An Internal Linking Strategy for Blogs With Fewer Than 100 Posts
A good internal linking strategy for a small blog is simple: group posts into a few topics, give each topic a hub page, link every post to its hub and to two or three close siblings, and make sure no post is left without links pointing to it. You do not need a paid tool to do it. This guide shows the rules that matter at 10 to 100 posts, a free way to find orphan pages, and a routine you can run after every new post.
Why internal links matter more on a small blog
Google's SEO Starter Guide says Google primarily finds pages through links from other pages it has already crawled. On a large site with lots of external links, new pages get discovered from many directions. On a small blog with few external links, your own internal links are often the main path from your home page to a new post.
Internal links do three jobs at once:
- Discovery. Crawlers find new and updated posts by following links.
- Context. Anchor text tells readers and Google what the linked page is about. The Starter Guide says link text "tells users and Google something about the page you're linking to."
- Reader paths. A visitor who lands on one post can find the next useful one instead of leaving.
What internal links will not do: turn a thin post into a good one, or guarantee a ranking. They help good pages get found and understood.
What Google actually says about links
Google's link best practices page is short, and it answers most internal linking questions:
| Topic | Google's guidance | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Crawlable links | Google can generally only crawl links that are <a> elements with an href. | Avoid "links" built from buttons or JavaScript click handlers. |
| Internal coverage | Every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site. | Zero orphan posts. |
| Anchor text | Descriptive, reasonably concise, relevant to both pages. "Click here" and "Read more" are poor examples. | Use words that describe the target post. |
| Keywords in anchors | Do not cram every related keyword; keyword stuffing violates Google's spam policies. | Natural phrases, varied wording. |
| Number of links | No ideal number; "if you think it's too much, then it probably is." | Link where it helps the reader, not by quota. |
Step 1: Map your blog into hubs and spokes
With under 100 posts you can do this in a spreadsheet in an hour. List every post with its URL and its main topic. Then group posts into 3 to 6 topics. Each topic gets:
- A hub: the broadest post on that topic, ideally a complete guide or overview. If you do not have one, that is your next post to write.
- Spokes: narrower posts that each answer one specific question within the topic.
Illustrative example for a 40-post home baking blog (the numbers are for illustration):
| Topic | Hub | Spokes |
|---|---|---|
| Sourdough | Sourdough for beginners | Starter feeding, flour types, scoring, troubleshooting dense loaves (12 posts) |
| Cakes | Cake baking basics | Sponge, frosting, pan sizes, altitude baking (10 posts) |
| Equipment | Baking equipment guide | Dutch ovens, scales, stand mixers (8 posts) |
| Gluten-free | Gluten-free baking guide | Flour blends, binders, recipes (10 posts) |
Posts that fit no topic are a signal, not a problem to hide. They may belong in a new topic, or they may be off-strategy and worth reconsidering. Our guide to SEO for niche blogs covers choosing topics a small site can realistically cover in depth.
Step 2: Apply four linking rules
- Every spoke links up to its hub, early in the post where it is natural ("new to sourdough? start with our beginner's guide").
- Every hub links down to all its spokes, grouped by subtopic with a short line on what each one answers. With 8 to 15 spokes, this is still readable.
- Each spoke links to 2 or 3 close siblings that a reader would genuinely want next. Scoring a loaf and troubleshooting a dense loaf belong together; scoring and stand mixers do not.
- Cross-topic links only when there is a real bridge. A sourdough post that mentions a Dutch oven can link to the Dutch oven post. Do not link across topics just to spread links around.
These rules also keep two posts from competing for the same query: when you are forced to decide which post is the hub and which are spokes, overlaps become obvious.
Step 3: Find orphan pages for free
An orphan page has no internal links pointing to it. Readers cannot reach it by clicking around, and crawlers can only find it through your sitemap or external links. Three free ways to find them:
- Search Console Links report. Open Links, then "Top linked pages" under Internal links. Google's Links report help says it shows which of your pages are linked most from within your site, and you can export the table. It is a sample, not a full list, so a post missing from it is a suspect, not proof.
- A free desktop crawler. The free version of Screaming Frog SEO Spider crawls up to 500 URLs per crawl, which covers a blog under 100 posts plus tags and pages. Crawl from your home page, export the list of URLs it found, and compare against your sitemap.
