Internal Link Building for Small Business Websites: A Surprisingly Simple SEO Win
If you run a small business and you’ve ever heard someone say “you should do more internal linking”, you probably nodded politely while thinking, “I’ve no idea what that means, but sure… sounds important.” Honestly, you’re not alone. Internal linking sounds like one of those technical things digital marketers say to justify drinking strong coffee at 3pm. But it’s actually one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve your website’s SEO without spending extra money, learning coding, or spiralling into a YouTube tutorial hole.
Internal links help Google understand your website, help customers find what they’re looking for and help you create a smoother, less chaotic online experience. And if you’ve ever felt like your website is a bit of a maze you built by accident, this will be a breath of fresh air.
Let’s walk through what internal linking actually is, why small businesses benefit from it more than they realise and how you can use it to nudge your website up the rankings — all without needing a developer on speed dial. Although, if you do want help, this is exactly the sort of thing our SEO Starter and SEO Booster services fix for you. But more on that later.
What internal linking actually is (and why it’s not as fancy as it sounds)
Internal linking simply means linking one page of your website to another page on your website. That’s it. No fireworks, no complicated tools, no incantations to the algorithm gods. Just normal, helpful links that point people in the right direction.
If you’ve ever said “more information is on our Services page” or “read our latest blog post here” and turned that sentence into a clickable link, congratulations — you’ve already done internal linking. The only difference now is that you’ll be doing it on purpose instead of accidentally.
Internal links help two groups of people: the humans browsing your site and the search engines crawling through it. Humans use them because they want to get somewhere useful without guessing. Search engines use them because they rely on structure and connections to understand the importance of your content. If a page on your site has no internal links pointing to it, Google assumes it’s not important. Which is a bit rude, considering you put time into writing it.
Why internal links matter more for small businesses than big ones
Large companies have entire departments dedicated to content, SEO, marketing and user experience. They generate new pages constantly, whether they need them or not. Small businesses? Not so much. You’re often working alone or with a tiny team, juggling your actual business with the occasional side quest of website editing.
This is exactly why internal linking matters more for you.
Small business websites usually have fewer pages. That means every page has to pull its weight. If your services aren’t linked properly, or your blog posts sit in a forgotten corner of your site with no paths leading to them, you’re missing opportunities you didn’t even know existed. Internal linking is like giving each page a little signpost so customers and search engines know where they should go next.
And if you’re already overwhelmed by SEO in general, this is the low-hanging fruit you want. It’s simple, cost-free and has a noticeable impact — especially when combined with the foundational search engine fixes included in our SEO Repair service.
How internal linking helps with SEO (in real human language)
Internal links help Google understand which pages are important, how your content is connected and what your website is actually about. If you think of your website as a small town, internal links are the road network. Without roads, you just have isolated buildings in a field. With roads, everything is connected and it’s clear what belongs where.
When Google crawls your site, it follows these links to discover new pages. If a page has multiple internal links pointing to it, Google interprets it as important. If a page has none, it gets ignored. Yes, Google is that dramatic.
By linking pages together in a sensible way, you’re helping search engines understand your subject matter, your services, your expertise and how users should move through your content. It’s one of the easiest ways to improve your rankings without writing new content or doing anything particularly clever.
This is one reason our SEO Starter package begins with fixing all these foundational issues. If Google can’t navigate your site cleanly, all the keyword research in the world won’t help.
Internal linking is also amazing for your customers
Let’s be honest. Most people browsing your website aren’t reading every sentence carefully with a cup of tea in hand. They’re skim-reading on their phone while also watching Netflix, checking WhatsApp and wondering if they left the oven on. They need a gentle nudge to get where they’re trying to go. Internal links give them that nudge.
Imagine someone is reading your blog post about choosing a website platform. If that article naturally links to your FastTrack Website service, your Full Custom Website option or your blog post on Webflow vs Wix, you’re guiding them towards the answers they need — and towards working with you.
Internal links reduce confusion, minimise frustration and make your website feel smooth and intentional instead of a collection of random pages that happen to live under the same domain.
This kind of helpful navigation is also a huge part of our design philosophy at Jorvik Web Dev. A good website shouldn’t feel like a puzzle. It should feel like a conversation.
Common mistakes small businesses make with internal linking
One of the biggest mistakes is not doing it at all. Many small business websites have lonely little pages floating around with no links pointing to them. Google can’t find them, customers can’t find them and you forget they exist until one day you open your dashboard and think, “What is that page and why does it look like this?”
Another common mistake is adding links but not thinking about whether they lead anywhere useful. For example, linking everything to your homepage is not helpful. The homepage is already the most obvious page on your site. Internal linking is about depth, not just accessibility.
And then you have the websites that link so aggressively that every third word is clickable. You’ve probably seen them — the ones where you hover your mouse and suddenly half the paragraph is underlined. Internal linking shouldn’t feel like a Hidden Object game. It should feel natural, tidy and sensible.
This is exactly the kind of thing we clean up during our SEO Repair process, where we fix heading structure, sort out your metadata and tidy up the site’s internal pathways so everything feels clearer.
How to approach internal linking in a way that feels natural, not forced
The trick is to think like your customer. What would they logically want next? If someone’s reading about the benefits of hiring a web designer, linking to your services is completely natural. If someone’s reading about SEO, guiding them to your SEO Starter package feels helpful, not salesy. If someone’s on your About page, adding a link to your Contact page is just good manners.
Internal linking is basically customer service disguised as SEO. You’re helping people find the information they need without making them click around in confusion.
That customer-focused mindset is what drives everything we do at Jorvik Web Dev. Our values are rooted in clarity, education and empathy — which is why we build websites that are easy to manage and explain our process so clients feel empowered rather than overwhelmed.
How internal linking fits into your long-term SEO strategy
If you’re serious about improving your search visibility — even if “serious” means “I’d quite like more enquiries, please” — internal linking should become part of your regular website habits.
Whenever you publish a new blog post, think about which existing pages could link to it. Whenever you create a new service page, consider which older blog posts might naturally point toward it. Whenever you update content, sprinkle in links where they make sense. It doesn’t need to be complicated. It just needs to be consistent.
If the idea of doing this regularly sounds like a chore you’ll never get round to, our maintenance plans might help. You get monthly support, regular updates and peace of mind knowing someone is keeping an eye on your SEO health — without charging you ridiculous agency fees.
Final thoughts: internal linking is the quiet hero of SEO
Internal linking is one of the easiest SEO wins available to small business owners. It helps search engines, it helps your customers and it strengthens your website’s structure in a way that has long-lasting impact. And because it’s so simple to implement, it’s perfect for busy business owners who want results without the faff.
If your website needs tidying, if your internal links are non-existent, or if you want to get serious about ranking in your area, you know where to find me. Between our SEO audits, SEO Starter fixes, and SEO Booster improvements, we can sort out your site structure, improve your visibility and make sure everything works together instead of fighting for attention.
Your website shouldn’t feel like a labyrinth. With the right links in the right places, it becomes a clear, stress-free journey — for you, for your customers and for Google.
