Internal Links Membantu:
✅ Google menemukan dan mengindeks halaman baru
✅ Memahami struktur dan hierarki website
✅ Menentukan halaman mana yang paling penting
✅ Mendistribusikan "link equity" ke seluruh site
✅ Membangun topical authority melalui clustering
✅ Meningkatkan user engagement dan time on site
✅ Mengurangi bounce rate

Internal Link = Link dari satu halaman ke halaman lain
               dalam domain yang SAMA

External Link = Link ke domain BERBEDA

Example:
yoursite.com/page-a → yoursite.com/page-b = Internal
yoursite.com/page-a → othersite.com/page = External (outbound)
othersite.com/page → yoursite.com/page-a = External (backlink)

Homepage (PR: 100)
    │
    ├── Category A (gets ~30 PR)
    │       ├── Post 1 (gets ~10 PR)
    │       ├── Post 2 (gets ~10 PR)
    │       └── Post 3 (gets ~10 PR)
    │
    ├── Category B (gets ~30 PR)
    │       ├── Post 4 (gets ~10 PR)
    │       └── Post 5 (gets ~10 PR)
    │
    └── Category C (gets ~30 PR)
            └── Post 6 (gets ~30 PR) ← More PR because fewer siblings

Note: Simplified illustration. Actual PageRank more complex.

Each page has "voting power" to pass to other pages.
More internal links TO a page = More importance signal.
Links FROM high-authority pages = More valuable.

Factors Affecting Link Value:
1. Authority of linking page
2. Relevance of linking page
3. Position of link in content
4. Anchor text used
5. Number of other links on page
6. Whether link is followed

- Main menu/header navigation
- Footer links
- Sidebar navigation
- Breadcrumbs

Characteristics:
- Site-wide (appear on every page)
- Structural purpose
- Less SEO weight per link (diluted)
- Important for UX and crawling

- Links within body content
- Related article links
- In-text references

Characteristics:
- Most valuable for SEO
- Surrounded by relevant text
- Editorial nature (chosen deliberately)
- Stronger relevance signals

- Category listings
- Popular posts
- Recent posts
- Tag clouds

Characteristics:
- Semi-navigational
- Can help discovery
- Less weight than contextual
- Careful not to over-optimize

FLAT Architecture (Recommended):
Homepage
├── Category 1
│   ├── Post A (2 clicks from home)
│   ├── Post B (2 clicks from home)
│   └── Post C (2 clicks from home)
├── Category 2
│   ├── Post D (2 clicks from home)
│   └── Post E (2 clicks from home)
└── Category 3
    └── Post F (2 clicks from home)

Benefit: All content within 3 clicks of homepage

DEEP Architecture (Avoid):
Homepage
└── Category 1
    └── Subcategory 1a
        └── Sub-subcategory 1a1
            └── Post A (4 clicks from home!)

Problem: Important content buried too deep

                    ┌─────────────────────┐
                    │    PILLAR PAGE      │
                    │  "Complete Guide    │
                    │   to Running"       │
                    │   (5000+ words)     │
                    └──────────┬──────────┘
                               │
       ┌───────────────────────┼───────────────────────┐
       │                       │                       │
       ▼                       ▼                       ▼
┌──────────────┐      ┌──────────────┐      ┌──────────────┐
│   CLUSTER    │      │   CLUSTER    │      │   CLUSTER    │
│  "Running    │      │  "Running    │      │  "Running    │
│   Shoes"     │      │   Training"  │      │   Nutrition" │
└──────┬───────┘      └──────┬───────┘      └──────┬───────┘
       │                     │                     │
   ┌───┴───┐             ┌───┴───┐             ┌───┴───┐
   ▼       ▼             ▼       ▼             ▼       ▼
┌─────┐ ┌─────┐       ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐       ┌─────┐ ┌─────┐
│Post │ │Post │       │Post │ │Post │       │Post │ │Post │
│  1  │ │  2  │       │  3  │ │  4  │       │  5  │ │  6  │
└─────┘ └─────┘       └─────┘ └─────┘       └─────┘ └─────┘

Linking Rules:
1. Pillar links to ALL clusters
2. Clusters link back to Pillar
3. Clusters link to related clusters
4. Posts link to parent cluster
5. Posts link to related posts (same cluster)
6. Posts can link to other cluster posts (if relevant)

