# internal-linking-plan

Internal Linking Plan


Overview
Internal linking is the skill of routing authority, context, and buyer movement across your site. For a one-person company, internal links are not just for SEO. They help answer engines understand topic relationships and help visitors move from research to action without getting lost.

When to Use This Skill
Use this when important pages are buried, when long-tail pages get traffic but do not push visitors deeper, when your content cluster feels disconnected, or when answer-engine-friendly pages need stronger support from related assets.

What This Skill Does
This skill helps you define hub pages, support pages, adjacent pages, and conversion pages. It builds a deliberate path between them so the site feels like a system instead of a pile of articles.

How to Use
Step 1: Choose the target page. Usually this is a Tier 1 page, a high-intent skill page, or a page with strong impression potential.
Step 2: List the surrounding support pages. These might include definitions, comparisons, templates, audits, examples, and related workflows.
Step 3: Assign each support page a linking job. Some links should clarify the topic. Some should deepen trust. Some should move the reader toward a commercial page.
Step 4: Use descriptive anchor text that matches the job of the destination page. Anchors should tell both a reader and an answer engine what lives behind the link.
Step 5: Add section-level links, not just footer links. The best links appear exactly where the next question naturally appears.
Step 6: Review orphaned and under-linked pages every month. If a page matters, it should both receive links and give links.

Output
The output should include:
A hub page
A list of supporting pages
The link role for each supporting page
Recommended anchor text patterns
A short set of gaps where new support pages are needed

Common Mistakes
Do not scatter links randomly just to increase link counts.
Do not use vague anchors like "click here" or "read more."
Do not only link sideways. Important pages also need upward and downward links.
Do not leave conversion pages disconnected from informational content.