Best Practices for Internal Linking in Local SEO

Last Updated on 11 November 2025 by Dorian Menard

If you’re an Australian business owner, you know how competitive local search can be. The difference between getting a lead and being invisible often comes down to the small details, and one of the most powerful is your approach to internal linking for local SEO.

Internal links are the threads that connect your website’s pages, guiding both users and Google. For a local business, a smart internal linking strategy tells search engines exactly where you operate and what you do, boosting your authority for location-specific searches.

In my experience running Search Scope and generating over 3.5 million organic visits for clients, getting this right is a direct path to more qualified leads. It’s about building a site structure that makes sense to people and search algorithms.

Here’s what you need to know to get started:

Site Structure is Your Foundation: A logical hierarchy from your homepage to service and location pages is non-negotiable.
Location-Based Anchor Text is Key: Use anchor text that naturally includes your suburb or city to signal local relevance.
Connect Your Location Pages: Link between related service areas to show Google the full scope of your geographic reach.
Audit and Refine: Regularly check for broken links and orphan pages to maintain your site’s health and authority.

What Is the Best Internal Linking Site Structure for a Local Business?

A well-organised site structure is the bedrock of any successful internal linking strategy for local SEO. It should guide users and search engines logically from general information to specific local content.

Think of your homepage as the main hub. It should branch out to your key service or product pages, which then link down to your specific location-specific pages.

For example, a business in Western Australia might use a structure like this: Homepage → Cleaning Services → Commercial Cleaning Perth.

This creates a clear path that distributes authority flow effectively. To make this structure even clearer, use breadcrumb navigation. Breadcrumbs often appear near the top of a page (e.g., Home > Services > Perth) and provide another opportunity for keyword-rich internal links. Tools like the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress can help you implement breadcrumb schema automatically.

How to write location-based anchor text

Anchor text, the clickable text in a hyperlink, needs to balance local keywords with natural readability. It should clearly indicate where the link goes while incorporating relevant geographic terms.

A common mistake I see is over-optimisation. Stuffing keywords into every link looks unnatural and can harm your rankings. According to Google’s own guidelines, creating descriptive, concise anchor text is the best practice.

Here’s a quick comparison:

Type	Example	Why It Works (or Doesn’t)
Good	“View our pressure cleaning services in Mandurah”	It’s natural, descriptive, and includes the location.
Vague	“Click here for more”	It gives no context to users or search engines.
Over-optimised	“Mandurah pressure cleaning cleaner Mandurah WA”	This is keyword stuffing and offers a poor user experience.

Use city or suburb names naturally, and don’t be afraid to reference local landmarks if it makes sense for your audience.

Why should you connect location pages?

If your business serves multiple areas, linking between your location pages is a powerful way to demonstrate your geographical footprint. This helps search engines understand the full scope of your service area.

For example, a page about your services in “Joondalup” should link to your page for the nearby suburb of “Wanneroo.” This is known as linking to “sibling” pages, and it helps both users and Google discover all the areas you cover.

It’s also essential to connect your website to your Google Business Profile. Linking from your location pages to relevant GBP features like Posts or Updates strengthens your local signals. This is important, as Whitespark’s 2023 Local Search Ranking Factors survey identified GBP signals as the single most important factor for ranking in the local map pack.

This helps you get more visibility in the local 3-pack, which is where you can get a significant amount of traffic.

Advanced Internal Linking Techniques

Once you have a solid foundation, you can use more advanced strategies to deepen your site’s local authority and relevance.

Creating local topic clusters

Topic clusters are a fantastic way to build topical authority. This model involves creating a central “pillar” page for a main service and then surrounding it with “cluster” content that covers related subtopics in more detail.

For a commercial cleaning business in Perth, the pillar page might be “Office Cleaning Services Perth.”

The cluster content could then be a series of location-specific blog posts or articles, such as:

“A Guide to Commercial Strata Cleaning in Subiaco”
“Medical Centre Cleaning Standards in West Perth”
“How Much Does Office Cleaning Cost in the Perth CBD?”

Each cluster article should link back to the main pillar page. This structure shows Google you have deep expertise in your field for that specific location. You can use free tools like AlsoAsked to find questions people are searching for to generate cluster content ideas.

Why is mobile-first link planning important?

