Many small websites have a quiet structural problem. Their pages exist, but nothing connects them in a way that shows what matters most. New posts go live with no links pointing at them, service pages sit three clicks deep, and anchor text says “click here.” A deliberate internal linking strategy fixes this, and for a small site, the hub-and-spoke model is one of the simplest layouts to plan and maintain.
This guide explains the model, shows how to build it step by step, gives anchor text rules based on Google’s own guidance, walks through a hypothetical example, lists common mistakes, and provides an audit checklist. Where this guide states how Google treats links, the claim comes from Google’s documentation, listed in the Sources section. Where it offers rules of thumb, they are labeled as such.
Key takeaways
- Google says every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site. Links are also how it finds most new pages.
- Hub-and-spoke means one broad hub page per topic, linking out to detailed spoke pages, with each spoke linking back to its hub.
- Use descriptive anchor text. Generic phrases like “click here” and keyword-stuffed anchors both work against you.
- There is no ideal number of links per page. Google says a page with too many links likely has too many. Add links when they help the reader.
- Audit regularly for orphan pages, broken links, and links that drifted after content edits.
What an internal linking strategy is
An internal linking strategy is a plan for how the pages on your own site link to one another. Each internal link does two jobs. For visitors, it offers a next step. For search engines, it provides a path to follow and a clue, through the anchor text, about what the destination page covers. Google’s SEO starter guide notes that links connect users and search engines to other parts of your site, and that anchor text should tell users and Google what the linked page contains.
Small sites benefit most from planning because they have few pages to make an impression with. A large publisher can survive messy linking. A thirty-page business site usually cannot afford to leave its most important page poorly connected.
How the hub-and-spoke model works
A hub is a broad page on a main topic, such as a service overview or a comprehensive guide. Spokes are narrower pages that go deep on subtopics. The hub links to every spoke, every spoke links back to the hub, and spokes link to each other only when a reader would genuinely want that next step.
For a plumbing business, a hub might be “Emergency Plumbing Services,” with spokes for burst pipe repair, leak detection, drain unblocking, and water heater repair. For a blog, a hub could be a complete beginner’s guide to on-page SEO, with spokes on title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and image optimization. You may know this idea under the name topic cluster, which our guide to pillar pages and topic clusters covers in more detail.
Hub-and-spoke versus a flat structure
| Factor | Hub-and-spoke | Flat or random linking |
|---|---|---|
| Signal about importance | Hubs receive links from many related pages | No page stands out |
| Discovery of new pages | New spokes are linked from the hub right away | New pages may get no links at all |
| Topical clarity | Related pages are grouped and linked together | Related content is scattered |
| Reader experience | Clear next step after each page | Dead ends |
| Maintenance | Each new page has an obvious home | Nobody knows where new pages belong |
How to build it, step by step
- Inventory your pages. Export a list of all indexable URLs from your sitemap or a site crawler. Add the main topic of each.
- Pick your hubs. Choose the handful of broad topics that matter most to your business. Many small sites need only a few. If you find yourself with a dozen, some are probably spokes.
- Assign each page to one hub. Every spoke gets a primary home. Pages that fit no topic are either candidates for deletion or signs of a missing hub. If you are also planning keywords, our keyword mapping guide pairs well with this step.
- Link hub to spokes in the body. Write a sentence or short section for each spoke that explains what the reader will find, with a descriptive link. This beats a bare list of links at the bottom.
- Link each spoke back to the hub. Use a natural phrase that names the hub topic, usually early in the page.
- Add lateral links sparingly. Connect two spokes only when one answers a question the other raises.
- Link from pages that already get traffic. Use Search Console’s Performance report to find pages that already attract visits, then add helpful links from them to your hubs and key service pages.
- Record the structure. Keep a simple sheet with hub, spokes, and the links you added, so you can check it later.
A common rule of thumb is to keep important pages within a few clicks of the homepage. This is a practical guideline, not a documented Google threshold. The more useful principle is that a page you care about should be easy to reach and linked from relevant pages.
Example scenario: a small accounting firm
Example scenario: This is a hypothetical business used for illustration. “Maple Street Accounting” has 24 pages: a homepage, an about page, a contact page, a services page, and 20 blog posts about small business tax topics. The blog posts have little linking between them. Three posts were published last year and are not linked from anywhere except the blog archive.
