Ever wondered why your competitor's website keeps showing up at the top of search results while yours is stuck on page three? Here's the thing - they might not have better content than you, but they're probably way smarter about how they connect their pages together. internal linking is like the secret sauce of SEO that most businesses completely mess up or ignore altogether.
I've been helping Colorado Springs businesses dominate local search results for years, and I can't tell you how many times I've seen companies with amazing content get crushed by competitors who just understood internal linking better. It's honestly a bit frustrating because it's such a fixable problem.
The good news? You can totally steal your competitors' Content Blind Spots: Advanced Semrush Gap Analysis, Made Easy">competitors' playbook - legally and ethically. Let's talk about how to reverse engineer what they're doing so you can build better topic authority and start climbing those search rankings.
Look, most businesses treat internal linking like an afterthought. They'll throw in a random "click here" link or maybe link to their homepage from every page, and call it a day. Meanwhile, your smarter competitors are building these intricate webs of topical relevance that Google absolutely loves.
Here's what I see happening all the time: A business will create a bunch of great content about their services, but each page exists in its own little bubble. There's no strategic connection between related topics, no clear hierarchy, and definitely no thought about how to guide both users and search engines through their expertise.
Your competitors who are winning? They've figured out that internal linking isn't just about SEO - it's about demonstrating authority. When you strategically link related topics together, you're essentially telling Google "Hey, we know this subject inside and out, and here's proof."
Alright, let's get into the fun part - playing digital detective. You don't need expensive tools to start (though they definitely help). Here's how I approach competitor analysis when I'm working with clients at Casey's SEO.
First, just browse their website like a normal person would. I know it sounds too simple, but you'd be amazed what you can learn just by clicking around. Look for patterns:
Pay attention to their anchor text too. Are they using exact match keywords, or are they more natural about it? This tells you a lot about their SEO sophistication.
Here's a trick that works great: Use Google's site search to see how they're structuring content around specific topics. Try searches like:
This shows you all the pages they have around specific topics, and you can start to see how they're connecting them together.
Most websites have an XML sitemap at domain.com/sitemap.xml. This gives you their entire site structure laid out nice and clean. You can see how they organize content categories and which pages they consider most important.
Okay, manual detective work is fun, but if you want to get serious about this, you need some tools. Here are my go-to options:
Screaming Frog SEO Spider - The free version lets you crawl up to 500 pages, which is perfect for most local businesses. You can see every internal link, anchor text, and how pages connect to each other.
Google Search Console - If you can get access to their GSC data (maybe through a case study they published), you can see which pages get the most internal links and traffic.
Ahrefs - Their Site Explorer tool shows you internal linking patterns, plus you can see which pages have the most internal links pointing to them. The "Best by links" report is gold for understanding their linking priorities.
SEMrush - Great for seeing the bigger picture of how they structure content around topics. Their topic research tool can show you content gaps you might be missing.
Once you start digging into the data, here's what you should be paying attention to:
Smart competitors often use a hub and spoke model. They'll have one thorough "pillar" page about a main topic, then create supporting content that all links back to that hub. For example, if you're in the service business, they might have a main services page that connects to specific service breakdowns, case studies, and how-to content.
Look at how often they link within their content. Are they dropping 5-10 internal links per blog post? Are these links actually helpful, or do they feel forced? The best internal linking feels natural and genuinely helpful to readers.
Pay attention to how they write their link text. Are they using exact match keywords all the time, or do they mix it up with more natural phrases? Google's gotten pretty good at understanding context, so over-optimized anchor text can actually hurt you.
Here's the thing - just because a competitor is ranking well doesn't mean they're doing everything right. I see these mistakes constantly:
Some businesses link to their contact page or homepage from every single blog post, regardless of context. This dilutes the value of their internal links and doesn't help users or search engines understand what's actually important.
They'll create great content but never link to it from anywhere else on their site. If a page doesn't have internal links pointing to it, it's basically invisible to both users and search engines.
Random linking without any strategic purpose. They'll link from a blog post about marketing to a completely unrelated service page just because they can.
