Internal links boost SEO in many ways. Linking from old content to new content improves indexing and pushes content higher in the ranking. These links also increase the time users spend browsing your website, which improves the user experience and signals to search engines that the content is valuable and engaging.

Here are some other notable benefits:

Increased Dwell Time and Reduced Bounce Rates

Bounce rate and dwell time are important – but often overlooked – search engine ranking factors. Both of these factors can be improved by giving users valuable internal links that encourage clicks. The more people follow internal links, the more time they spend. And the deeper users venture into your site, the lower your bounce rate.

Faster Indexing and Ranking

If you have older content with established authority through backlinks from other sites, linking to new content can get it indexed quicker. You won’t need as many backlinks to rank. What would otherwise take weeks may take days or mere hours to climb closer to the top.

Revive Buried Content

A lot of brands publish excellent content that generates traffic and interest from visitors. Over time, however, the posts get buried in the archives as new content is published. When this happens, these older pieces don’t have the link equity to earn a good ranking. If you link a post from multiple pages when it’s initially published, it gets greater visibility and a better chance at ranking.

Shows Search Engines Your Site Structure

A bunch of content that’s connected to other content through internal links creates a network on a website. Search engines can then crawl the site and understand the structure for more accurate ranking. This also shows search engines the full picture of your topic coverage. When you have extensive information about a subject, it comes across as authority to a search engine.

More Options for Users

If you’re in a niche industry, it’s likely that your content all relates to each other in some way. Adding internal links brings it all together to rejuvenate old content and drive traffic to other sections of your site. Users have options for how to engage with the content, whether they want to skim to solve a problem quickly or dive deeply into a topic by following relevant links.