px 0;padding:20px 24px;font-family:var(--ilm-sans);font-size:16.5px;line-height:1.68;color:var(--ilm-ink)}\n.ilm-callout p{margin:0 0 12px}\n.ilm-callout p:last-child{margin-bottom:0}\n.ilm-callout a{color:var(--ilm-magenta);text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:3px}\n.ilm-tbl{width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;font-family:var(--ilm-sans);font-size:15.5px;line-height:1.55;background:#fff;border:1px solid var(--ilm-line)}\n.ilm-tbl th{text-align:left;padding:13px 16px;font-weight:600;color:var(--ilm-ink);background:var(--ilm-paper-2);border-bottom:1px solid var(--ilm-line)}\n.ilm-tbl td{padding:13px 16px;color:var(--ilm-muted);border-bottom:1px solid var(--ilm-line);vertical-align:top}\n.ilm-tbl tr:last-child td{border-bottom:0}\n.ilm-tbl td:first-child{color:var(--ilm-ink);font-weight:600}\n.ilm-wrap{overflow-x:auto;-webkit-overflow-scrolling:touch}\n<\/style>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-il000004 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"il000004\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Guide<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-il000005 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"il000005\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Internal links: the five kinds, where they belong, and how many is too many<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-il000006 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"il000006\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Not every internal <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/what-about-linkbuilding\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"146\" title=\"Internal links vs. backlinks\">link<\/a> does the same job. A menu item, a footer link and a sentence in the middle of a paragraph are the same HTML element carrying very different weight. This page is the mechanical half of the subject: what the types are, where a link should sit, and how many a page can carry before they stop working.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-il000007 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"il000007\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"ilm-toc\"><span class=\"k\">On this page<\/span><ol><li><a href=\"#was\">What counts as an internal link<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#typen\">The five kinds<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#platzierung\">Where on the page a link belongs<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#wieviele\">How many is too many<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#pruefen\">How to check what you have<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-915d71b ilm-article elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"915d71b\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-67a0692\" data-id=\"67a0692\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5337034 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5337034\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" id=\"was\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">What counts as an internal link<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-52ec67e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"52ec67e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Any link whose destination is on the same domain. That includes the menu, the footer, breadcrumbs, a \u201crelated posts\u201d block, a link inside a sentence, a logo that points home, an image wrapped in a link, and a button. All of them are counted. All of them divide up the value the page has to pass on.<\/p><p>What does not count: links to a different domain, links that only fire through JavaScript with no <code>href<\/code> to follow, and anything behind a login. A crawler can only follow what is in the HTML as a real anchor with a real address.<\/p><p>This matters more than it sounds. A site whose \u201cnavigation\u201d is a JavaScript menu with no fallback has, from a crawler&#8217;s point of view, almost no internal links at all \u2014 however good it looks to a person.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9988df5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9988df5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" id=\"typen\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">The five kinds<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-aca54bb elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"aca54bb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>They differ in one respect that governs everything else: whether a human decided on this particular link, or whether a template placed it on every page at once.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cef83e1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"cef83e1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"ilm-wrap\"><table class=\"ilm-tbl\"><thead><tr><th>Kind<\/th><th>Where it sits<\/th><th>What it is good for<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Navigational<\/td><td>Header menu, on every page<\/td><td>Marking the handful of pages that matter most. Weak per link, but it reaches everywhere.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Contextual<\/td><td>Inside body text<\/td><td>The strong one. Chosen for this passage, with anchor text you wrote. This is where the work pays off.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Structural<\/td><td>Breadcrumbs, category and archive listings<\/td><td>Making hierarchy legible and keeping deep pages reachable. Reliable rather than powerful.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Footer<\/td><td>Bottom of every page<\/td><td>Legal pages and a few evergreen destinations. Diluted by repetition \u2014 do not put your money pages here and call it done.<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Related \/ recommended<\/td><td>End of an article, usually automatic<\/td><td>Keeping readers moving. Useful, but only as good as the logic that picks the targets.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-48ec66f elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"48ec66f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>If you only fix one kind, fix the contextual ones. They are the only category where you make a decision per page rather than per template, and they are the category most sites have almost none of \u2014 a long article with a full menu, a full footer and not one link in the prose is the normal case, not the exception.