Now that you've done your homework, it's time to build something better. Here's how I approach internal linking strategy for my clients:
Before you start linking anything, create a content map. What are your main topic areas? What supporting content do you have (or need to create) for each topic? This is especially important for local businesses - you want to show expertise in your specific market.
For instance, if you're working on Google Maps optimization in Colorado Springs, you might have supporting content about local citations, review management, and location-based keyword research.
Think of your content like a pyramid. At the top, you have your main pillar pages - in-depth resources about your core topics. Below that, you have supporting articles that dive deeper into specific aspects of those topics.
Each piece of supporting content should link back to the relevant pillar page, and your pillar pages should link out to the most important supporting content.
Don't just link because you can - link because it genuinely helps the reader understand the topic better. If you're writing about emergency service SEO strategies, linking to content about customer review response templates makes perfect sense.
Let's talk about some technical considerations that can make or break your internal linking strategy:
Google has a limited amount of time it'll spend crawling your site. If important pages are buried five clicks deep, they might not get crawled often enough to rank well. Try to keep your most important content within three clicks of your homepage.
For internal links, you almost always want to use regular "follow" links. The only time you might use nofollow is for things like login pages or internal search results that you don't want Google to waste time on.
Don't go crazy and add 500 internal links to your site overnight. Build your linking structure gradually and naturally. This is especially important if you're making major changes to an established site.
The SEO world keeps evolving, and internal linking strategies need to evolve too. Here's what I'm seeing in 2024 that you should plan for in 2025:
Google's getting better at understanding entities and relationships between topics. This means your internal linking should focus more on topical relevance and less on exact keyword matches. Think about how concepts relate to each other, not just how keywords match up.
Google's paying more attention to user behavior signals. If people click on your internal links and engage with the content, that's a strong positive signal. If they immediately bounce back, it hurts both pages.
For local businesses, internal linking is becoming super important for demonstrating local expertise. Connecting location-specific content, local case studies, and community involvement pages helps establish topical authority in your geographic area.
You can't improve what you don't measure. Here's how to track whether your internal linking improvements are actually working:
Obviously, you want to see improvements in search rankings and organic traffic. But don't just look at overall numbers - pay attention to which specific pages are improving and whether it correlates with your linking changes.
Use Google Analytics to see how people move through your site. Are they following your internal links? Are they spending more time on pages that have better internal linking? The "Behavior Flow" report is perfect for this.
Tools like Ahrefs or Moz can show you how link authority flows through your site. You should see more even distribution of authority to important pages as your internal linking improves.
Let me share some problems I see all the time and how to fix them fast:
Some businesses go overboard and stuff 20+ internal links into every piece of content. This dilutes the value of each link and overwhelms users.
Fix: Stick to 3-8 contextually relevant internal links per page. Quality over quantity always wins.
Using generic phrases like "click here" or "read more" doesn't help search engines understand what you're linking to.
Fix: Use descriptive anchor text that gives users and search engines a clear idea of what they'll find on the destination page.
Pages that only link to each other without connecting to the broader site structure create isolated content islands.
Fix: Make sure every content cluster connects back to your main hub pages and site navigation.
Alright, here's what you should do this week to get started:
First, pick your top 3 competitors and spend an hour browsing their sites. Take notes on their linking patterns, content organization, and what topics they're covering that you're not.
Second, audit your own internal linking. Use Screaming Frog's free version or just manually check your most important pages. How many internal links do they have? Are they getting links from related content?
Third, create a simple content map. List your main service areas or topics, then identify what supporting content you have for each one. This becomes your linking strategy roadmap.
Finally, start small. Pick one topic cluster and improve the internal linking between those pages. Test it, measure the results, then expand to other areas of your site.
Remember, this isn't about copying your competitors exactly - it's about understanding their strategy so you can build something better. Focus on creating genuinely helpful connections between your content, and the SEO benefits will follow naturally.
If you're a Colorado Springs business looking to step up your local SEO game, including internal linking strategy, feel free to reach out to us at casey@caseysseo.com or give us a call at 719-639-8238. We love helping local businesses build the kind of topic authority that actually drives results.
The bottom line? Your competitors aren't necessarily smarter than you - they just figured out how to connect their content strategically. Now you can too.
