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Internal linking and pillar structure · Marketing

A page nothing links to is a page Google reaches last.

On-page SEO makes one page answer one search. This page is about what happens between pages, which on a site of any size decides more than the wording on any single one.

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Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Editorial illustration for Internal linking and pillar structure

In one paragraph

Internal linking and pillar structure is the work of deciding which pages on your site link to which, and grouping them under one main page per subject. GullySales maps what you already have, links the narrow pages up to the pillar and back down, and merges the ones competing against each other for the same search.

A pillar is the page that owns a subject. The cluster is the narrow pages beneath it, each linking up, with the pillar linking back down to every one of them. Google reads that shape and works out which page to rank for what.

The other half of the job is subtraction. Two pages chasing the same search take half the strength each. The fix is to merge one into the other and redirect it.

Who it is for

This is written for you if these sound familiar.

  • Sites of a hundred pages or more where nobody can say what links to what
  • Businesses with a service page, a blog post and a location page all chasing one search
  • Owners whose new pages take months to appear in Google at all
  • Anyone about to add a large section of pages who wants the shape decided first

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

  • A twelve-page website, where the problem is that it has twelve pages and not how they link
  • Anyone expecting movement inside a month, because this shows in search over a couple of months
  • Sites with faults that stop pages being crawled at all, which is technical work that comes first

The problem

Does this sound like your business?

What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.

  • “The page is live and Google has not indexed it”

    When nothing on your site links to a page, the only route in is the sitemap. Google reads that as a page the site itself does not consider important.

  • “Two of our pages compete for the same search”

    Both of them rank badly. The links, the words and the attention that should sit on one page are split across two, and Google keeps swapping which one it shows.

  • “Every link on the site says click here”

    The words inside a link tell Google what the page it points at is about. Generic link text throws that signal away, on every link, across the whole site.

  • “Our menu carries three hundred links”

    A link counts for less the more of them sit on the same page. A mega-menu spreads the site's strength so thinly that no page gets a useful share of it.

What we do

Everything that is included.

Each deliverable, and what it gets you. Nothing here is an extra.

  1. A map of what links to what

    Every page listed with what points at it, how many clicks it sits from the home page, and which pages have nothing pointing at them at all.

  2. Pillar and cluster plan

    The subjects that deserve a pillar page, the narrow pages that belong under each, and which of your existing pages move into that shape.

  3. Cannibalisation list

    The pairs of pages chasing one search, with a decision against each: keep it, merge and redirect it, or rewrite it towards a different search.

  4. Anchor text rules

    What the link text should say when it points at each important page, and how much it should vary, so two hundred links do not read identically.

  5. Orphan and depth fixes

    Pages with nothing pointing at them get links from the right places, and pages buried five clicks deep are brought nearer the surface.

  6. Links written by hand into the copy

    Each link goes inside a sentence that reads naturally to a person, because a block of links stuck at the foot of a page is worth little and looks worse.

  7. Menu and footer rework

    What belongs in the main menu and what does not, so your important pages take the strength and the rest stays reachable without being listed.

  8. A rule for every new page

    Where a new page links up to, which pages link down to it, and who adds those links, so the structure holds after the project ends.

How the result is measured

  • Pages with no internal links pointing at them
  • Clicks from the home page to a page that earns money
  • Pages indexed against pages published
  • Rankings for the pillar pages on their main searches
  • Enquiries traced to search, before and after

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

How it works

How the work runs

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

  1. 1

    Crawl and map

    We crawl the site, list every page with its inbound links and its click depth, and mark the orphans.

  2. 2

    Group by search, not by menu

    Pages are grouped by what a buyer types rather than by where they sit in the menu, which is how the duplicates surface.

  3. 3

    Decide the pillars

    One page per subject is chosen as the one meant to rank, and everything narrow is pointed at it.

  4. 4

    Merge and redirect

    Competing pages are merged into the stronger one, with a permanent redirect from the old address so nobody lands on nothing.

  5. 5

    Write the links in

    Links are added inside the copy, one page at a time, with the anchor text written for that particular placement.

  6. 6

    Watch and hold the shape

    Rankings and indexing are read over the following weeks, and the rule for new pages goes to whoever publishes them.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 1, prospecting and lead generation. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.

  1. Step 1

    Sales audit

    Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.

    Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.

  2. Step 2 · you are here

    Sales process design

    One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.

    Start here if every salesperson sells differently.

  3. Step 3

    Sales management

    A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

    Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
How is this different from link building?
Link building asks other websites to link to you, and you do not control whether they do. Internal linking is the links inside your own site, which you control completely. It costs less, changes faster, and is usually worth fixing first.
How many internal links should a page have?
Enough to point at what genuinely relates, which on most pages is a handful inside the copy. There is no magic number, and thirty links in one article makes each of them worth less. Every link should earn its place in the sentence it sits in.
Do I have to delete the pages that compete?
Merge them rather than delete them. The stronger page takes the useful parts of the weaker one, and the weaker address gets a permanent redirect. Deleting outright throws away whatever that page had earned.
How long before this shows in search?
Weeks rather than days, and a couple of months before the picture is clear. Google has to recrawl the pages and judge them again. We report rankings and indexing as they move, and we do not guarantee positions, here or on any other page.
Is this worth doing on a small site?
Below about twenty pages, no. Put that money into having pages worth linking to instead. The value of this work rises with the number of pages, which is why it matters most on sites carrying a page per service, per city and per industry.
How is this priced?
There is no published price. The cost follows how many pages the site has and how tangled they already are, which we look at after the first conversation. On a large site it is a first pass, then a lighter monthly rhythm as new pages appear.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.
What if we are not happy with the work?
Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

By industry

Internal linking and pillar structure, written for your industry.

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