A significant portion of local searches happen on mobile devices. A 2024 report from Statista confirms that mobile accounts for over 60% of website traffic worldwide. If your internal linking isn’t designed for mobile users, you’re losing customers.

Mobile-first planning means ensuring your navigation and links are easy to use on a small screen.

A pro-tip I always share with clients is to think about “thumb-friendly” design. Links should be large enough and have enough space around them to be tapped easily without zooming in. This simple consideration can dramatically reduce user frustration and lower bounce rates.

Place your most important links, like a “Get a Quote” button or your main service categories, where they can be accessed without scrolling.

Tracking Results and Fixing Common Mistakes

What metrics should you track?

To understand if your internal linking is working, you need to track the right metrics. Don’t just focus on rankings, look at user behaviour.

Key metrics to watch include:

Click-through rates (CTR) between your location pages.
Time spent on your core service area pages.
Conversion rates from users who land on a specific location page.

The Google Search Console’s “Links” report is your best starting point. Navigate to this report and look at the “Internal links” list to see which of your pages receive the most links. Your most important service and location pages should be at the top.

For more advanced tracking, you can set up a Path Exploration report in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to see the exact journeys users take through your site after landing on a local page.

What are the most common internal linking mistakes?

After reviewing your data, you can start fixing common issues. Many businesses make small mistakes that add up to big problems for their local SEO.

Here are the ones I see most often:

Mistake	Why It’s Bad	How to Fix It
Orphaned Location Pages	Pages with no internal links pointing to them are invisible to Google and users.	Use a tool like Screaming Frog SEO Spider to crawl your site and find pages with zero inlinks. Add links from relevant parent or sibling pages.
Inconsistent Location Names	Using “Perth CBD” on one page and “Perth Metro” on another confuses search engines.	Choose one consistent name for each location and use it across your site.
Broken Local Links	A broken link leads to a 404 error, which wastes link authority and frustrates users.	Run regular site audits to find and fix broken links. I recommend doing this at least quarterly.

To stay on top of these issues, it’s a good idea to run a monthly SEO audit focused on your site’s link health and structure.

Creating a Sustainable Internal Linking Strategy

A strong internal linking structure isn’t a “set and forget” task. It needs regular maintenance to deliver long-term results and help customers find you easily.

Your Quarterly Internal Linking Audit Checklist

To keep your strategy effective, conduct a review every three months. This helps you catch problems before they impact your rankings.

Here is a simple checklist to follow:

Find Orphan Pages: Run a site crawl to find any location or service pages that have no internal links pointing to them.
Check for Broken Links: Use a tool like Ahrefs’ Site Audit or Screaming Frog to identify and fix any 404 errors from broken internal links.
Review Anchor Text: Look for opportunities to improve your anchor text. Are you using too many generic phrases like “learn more”? Can you add more location-specific terms naturally?
Assess New Opportunities: Have you published new blog posts or added new service pages? Make sure they are linked to from relevant existing pages on your site.

“SEO helps generate qualified leads by improving your website’s organic visibility, leading to higher engagement, more traffic, and a better conversion rate. It’s an essential long-term strategy to dominate your market and drive more business through your website.” – Search Scope

Staying on top of these tasks will keep your website healthy and well-optimised for local search.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Internal Linking for Local SEO

How many internal links are too many for a page?
There’s no magic number. The goal is to provide value to the user. A good rule of thumb is to only add links that are helpful and relevant to the content on the page. Focus on quality over quantity.

Does internal linking help my Google Business Profile?
Indirectly, yes. A well-structured website with strong internal links makes it easier for Google to understand your business’s services and locations. This authority can positively influence how Google perceives your entire entity, including your GBP listing.

What’s the difference between internal and external links for local SEO?
Internal links connect pages within your own website, helping to distribute authority and guide users. External links (or backlinks) are links from other websites to yours, which act as a vote of confidence and are a major ranking factor.

How long does it take for internal linking changes to affect rankings?
It varies. Google may recrawl your pages within a few days or it could take a few weeks. You’ll typically see changes reflected in your rankings and analytics within 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the scale of your changes and your site’s crawl frequency.

How do you fix orphan pages for a local business?
First, use a tool like Screaming Frog or Ahrefs to identify them. Then, for each orphan page, find a logical, relevant page to link from. For example, an orphan page for “Commercial Cleaning Fremantle” should be linked from your main “Commercial Cleaning” service page and perhaps your “Perth Service Areas” page.