There is no strict number of links on a page according to guidelines, but there is common sense.
While Google’s search content guidelines do not specifically give a number, it’s important to consider the following when adding internal links to your pages.
Maintain a logical internal linking structure.
Internal links should connect related content and help users and search engines effectively navigate your site.
If you add too many internal links to a page, the following happens:
- You dilute the link juice passed by each link
- You confuse both the visitor and the search engine bots
- Your page can look a mess with links all over the place
Make sure your internal linking is logical and makes sense – you want to make sure it makes sense to the reading level of a 12–14 year old.
What is the ideal number of internal links per page?
Ideally, this should be a ratio rather than a number—if you allow 1–10 internal links per 1000 words of content, you won’t go far wrong, but again, you need to consider relevance and content.
Don’t add links if they are not relevant to:
- The current page
- The paragraph context in which they appear
- The target page
Make sure they are contextual, not random.
Don’t add links everywhere – this is what the automated internal linking tools do: curate your internal links using WILO and make sure they are contextual.
Avoid over-optimisation.
Keep your links natural using the following as a guide:
- Use very few exact-match keywords – where the anchor text exactly matches the target keyword of the linked page
- Use more broad-match (also called partial-match) keywords – where the anchor text includes the keyword but has additional words for context.
- LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) Anchor Text – where the anchor text uses synonyms or related phrases instead of exact keywords.
Ideal Anchor Text Distribution (5 Links per 1,000 Words)
| Anchor Text Type | % | Example | # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partial/Broad Match (Best for SEO & user experience) | 40-50% | “Best free SEO tools for beginners” | 2 |
| Exact Match (Use carefully) | 10-20% | “SEO tools” | 1 |
| Branded (Good for credibility) | 10-20% | “Check out Moz’s SEO guide.” | 1 |
| LSI (Related Keywords) (Great for diversity) | 10-20% | “Keyword research software” | 1 |
| Generic or Naked URL (Use sparingly) | 0-10% | “Click here” / https://example.com | 0 or 1 |
Why This Distribution Works.
- Partial Match (Broad Match) is the Safest – It avoids exact-match overuse while keeping relevance.
- Exact Match is Used in Moderation – Prevents Google’s Penguin penalties for unnatural linking.
- LSI/Branded Balances Natural Link Profile – Makes linking look authentic and diverse.
- Minimal Generic/Naked URLs – These are bad for SEO but sometimes necessary for usability.
Crawlability and Indexing.
Internal links are designed to help your visitors and search engines better understand your website. Properly using them and optimising them with WILO will help the search engines index your site more thoroughly.
Ensure your pages containing internal links are not no-indexed or blocked from crawling. Otherwise, they will have zero effect.
To summarise.
- Use WILO to place internal links on your website strategically
- Consider context and relevance at all times
- Do not add too many internal links to pages
- Prioritise quality (by using WILO) over quantity (by automating this).
