See How To Boost Blog Content Performance In 5 Minutes
- Mahesh VR
- Sep 5
- 7 min read
Catergories : SEO, Get Found, Inbound Lead Generation
Your Blog Posts Are Getting Zero Traffic Because You're Missing This One Thing
Friend of mine published a blog post three months ago.
It was solid content. Well-researched. Answered real questions his customers had. Man even did keyword research.
But when he checked Google Analytics, the traffic looked like one of those heart monitors when someone dies.
FLAT!
Meanwhile, his competitor's similar post was ranking on page one and getting thousands of monthly visitors.
What the hell?
This is so common, and,
Here's what nobody tells you -
Your content isn't failing because it's bad. It's failing because Google doesn't think it's important.
And the fastest way to signal importance to Google…
Are Internal links.
And in this article you’ll see why you need them and what happens when you get them done.
P.S. - If you want us to help you improve your marketing performance, get you more traffic, leads and clients, contact us by clicking on the button below and filling out our form
Why Your Content Is Invisible to Google
You publish a new blog post.
Google's crawler finds it eventually (maybe through your sitemap).
But here's the problem:
Google has no idea how important this content is compared to everything else on your site.
Think about it from Google's perspective.
You've got hundreds of pages on your website.
How does Google decide which ones deserve to rank higher?
One of the biggest signals = How many other pages on your site link to it.
If a post or page gets many links, this signals to Google that it's an essential or high-value article.
This counts for internal as well as external links.
Your new blog post sitting there with zero internal links pointing to it is like opening a restaurant and not putting up any signs.
Google “might” stumble across it, but it has no reason to think anyone should care about it.
Meanwhile, your competitor understands this.
They're strategically linking to their new content from their best-performing pages.
They're creating topic clusters.
They're treating internal linking like the ranking factor it actually is.
The result is their content climbs the rankings while yours stays buried.
The Internal Linking Problem That's Killing Your SEO
Here's where most businesses screw this up:
They think internal linking means adding a few random links at the end of blog posts.
"Oh, and here are some related articles you might like..."
That's not internal linking. That’s what I call an “afterthought”, it’s like a formality you do to your guests when you want them to leave.
Real internal linking is STRATEGIC, hyper-focused work.
It's about creating a network of connections that tells Google exactly which content matters most.
But most businesses are making these critical mistakes:
Mistake 1: Publishing orphan content
Orphaned content are pages on your website that have no internal links pointing to them.
These pages might as well not exist as far as Google is concerned.
Mistake 2: Using terrible anchor text
"Click here" and "read more" tell Google absolutely nothing about what the linked page is about.
Google also tells us to use descriptive words in our anchor text.
Instead of “click here”, write something like “click here to read about <thing>”
Or for example - click here to join our free newsletter and get the best tips to improve your marketing and grow your business
Mistake 3: Not linking from high-authority pages
If your homepage gets the most external links, why aren't you linking from it to your most important content?
Mistake 4: Creating content silos
Your blog lives in isolation. Your service pages never link to your content. Your case studies don't connect to anything. Everything exists in its own little bubble.
What Internal Linking Does for Your Content Performance
When you get internal linking right, three things happen that directly boost your content performance:
It Tells Google What Matters
Pages with more incoming internal links tend to get more traffic.
For example, in datasets for our clients astravue.com and theoakage.com,
URLs with 0-4 internal links only saw 20-30 clicks on average a month from Google Search, while
URLs with 40-44 internal links saw four times that many.
Again, this is because Google uses internal links as a ranking signal.
More internal links pointing to a page = higher rankings = more organic traffic.
It Speeds Up Indexing
Adding internal links to your newly published pages provides search engines with more ways to reach that content.
Instead of waiting weeks for Google to find your new content, internal links create pathways that help
Google discover and index your content faster.
Also don’t get me started on how annoying it is to go manually begging Google to index your page in the search console, it is just BORING. Building links fixes it because crawlers find pages easier.
It Builds Topic Authority
When you link related content together, you're helping your ENTIRE site rank higher.
Google starts to see your site as the go-to resource for your industry topics, which lifts all your related content.