PILLAR: /running-guide/
Links to:

- /running-shoes-guide/ (cluster)
- /running-training-plan/ (cluster)
- /running-nutrition/ (cluster)

CLUSTER: /running-shoes-guide/
Links to:

- /running-guide/ (pillar - back)
- /best-running-shoes-beginners/ (post)
- /running-shoes-flat-feet/ (post)
- /running-training-plan/ (related cluster)

POST: /best-running-shoes-beginners/
Links to:

- /running-shoes-guide/ (parent cluster)
- /running-shoes-flat-feet/ (sibling post)
- /running-guide/ (pillar)

Identify Your Most Important Pages:
1. Revenue-generating pages
2. High-conversion pages
3. Target keyword pages
4. Pillar content

Funnel Link Equity TO These Pages:

High Authority Pages → Important Target Pages
      │
      └── Homepage → Money Page
      └── Popular Blog Posts → Service Pages
      └── Category Pages → Best-Converting Products

Using Screaming Frog or Ahrefs:

Check for each important page:
- How many internal links point to it?
- What's the authority of linking pages?
- Is it getting enough "votes"?

Common Problems:
❌ Money pages with only 2-3 internal links
❌ Blog posts with 50+ internal links (wasted)
❌ Important pages only linked from footer

Fix:
✅ Add contextual links from relevant high-traffic pages
✅ Include in related posts sections
✅ Link from pillar content

1. Exact Match:
   "best running shoes" → /best-running-shoes/
   Use: Sparingly (5-10%)

2. Partial Match:
   "check out these top running shoes" → /best-running-shoes/
   Use: Moderate (20-30%)

3. Branded:
   "Nike Pegasus review on our site" → /nike-pegasus-review/
   Use: When appropriate

4. Generic:
   "click here", "read more", "learn more"
   Use: Minimize (< 10%)

5. Natural/Descriptive:
   "our comprehensive guide to choosing running footwear"
   Use: Majority (40-50%)

DO:
✅ Vary anchor text naturally
✅ Use descriptive, helpful anchors
✅ Match anchor to destination content
✅ Include keywords naturally
✅ Make it clear what user will find

DON'T:
❌ Over-optimize with exact match
❌ Use same anchor for all links to a page
❌ Use misleading anchors
❌ Stuff keywords unnaturally
❌ Use only generic anchors

Target Page: /best-running-shoes-2026/

Ideal Anchor Variety:
- "best running shoes for 2026" (exact) - 2 links
- "top running shoes this year" (partial) - 3 links
- "running shoe recommendations" (partial) - 3 links
- "our running shoe guide" (descriptive) - 4 links
- "check out these options" (generic) - 1 link
- "Nike, Adidas, and Brooks reviews" (branded) - 2 links

Total: 15 internal links with varied anchors

Link Value by Position:

┌────────────────────────────────────┐
│  HEADER/NAVIGATION                 │ ← Lower value (site-wide)
├────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                    │
│  FIRST PARAGRAPH                   │ ← Highest value
│  Links here get most weight        │
│                                    │
│  BODY CONTENT                      │ ← High value
│  Contextual, editorial links       │
│                                    │
│  LAST PARAGRAPH                    │ ← Good value
│  Summary/conclusion links          │
│                                    │
├────────────────────────────────────┤
│  SIDEBAR                           │ ← Medium value
│  Related posts, categories         │
├────────────────────────────────────┤
│  FOOTER                            │ ← Lower value (site-wide)
└────────────────────────────────────┘

For Important Target Pages:
1. Link from first 100 words of relevant articles
2. Include in "Related Reading" sections
3. Add to pillar page content
4. Feature in sidebar "Popular" widget

For Supporting Content:
1. Link naturally within body content
2. Include in "You Might Also Like" sections
3. Add to category/tag pages

Problem:
- Google may not find orphan pages
- No link equity flowing to them
- Users can't discover them
- Wasted content/effort

Finding Orphan Pages:
1. Screaming Frog → Crawl site
2. Export all URLs
3. Filter: Inlinks = 0
4. These are your orphans

OR

1. Ahrefs → Site Audit
2. Check "Orphan pages" report
3. Export list

For Each Orphan Page:
1. Is it valuable content?
   YES → Add internal links from relevant pages
   NO → Consider deleting or noindexing

