{"id":90577,"date":"2026-08-20T10:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webraketen.space\/?post_type=glossar&p=90577"},"modified":"2026-08-20T10:46:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:46:17","slug":"internal-linking","status":"publish","type":"glossar","link":"https:\/\/webraketen.space\/en\/glossar\/interne-verlinkung\/","title":{"rendered":"Internal linking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Internal links are hyperlinks that point from one page of a domain to another page on the same domain. They therefore connect content within a website and primarily have three positive effects:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Better navigation \/ usability:<\/strong> Visitors are directed to relevant topics and can easily find their way around the page (which can lead to a longer dwell time)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Search engine indexing:<\/strong> Search engines like Google use links to find and understand new subpages.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Distribution of link juice:<\/strong> Strength and authority (link juice) flow from large pages to important subpages.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

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    For search engines it fulfills three tasks: It helps to find and crawl pages, it conveys the structure of the Website<\/a> and it passes authority (link juice) on to the target. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For users, it is the means of navigation and orientation, and thereby indirectly influences the ranking as well. The longer a person stays on the website and the lower the bounce rate, the better the ranking in search engines can become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The term is used in two different senses. On the one hand, it refers to an individual link; on the other hand, it refers to the overall structure of all internal links\u2014that is, the internal link architecture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The topic of internal linking is counted among on-pageSEO<\/a> and on the information architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Important to understand: While an internal link is part of link building, it should not be confused with a backlink, which is also part of it. This is because a backlink comes from an external domain and is difficult to control, whereas internal links are entirely in one's own hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Also not belonging to the internal links is a jump link using a hash sign (#<\/code>). This only refers to a location within the same page, but not to another subpage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The direction of the link is also important for the analysis. A page has outbound internal links and inbound internal links. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What internal links do on Google<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Above all, internal links help Google better understand the site structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Google calls in its own documentation<\/a> one minimum requirement: Every important page should be linked from at least one other page on your own website. A page without an incoming internal link can still enter the index via an XML sitemap or an external link, but it remains unreachable from your own website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The second level is structural understanding: through linking, a search engine recognizes which pages belong together (also in terms of content) and which ones are subordinate to another. Google explicitly recommends contextual references to further internal content for this purpose, i.e., links from within the running text instead of just from navigation elements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The third level is the transfer of authority. A page gains link equity (link juice) through external links or through its position in the site structure. This link equity is passed on to other pages on the same domain via internal links. This has a practical implication: Internal linking does not create new authority; it redistributes existing authority. So if you want to strengthen a subpage, you must provide it with links from pages that are well-linked themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In addition, there is the benefit for visitors: they can use internal links to reach the next relevant content without having to return to the search. And what is good for the visitor is also good for Google.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Pitfall: Setting links correctly from a technical standpoint<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Before anchor texts and structural models play a role, the reference must be technically sound and recognizable as a link by the crawlers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Google can usually only crawl a link if it is as <a><\/code>-Element with href<\/code>-attribute is marked. References in other formats are usually not parsed and do not exist for the search engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"An<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Links dynamically inserted via JavaScript are crawlable, provided they use the same HTML markup. Therefore, they must also be as <a href="\/en\/…\/"><\/code> end up in the rendered document. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, this does not apply to URLs that are only within a function call. A <a onclick="…"><\/code> without href<\/code> is treated as text. And a