I’ve been exactly where you are, and trust me — internal linking only starts making sense once you stop treating it as a “technical SEO task” and see it as site architecture + user navigation. I made the same mistake early on: random links everywhere, identical anchors, and no clear hierarchy. What finally helped was rebuilding the logic from the ground up. First, I defined main topics and supporting articles, basically answering one question: “If a user lands here, where should they logically go next?” That mindset alone changes everything.
Then I audited existing content: removed links that didn’t add value, fixed chains, and started linking from strong pages to weaker but relevant ones using descriptive, natural anchors. Not keyword-stuffed, not generic “click here”, but phrases that actually explain what’s behind the link. One important thing I learned is that internal links should guide both Google and humans — if a link feels forced to a reader, it probably is.
What really clicked for me was following a structured approach instead of guessing. This breakdown explains it clearly, with examples of hierarchy, anchor usage, and common mistakes people make on real sites Internal Linking Guide After applying that logic, indexing improved, cannibalization issues went down, and bounce rate actually dropped because users found related content more naturally. Internal linking isn’t magic, but when done right, it quietly fixes a lot of hidden SEO problems.