Internal linking is the practice of linking pages of your site to each other. It distributes PageRank, helps Googlebot discover pages efficiently, and provides users with relevant navigation paths. On a 5,000-product catalog, a good internal linking strategy can mean the difference between 60% and 90% of pages indexed.
Internal linking strategy for e-commerce
Category → Products
Category pages link to the products they contain. This is the primary internal link source for most products. Ensure all products are accessible from at least one category.
Product → Related products
"Customers also bought" or "Similar products" blocks create lateral links between products. This distributes PageRank across the catalog and increases session depth.
Blog → Products/Categories
Editorial content (guides, comparisons, tips) links to relevant products and categories. This sends PageRank from high-authority blog posts to commercial pages.
| Link type | Direction | SEO benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Category → Product | Top-down | PageRank to products, discovery |
| Product → Category | Bottom-up (breadcrumb) | Reinforces category authority |
| Product → Related products | Lateral | Spreads PageRank, reduces orphans |
| Blog → Product/Category | Editorial → Commercial | Transfers editorial authority |
Audit your orphan pages first: export all products from your catalog and cross-reference with Google Search Console indexed pages. Products with zero internal links pointing to them are your quickest internal linking fix.
Audit your internal linking
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FAQ
Internal links distribute PageRank (link authority) throughout the site. A product linked from multiple category pages and blog posts accumulates more internal PageRank than an orphan product — and tends to rank better.