June 7, 2026 · SEO Strategy
How to interlink a content silo so Google reads it as one topic hub
Internal linking is where most content silos quietly fall apart. The pages exist, the topics are right, but the links between them are either missing or random, and Google has no clear signal about which page is the authority. Getting this right is not complicated, but it does require a deliberate structure.
If you haven’t read the complete guide to content silos yet, start there. This post assumes you already have your silo planned and you’re ready to set up the linking structure correctly.
Why internal linking matters inside a silo
Google doesn’t just read individual pages in isolation. It follows links to understand how pages relate to each other and which one should rank for a given topic. When you structure internal links correctly inside a silo, you’re telling Google: this page is the hub, these pages support it, and they all belong to the same topic cluster.
The pillar page is the authority page, the one you want ranking for the broad, high-volume keyword. Understanding what a pillar page is helps clarify why every link decision in a silo points back to strengthening that one page. Supporter pages rank for narrower sub-topics and pass relevance signals up to the pillar through their links.
Without this linking structure, you’ve got a collection of pages rather than a silo. A collection doesn’t reinforce itself. A silo does.
The basic rule: every page links to the pillar
The core structure is straightforward. The pillar page links out to every supporter. Every supporter links back to the pillar. Supporters also cross-link to two or three closely related siblings. That’s it. Everything else is execution detail.
When you’re figuring out how to plan a content silo, you’ll map out which pages sit inside it before you write a word. That planning phase is also where you should sketch the linking relationships, not leave them as an afterthought once the content is live.
The number of pages in the silo affects how many cross-links are practical. If you’re working with a larger silo, read about how many pages a silo needs before deciding how tightly to cross-link the supporters.
How to set up content silo internal links
Follow these six steps to build a clean, hierarchical internal linking structure across your content silo.
- Add outbound links from the pillar to every supporter
On the pillar page, find a natural place in the body copy to link to each supporter page. Use descriptive anchor text that reflects what the supporter covers, for example, “how to structure a content silo” rather than “click here” or the URL. The pillar is the hub, so it should link to all supporting pages.
- Add a link back to the pillar from each supporter’s introduction
In the first two or three paragraphs of each supporter page, add a contextual link back to the pillar. Something like “as covered in our guide to content silos” with anchor text pointing at the pillar. This signals the hierarchy to Google early on the page.
- Identify closely related supporters and cross-link them
Look at your supporter pages in pairs. Which topics naturally lead into each other? A page about keyword research for a silo might link to a page about search intent, they’re adjacent. Add two to three cross-links between related supporters. Don’t force links between pages that aren’t genuinely connected.
- Write anchor text that describes the destination
Every anchor should tell the reader (and Google) what they’ll find on the other page. “How to choose anchor text for internal links” is good. “This article” or “learn more” is not. If the same link appears more than once across your silo, vary the anchor text slightly each time, different phrasing for the same destination is natural and avoids over-optimisation signals.
- Place links in the body of the content, not just at the top or bottom
Contextual links, links embedded in the flow of a paragraph, where they add relevant context, carry more weight than a list of links dropped at the end of a page. Read the paragraph before each link and ask whether the anchor fits naturally. If it feels forced, move it or rewrite the surrounding sentence.
- Audit the silo after 30 days
Use a tool like Screaming Frog, Ahrefs, or even Google Search Console to check that every page in the silo has at least one internal link pointing to it. An orphaned supporter page, one with no incoming internal links, won’t benefit from the silo structure at all. Fix any gaps before they become a ranking problem.
Anchor text rules that actually matter
Anchor text is where people either over-engineer or completely ignore the details. Over-engineering looks like using the exact target keyword as the anchor every single time, “content silo internal linking” repeated five times across the silo. Google notices that kind of pattern and it doesn’t help you.
Natural variation looks like this: “how to structure the links in your silo”, “the right way to interlink supporting pages”, “linking supporter pages to the pillar”. All pointing at the same destination page, all describing what’s on the other side, none of them identical. That’s healthy anchor text distribution.
This connects directly to search intent. Your anchor text should match what a reader would expect to find when they follow the link. If it doesn’t, they’ll bounce, and that’s a signal Google tracks.
How many internal links per page
For supporter pages, two to five contextual internal links is a reasonable target. That includes the mandatory link back to the pillar plus two to four links to closely related siblings or other relevant pages on your site. More than that and you start diluting the value of each individual link.
The pillar page is a different case. Because it links out to every supporter in the silo, it will naturally have more outbound internal links than a typical page. That’s fine, the pillar is supposed to be the hub. Just make sure those links are contextual, not a footer list of URLs.
What to avoid
Orphaned pages are the most common mistake. A supporter page that no other page links to is invisible to Google’s crawl, regardless of how good the content is. Every page in your silo needs at least one internal link pointing to it.
Circular linking without a clear hierarchy is also a problem. Two pages that only link to each other, and nothing links to either of them from higher up, don’t reinforce a silo. They just create a closed loop. The link equity has to flow from somewhere authoritative.
Repeating the same anchor text for the same destination across multiple pages is the third mistake to avoid. It signals manipulation. Vary the phrasing and keep the links sounding like something a human editor would write.
If you’d rather have the silo planned and linked correctly from the start, the Classic Sandwich package includes a fully structured content silo delivered and ready to publish.
Two to five contextual internal links is a healthy range for a supporter page. That should include one link back to the pillar page and two to four links to closely related pages within the silo or elsewhere on your site. Avoid padding a page with links just to hit a number, every link should add context for the reader.
Yes, and in two ways. First, descriptive anchor text tells Google what the destination page covers, which reinforces topical relevance. Second, using the same exact anchor text repeatedly for the same link can look manipulative. Vary the phrasing naturally across your silo, same destination, different wording each time.
An orphaned page, one with no incoming internal links, is effectively invisible to Google’s crawler unless it’s in your sitemap. Even then, it won’t benefit from the topical authority of the silo because nothing is passing relevance signals to it. Run a link audit after your silo goes live and fix any orphans before they cost you rankings.