The owner builds a plan in an afternoon.
| Hub | Spokes (examples) | Key links to add |
|---|---|---|
| Small Business Tax Preparation (service page) | Quarterly estimated taxes, deductible expenses checklist, sole proprietor versus LLC taxes | Hub links to each post. Each post links to the service page with the phrase “small business tax preparation” |
| Bookkeeping for Small Businesses (service page) | Choosing accounting software, monthly close checklist, receipt tracking tips | Hub summarizes each post. Posts link back to the bookkeeping service |
| Starting a Business Checklist (guide) | Business entity types, EIN basics, separating personal and business finances | Guide links to each post. Related posts link laterally where a reader would continue |
She finds the three unlinked posts, assigns them to the right hubs, and links them from each hub. She also identifies that the “deductible expenses” post is the most visited page in her analytics, and adds a clear link from it to the tax preparation service page. No new content was needed. The change is only a matter of connecting what already exists. Whether this changes rankings is not guaranteed, but it makes every page easier to discover and gives readers a clearer path.
Anchor text rules
Google’s documentation says good anchor text is descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to the page it points to. It also says generic text like “click here” and “read more” is weak, that very long anchors are discouraged, and that stuffing keywords into anchors violates its spam policies.
- Describe the destination. “Quarterly estimated tax payments” beats “this article.”
- Test it out of context. If the anchor makes no sense read on its own, rewrite it.
- Vary naturally. Different pages will describe the same destination in slightly different words. That is fine.
- Use real links. Google generally follows only anchor elements with an href attribute, so avoid navigation that relies on scripts instead of real URLs.
- Write alt text for image links. For an image that is a link, Google uses the alt text as anchor text.
How many links per page?
Google says there is no ideal number of links on a page, and that a page with too many links likely has too many. Ignore any rule that says “always add exactly 10.” Let the reader’s needs decide. For ideas on balancing this, see our article on how many internal links per page.
Common mistakes
- Orphan pages. Pages with no internal links pointing to them are hard to discover. Google’s advice is that every page you care about should be linked from at least one other page.
- Linking everything to everything. A giant footer or sidebar full of links tells readers and crawlers nothing about priorities.
- Vague anchors. “Click here” wastes useful context.
- Over-optimized anchors. Repeating the exact same keyword phrase in every link looks forced and can read as stuffing.
- Using nofollow on your own pages. Google says nofollow-style attributes are for links you do not want associated with your site, such as untrusted sources, paid placements, and user-generated content. Applying them to your own important pages works against you.
- Never auditing. Links break when pages are renamed, deleted, or redirected.
- Ignoring user needs. A link that helps no one is clutter, whatever its SEO intent.
Audit checklist
Run this each quarter, or after any large content change.
- Crawl the site with a crawler. Several tools offer free tiers with URL limits, so check current limits for the tool you choose. Our comparison of internal linking tools can help.
- List orphan pages, meaning important URLs with no internal links, and link to them from relevant hubs or spokes.
- Fix broken internal links. Update links that point to missing pages or long redirect chains. See our technical SEO audit guide.
- Check each hub. Confirm it still links to all its spokes and that each spoke links back.
- Review anchors. Replace generic or stuffed anchors on your most important links.
- Look for overlap. If two pages compete for the same search, consolidate or retarget one. See keyword cannibalization.
- Update your structure sheet so it matches the live site.
Frequently asked questions
What is an orphan page?
It is a page with no internal links pointing to it, which makes it hard for visitors and crawlers to find. Link to it from a relevant page, or remove it if it no longer serves a purpose.
Is hub-and-spoke the same as siloing?
They are similar, but siloing is often applied more strictly, with few links between topics. Hub-and-spoke keeps the grouping while allowing helpful links between related pages, which suits small sites.
How long until I see results?
That depends on how often Google recrawls your site and how competitive your topics are, so there is no reliable timeline. Check Search Console for changes in indexed pages and impressions over the following weeks, and judge the work by whether pages are easier to find and use.
Sources
- Google Search Central: SEO link best practices
- Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide
- Google Search Central: Qualify your outbound links to Google
- Search Console Help: Performance report (Search results)
If you would like a second set of eyes on your site structure, you can reach us through the contact page.