2. Where to link from?
   - Related blog posts
   - Category/tag pages
   - Pillar content
   - Navigation (if important)

3. How many links?
   - Minimum 2-3 internal links
   - More for important pages

Process:
1. Crawl site with Screaming Frog
2. Filter: Response Code = 404
3. Export broken URLs
4. For each:
   - Find pages linking to it
   - Update link to correct URL
   - Or redirect if page moved

Automation:
- Use redirect plugin (WordPress)
- Set up 301 redirects for moved content
- Regular crawl audits (monthly)

<!-- On linking page -->
<a href="/guide#section-3">specific section about shoes</a>

<!-- On target page -->
<h2 id="section-3">Running Shoes Selection</h2>

Automated Linking Strategies:

1. Related Posts Algorithms:
   - Tag-based matching
   - Category matching
   - Content similarity (NLP)
   - User behavior (also viewed)

2. Dynamic Contextual Links:
   - Automatically link keywords to glossary
   - Link product mentions to product pages
   - Link author names to author pages

3. Smart Breadcrumbs:
   - Auto-generate based on URL structure
   - Schema markup included
   - Hierarchical navigation

// Simple related posts by category
function get_related_posts($post_id, $limit = 5) {
    $categories = get_the_category($post_id);
    if ($categories) {
        $category_ids = array_map(function($cat) {
            return $cat->term_id;
        }, $categories);

        return get_posts([
            'category__in' => $category_ids,
            'post__not_in' => [$post_id],
            'posts_per_page' => $limit,
            'orderby' => 'rand'
        ]);
    }
    return [];
}

Site Structure:
☐ All pages within 4 clicks of homepage
☐ Clear hierarchy (pillar → cluster → posts)
☐ Logical URL structure matches content structure
☐ Categories properly organized

Link Distribution:
☐ Important pages have 10+ internal links
☐ No orphan pages
☐ Homepage links to key sections
☐ Category pages link to all posts

Anchor Text:
☐ Varied anchor text (no over-optimization)
☐ Descriptive anchors used
☐ Keywords included naturally
☐ No misleading anchors

Technical:
☐ No broken internal links
☐ No redirect chains
☐ All links crawlable (not in JS only)
☐ Reasonable links per page (< 100)

Content:
☐ Contextual links in body content
☐ Related posts sections working
☐ Breadcrumbs implemented
☐ Cross-linking between related topics

1. Internal Links per Page:
   - Average across site
   - Distribution (min/max)
   - Important pages vs average

2. Click Depth:
   - Average clicks from homepage
   - Pages > 4 clicks deep
   - Important pages depth

3. Orphan Pages:
   - Total count
   - Percentage of total pages
   - Trend over time

4. Link Equity Flow:
   - Top linked pages
   - Pages with few links
   - Authority distribution

❌ Problem:
100+ links on single page = diluted value
Every word is a link = spammy, poor UX

✅ Solution:
- Limit to 50-100 links per page max
- Focus on quality, relevant links
- Remove excessive navigation links

❌ Problem:
Money page has only 2 internal links
New content not linked from anywhere

✅ Solution:
- Audit important pages monthly
- Ensure 10+ internal links minimum
- Add to related content sections

❌ Problem:
All anchors: "click here", "read more"
Or all exact match: "best running shoes"

✅ Solution:
- Use descriptive, varied anchors
- Include keywords naturally
- Make anchors helpful for users

❌ Problem:
Old content never linked
Deep pages forgotten

✅ Solution:
- Regular content audits
- Link new content to old
- Update old content with new links

❌ Problem:
Deleted pages still linked
404 errors accumulating

✅ Solution:
- Monthly broken link checks
- Set up redirects for moved content
- Fix or remove broken links

Key Internal Linking Points:

1. Homepage → Category Pages
   - Main navigation
   - Featured categories
   - Seasonal promotions

2. Category → Products
   - Product listings
   - Filters link to filtered views
   - Faceted navigation

3. Product → Product
   - "Customers also bought"
   - "Related products"
   - "Compare with"

4. Product → Category
   - Breadcrumbs
   - "Back to category" links

5. Blog → Products
   - Review articles → Product pages
   - Buying guides → Category pages
   - How-to → Related products

Priority Pages:
- Best-selling products
- High-margin products
- Conversion-optimized pages

Key Internal Linking Points:

1. Homepage → Pillar Content
   - Featured articles
   - Category highlights
   - Popular posts

2. Pillar → Cluster Posts
   - In-content links
   - Table of contents
   - Related reading sections

3. Post → Post
   - Related articles
   - Series linking
   - Topic clusters

4. Post → Pillar
   - "Learn more in our complete guide"
   - Breadcrumbs
   - Category links

5. Category → Posts
   - Post listings
   - Featured posts
   - Latest updates

Priority Pages:
- Evergreen content
- High-traffic pages
- Conversion pages (email signup, etc.)