Our Internal Linking Steps
Here's how to build a system that actually moves the needle:
Step 1: Audit Your Current Internal Link Structure
Before you start adding links everywhere, you need to know where you stand.
Use a tool like Ubersuggest.com or Ahrefs (I remember Wordpress having this too) to crawl your site and identify:
Pages with zero internal links (orphan pages)
Your most-linked-to pages (these have the most authority to pass)
Broken internal links that need fixing
Pages that should be linked but aren't
Step 2: Create Topic Clusters
Pick your main business topics (the ones you want to rank for).
Create comprehensive pillar pages for each topic.
Then create supporting content that dives deeper into specific aspects.
Link from your pillar page to all supporting content.
Link from supporting content back to the pillar page and to other relevant supporting content.
Step 3: Link from Your Highest-Authority Pages
Your homepage, service pages, and best-performing blog posts have the most link authority to pass.
These are your internal linking goldmines.
Identify pages that get the most external backlinks.
These are your "power pages." Every link from these pages carries more weight.
Identify pages with strong external backlink profiles to link from when you want to boost specific content.
Step 4: Use Strategic Anchor Text
Every internal link is an opportunity to tell Google what the destination page is about.
Instead of "click here" or "read more," use descriptive anchor text that includes your target keyword.
Or for example - click here to join our free newsletter and get the best tips to improve your marketing and grow your business
But don't go overboard. At least some exact match anchors are associated with significantly higher traffic.
But vary your anchor text to keep it natural.
Step 5: Link Contextually Within Content
The most powerful internal links are embedded naturally within your content.
Also called editorial or in-line links, these appear naturally within the flow of a page's content. They
offer depth, allowing users to transition from a surface-level topic to a more detailed one.
When you mention a concept that you've written about elsewhere, link to it.
When you reference a case study, link to the full story.
When you mention a tool or strategy, link to your detailed guide about it.
Action Plan
If you want to get internal linking done, follow the steps plan below.
If even the thought of doing all this technical stuff pisses you off, you can contact us here and we’ll get this done for you
Also,
To MAKE SURE you get this done, you need to write this down in a to-do list and ACTUALLY follow it,
If not, you’ll keep procrastinating whilst someone else reading this blog gets things done.
Astravue will help you with this. They are our client, and man they’re AMAZING.
BTW - that’s not an affiliate link. I do it because I love their tool and my agency friends love it too
Anyway, here’s your action plan
This week:
Audit your top 10 blog posts. How many internal links point to them?
Identify your 5 highest-authority pages (most backlinks, highest traffic)
Find 2-3 pieces of content that deserve more traffic
Next week:
Add 3-5 contextual internal links to each high-authority page, pointing to content that needs a boost
Update your navigation to include links to your most important content
Fix any broken internal links you found in your audit
This month:
Create topic clusters around your main business themes
Write pillar content for each major topic
Build internal link networks connecting all related content
Ongoing:
Every time you publish new content, immediately add links to it from 3-5 existing relevant pages
When updating old content, look for opportunities to link to newer content
Monitor which internal links are driving the most traffic and replicate that success
The Final Truth About Content That Ranks
Your content quality matters.
Your keyword research matters.
Your technical SEO matters.
YES TO ALL THREE.
But none of it matters if Google doesn't think your content is important.
Internal linking is how you tell Google what's important on your site.
It's how you guide the flow of authority.
It's how you turn isolated blog posts into a connected content ecosystem.
Businesses are sitting on goldmines of great content that's getting zero traffic because they've never thought strategically about internal linking.
Don't be one of them.
Smart SEO folks understand that internal linking is just as important as external link building - and a lot more under your control.
Your competitors are already doing this.
Every day you wait is another day they're getting traffic that should be yours.
Start today. Link strategically. Watch your content climb the rankings.
If you want more insights on building content that actually drives business results (without the fluff),
We break down real strategies that turn websites into lead generation machines - no theory, just tactics that work.
Strategic internal linking is just one piece of a content marketing system that gets you more traffic, leads and clients.
If you want help building a complete content strategy
that gets you leads and clients automatically, forever
and especially those who buy from you fast and without creating 1000s of objections,
You can get in touch.
Contact us here and we’ll see how we can help you
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