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-587571c ilm-article elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"587571c\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c912e15\" data-id=\"c912e15\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-10e863b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"10e863b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" id=\"platzierung\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Where on the page a link belongs<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5ad89d9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5ad89d9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Higher in the body is better than lower, and prose is better than a list at the end. Not because of a rule in an algorithm, but because that is where readers actually are: a link in the third paragraph gets clicked, a link in a \u201cyou may also like\u201d strip below the fold mostly does not.<\/p><p>Three placement rules that hold up:<\/p><p><strong>Put the link where the question arises.<\/strong> If a sentence mentions anchor text and the reader might not know what that is, the link goes on that sentence \u2014 not in a summary box afterwards. A link is an answer, and answers are worth less late.<\/p><p><strong>Do not stack links.<\/strong> Two or three links inside one sentence read as noise and none of them get followed. Spread them out; one strong link per idea beats three competing ones.<\/p><p><strong>Link the phrase, not the punctuation.<\/strong> \u201cSee <em>how to choose anchor text<\/em>\u201d works. \u201cSee how to choose anchor text <em>here<\/em>\u201d wastes the one signal you had. This is covered properly in <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/learn\/anchor-text\/\">the anchor text guide<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-138d6bb elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"138d6bb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" id=\"wieviele\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">How many is too many<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-55f756b elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"55f756b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>There is no fixed limit. The old advice of \u201cno more than 100 links per page\u201d came from a crawler size constraint that stopped applying many years ago, and repeating it now is cargo cult.<\/p><p>What is still true is arithmetic: whatever value a page passes on is divided among its outgoing links. Twenty links each carry more than two hundred do. So the question is not \u201cwhat is the maximum\u201d but \u201cis each of these links doing something\u201d.<\/p><p>A workable heuristic for editorial content: <strong>two to five contextual links per thousand words<\/strong>, on top of whatever the template already places. That is enough to build a real structure and few enough that each one reads as deliberate. Long reference pages can carry more; a short landing page should carry fewer.<\/p><p>The failure mode to watch for is not excess but sameness \u2014 fifty pages that all link to the same three destinations with the same three phrases. That is not a strong structure, it is one link repeated fifty times.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c6b0ccc elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"c6b0ccc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" id=\"pruefen\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">How to check what you have<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5a97f77 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5a97f77\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Two checks, neither of which takes long.<\/p><p><strong>Search Console \u2192 Links \u2192 Internal links.<\/strong> Free, already collecting data, and it ranks every URL on your site by how many internal links point at it. Read it from the bottom: the pages with one or two inbound links are the ones your site is quietly telling Google not to bother with. If a page you care about is down there, that is the finding.<\/p><p><strong>A crawl.<\/strong> Any crawler that reports inlinks and outlinks per URL will show you the same thing in more detail, plus the ones Search Console cannot see \u2014 pages with <em>zero<\/em> inbound links, which never appear in a report built from links that exist. Those are <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/learn\/orphan-pages\/\">orphan pages<\/a>, and they need their own pass.<\/p><p>Compare the two lists against a third: the pages you actually want to rank. Where those three disagree is your work list, in priority order, and it is usually shorter than people expect.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-148d65b ilm-article elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"148d65b\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-no\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f196165\" data-id=\"f196165\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3137e1a elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"3137e1a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"ilm-callout\"><p><strong>Where a tool fits.<\/strong> Everything above is a decision \u2014 which page, which phrase, which paragraph. Making the decision is quick; applying it to four hundred existing posts and to everything published next year is not. <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/\"><span data-no-translation>Internal Links Manager<\/span><\/a> takes the decision as a rule (this phrase links to this page, with these exceptions) and keeps it applied. The judgement stays yours; the repetition does not.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a50cdb8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"a50cdb8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>For the strategy behind all of this \u2014 why links carry value at all, and how to decide which pages deserve it \u2014 start with <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/learn\/internal-linking\/\">the complete guide to internal linking<\/a>. Terms you do not recognise are in the <a href=\"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/learn\/glossary\/\">glossary<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Guide Internal links: the five kinds, where they belong, and how many is too many Not every internal link does the same job. A menu item, a footer link and a sentence in the middle of a paragraph are the same HTML element carrying very different weight. This page is the mechanical half of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2115,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2151","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2151"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2166,"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2151\/revisions\/2166"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/internal-links-manager.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}