Key Internal Linking Points:

1. Homepage → Feature Pages
   - Solution highlights
   - Use case links
   - Pricing visibility

2. Feature → Use Cases
   - "How [industry] uses this"
   - Case studies
   - Success stories

3. Blog → Product
   - Problem → Solution links
   - How-to → Feature mentions
   - Comparison → Pricing

4. Resource → Signup
   - CTAs in content
   - Related tools
   - Free trial links

Priority Pages:
- Pricing page
- Feature pages
- Sign-up/demo pages
- High-intent landing pages

General Guidelines:
- Short posts (500-1000 words): 3-5 internal links
- Medium posts (1000-2000 words): 5-10 internal links
- Long posts (2000-4000 words): 10-15 internal links
- Pillar content (4000+ words): 15-25 internal links

Including Navigation:
- Total links per page: < 100 (including nav)
- Contextual body links: 3-15 depending on length

Quality > Quantity:
- Every link should be relevant
- Every link should help user
- Don't force links for SEO

When to Use Nofollow on Internal Links:

1. Login/Register Pages:
   - User-specific, not for indexing
   - rel="nofollow"

2. Search Results Pages:
   - Infinite variations
   - Better: block with robots.txt

3. Paginated Archives:
   - Page 2, 3, 4... of category
   - Better: use rel="next/prev"

4. Affiliate/Sponsored Content:
   - Internal pages with heavy affiliate
   - Debatable - usually not needed

Default: Follow ALL internal links
Exception: Specific technical reasons

Content Planning Process:

1. Plan Content Calendar:
   - List upcoming articles
   - Map relationships
   - Identify link opportunities

2. When Writing New Content:
   - Leave placeholders for future links
   - Example: "We'll cover [topic] in detail soon"
   - Note URL slugs in planning doc

3. After Publishing:
   - Go back and add links
   - Update old content with new links
   - Use bulk editing tools

4. Track with Spreadsheet:
   | New Article | Should Link To | Added? |
   |-------------|----------------|--------|
   | Article A   | Article B      | ☐      |
   | Article A   | Article C      | ☐      |

Link Value Comparison:

Body/Contextual Links:
- Editorial nature (deliberately placed)
- Surrounded by relevant text
- User more likely to click
- Higher SEO value
- LIMITED quantity = focused

Sidebar Links:
- Semi-navigational
- Less contextual
- Moderate click rate
- Moderate SEO value
- Good for discovery

Footer Links:
- Site-wide (on every page)
- Diluted value per link
- Low click rate
- Lower SEO value per link
- Good for structure/navigation

Recommendation:
- Prioritize contextual body links for SEO
- Use sidebar for related/popular content
- Keep footer for essential navigation
- Don't rely only on sidebar/footer

Old → New Links:
Benefits:
✅ Passes established authority to new content
✅ Helps new content get indexed faster
✅ Improves new content ranking potential
✅ Keeps old content fresh/updated

New → Old Links:
Benefits:
✅ Maintains relevance of old content
✅ Provides context for new content
✅ Reduces orphan pages
✅ Creates comprehensive topic coverage

Best Practice: TWO-WAY LINKING
- Old pillar links to new cluster posts
- New posts link back to old pillar
- Related posts link to each other regardless of age
- Update old content to link to new additions

This Week:
☐ Identify top 10 most important pages
☐ Check how many internal links each has
☐ Add 5+ links to any with < 5 links

This Month:
☐ Complete internal link audit
☐ Fix all orphan pages
☐ Fix broken internal links
☐ Implement pillar-cluster for main topics

Ongoing:
☐ Link new content to related old content
☐ Update old content to link to new
☐ Monthly orphan page check
☐ Quarterly full audit