Internal Linking for Topical Authority

I built a topical authority framework using internal linking and a hub-and-spoke structure. This helped Google better understand content relationships and improved rankings sitewide.

The site lacked a clear content hierarchy and suffered from inconsistent internal linking. This made it difficult for search engines to understand how pages were related, which in turn limited the site's visibility across key topic areas.

To improve clarity and topical coverage, I designed a new internal linking system based on a hub-and-spoke model. Each main topic page was supported by subpages targeting specific long-tail keywords and search intents. I ensured:

Consistent anchor text usage

A flatter click depth

Improved crawl paths using updated sitemaps

Semantic connections between pages

Clean URL structure and clear page roles (pillar vs. support)

Within a few weeks, several pages moved into the top 10 for key search terms. Organic clicks increased steadily as internal links improved crawl paths and topical clarity. Overall visibility also improved, with noticeable growth in impressions and engagement on high-priority pages.