Internal Links: SEO Best Practices for Internal Linking

Summary

In this episode, Shopify Senior SEO Specialist Arthur Camberlein explains what internal links are and why they’re vital for both user navigation and search‑engine crawling. He breaks down the main types of internal links—navigational, sidebar, footer, breadcrumb, contextual, CTA, and anchor—and outlines four SEO benefits: clarifying site structure, aiding crawl and indexation, passing link equity, and enhancing user experience. The discussion includes a step‑by‑step strategy: map a pyramid‑shaped site hierarchy, audit existing links, link contextually with appropriate anchor text, avoid over‑optimization, and use nofollow where needed. A case study is cited where adding internal links boosted a retail brand’s organic traffic by 23%.