Q: What is the biggest internal linking myth you encounter?
David, Information Architect: "That you need a specific number of internal links per page. I see people forcing seven links into short posts because some guide said so. Ridiculous. The number that works depends entirely on your content length and what users need next."
Q: What about anchor text optimization?
"Another time sink. Yes, descriptive anchor text helps, but I tested exact-match keyword anchors versus natural phrases. The difference in rankings? Negligible. The difference in user experience? Huge. Natural anchors got clicked more because they fit the sentence flow."
Q: How should people approach internal linking?
"Think about user paths, not PageRank flow. When someone finishes reading your page, what question comes next? Link to that. I restructured a client's site this way. Reduced bounce rate by 34% and session duration increased without changing any content."
Q: What about linking from high-authority pages?
"Matters less than you'd think. I've seen new pages rank well with links from deep site pages because the context matched perfectly. Stop chasing your homepage links. Link where it makes sense for readers."
Q: Time-saving approach?
"Add links when you publish. Review quarterly, fix broken ones, add new relevant connections. That's it. Skip the elaborate linking schemes and spreadsheets."