- Sitemap vs crawl comparison. Paste your sitemap URLs in one column and crawled URLs in another. Any sitemap URL the crawler never reached from your home page is orphaned or buried.
Fix each orphan by adding a link from its hub and from one or two related posts. If a post has no natural place to be linked from, ask whether it still deserves to exist or should be merged into a stronger post.
Orphans and weak linking are a common reason small blogs see posts stuck outside the index. If that is your symptom, also read our guide to "Crawled, currently not indexed".
Step 4: Write anchor text that describes the target
Good anchors read like part of the sentence and tell the reader what they will get:
| Weak | Better | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Click here for more | how to feed a sourdough starter | Describes the target page |
| best sourdough starter feeding guide easy beginner | our starter feeding schedule | No keyword stuffing |
| this post | why loaves come out dense | Useful out of context |
Vary the wording naturally across posts. You do not need the exact target keyword in every anchor; you need the reader to know where the link goes.
Step 5: Use navigation, breadcrumbs, and related posts carefully
Templates add links to every page automatically. They help, but they are not a substitute for links inside your text:
- Category menus should match your topics from Step 1, not a dozen thin categories with two posts each.
- Breadcrumbs (Home > Sourdough > Scoring) give every spoke a link to its topic page on every page view.
- "Related posts" widgets often pick by shared tags or recency. Check that they suggest genuinely related posts; if they do not, curate them manually or rely on in-text links.
- Tag pages with one or two posts each add crawlable URLs with little value. Consolidate tags or set them to noindex if your platform creates many.
Step 6: The 10-minute routine after every new post
- Decide the new post's topic and hub before you publish.
- Add a link from the new post to its hub and to 2 or 3 siblings.
- Edit the hub to add the new post in the right subsection.
- Find 1 or 2 older posts that mention the subject and add a contextual link to the new post. A
site:yourdomain.com "keyword"search in Google is a quick way to find them. - Check that every link is a normal
<a href>and the anchor describes the target.
Once a quarter, run the orphan check from Step 3 and look at Search Console for posts with impressions but few clicks; they often need clearer linking and a better match to the query. Our post on impressions but no clicks walks through that diagnosis.
Internal linking checklist
| Check | Target |
|---|---|
| Topics defined | 3 to 6, each with a hub |
| Spoke to hub links | Every spoke links to its hub |
| Hub to spoke links | Every hub lists all its spokes |
| Sibling links | 2 or 3 per spoke, genuinely related |
| Orphans | Zero, checked quarterly |
| Anchor text | Descriptive, no "click here", no stuffing |
| Link markup | Standard <a href> elements |
What to do next
Today: export your post list into a sheet and assign each post a topic. This week: pick or write a hub for each topic and apply the four rules to your ten most important posts. This month: run the orphan check and fix every result.
Internal links organize what you have; links and mentions from other sites help people find it. If you run WordPress, Satelo's plugin connects you to a small public beta network of similar sites that publish disclosed partner articles about each other, with links marked rel="sponsored". Before that, check your site's Quality Score, built mostly from open data, and see the evidence behind each number in about 30 seconds.
FAQ
What is an internal linking strategy?
A plan for how pages on your site link to each other. For a small blog it usually means grouping posts into topics, giving each topic a hub page, linking spokes to the hub and to close siblings, and making sure no post is orphaned.
How many internal links should a blog post have?
Google's link best practices say there is no magical ideal number of links per page, and if you think it is too much, it probably is. For a typical post, a link to its hub plus 2 or 3 genuinely related posts is a practical starting point.
What is an orphan page?
A page with no internal links pointing to it. Readers cannot reach it by browsing, and search engines can only find it through a sitemap or external links. Google recommends that every page you care about has a link from at least one other page on your site.
Is there a free internal linking checker?
Yes. Google Search Console's Links report shows your top internally linked pages and can be exported, though it is a sample. The free version of Screaming Frog SEO Spider crawls up to 500 URLs, enough for most small blogs, so you can compare what it reaches from your home page against your sitemap.
Should internal link anchor text use exact-match keywords?
Not necessarily. Google advises descriptive, concise anchor text and warns against cramming related keywords, which can violate its spam policies. Natural, varied phrases that describe the target page work best.
Do related posts widgets count as internal links?
Yes, if they output standard HTML links. But they often pick posts by tags or date rather than relevance, so check what they suggest and do not rely on them instead of contextual links in your text.
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