pseo-linking

pSEO Internal Linking

Build an internal linking system that creates strong topical authority, distributes link equity, and ensures every page is discoverable.

Core Principles

1. Hub-and-spoke architecture: Category hubs link to all child pages; child pages link back to their hub
2. Topical clustering: Pages within the same topic cluster interlink
3. Every page reachable: No orphan pages — every page is linked from at least 2 other pages
4. Crawl depth <= 3: Any page reachable within 3 clicks from the homepage
5. Descriptive anchor text: Link text describes the target page, not generic "click here"

Architecture

Homepage
├── Category Hub A ──→ Page A1, A2, A3, ...
│   ├── Page A1 ──→ Hub A, A2, A3 (related)
│   ├── Page A2 ──→ Hub A, A1, A3 (related)
│   └── Page A3 ──→ Hub A, A1, A2 (related)
├── Category Hub B ──→ Page B1, B2, B3, ...
│   └── ...
└── Sitemap (links all hubs)

Implementation Steps

1. Breadcrumb Navigation

Build a breadcrumb component that:

• Renders the full path: Home > Category > Current Page
• Uses semantic HTML (<nav> with <ol>)
• Generates BreadcrumbList schema markup (coordinate with pseo-schema)
• Appears on every pSEO page

interface BreadcrumbItem {
  label: string;
  href: string;
}

function Breadcrumbs({ items }: { items: BreadcrumbItem[] }) {
  return (
    <nav aria-label="Breadcrumb">
      <ol>
        {items.map((item, i) => (
          <li key={item.href}>
            {i < items.length - 1 ? (
              <a href={item.href}>{item.label}</a>
            ) : (
              <span aria-current="page">{item.label}</span>
            )}
          </li>
        ))}
      </ol>
    </nav>
  );
}

2. Related Pages Component

Build a component that displays links to related pages:

• Pull related pages from the data layer's getRelatedPages(slug, limit) function
• Show 3-6 related pages per page
• Prioritize pages in the same category, then adjacent categories
• Use the page's H1 or title as anchor text
• Include a brief description or differentiator for each link