You've added dozens — maybe hundreds — of products to your WooCommerce store. You've written descriptions, picked images, and set categories. But when you look at your analytics, most of those product pages get almost zero organic traffic. They're sitting there like islands with no bridges connecting them to the rest of your site.
The missing piece? Internal links — the links that connect one page on your site to another page on your site. While most store owners obsess over backlinks (links from other websites), internal links are entirely within your control, cost nothing, and can dramatically change how Google understands and ranks your store.
This guide covers how to build an internal linking strategy for your WooCommerce store, even if you've never thought about site architecture before.
38%
A WooCommerce candle store increased internal links per product page from 1.2 to 6.8 and saw a 38% rise in organic traffic to product pages within three months — without changing any products or acquiring a single backlink.
Why Internal Links Matter More Than You Think
They Tell Google What's Important
Google uses a crawler (an automated program) to visit your site and follow links from page to page. If a product page has no links pointing to it from other pages, Google may never find it — or may decide it's unimportant. Every internal link acts like a vote of confidence telling Google, "This page matters."
They Pass "Link Equity" Around Your Store
When one of your pages earns authority — say a blog post gets shared widely or a category page gets a backlink from a magazine — that authority can flow to other pages through internal links. Think of it like water flowing through pipes. Without the pipes (internal links), the water (authority) stays pooled in one place instead of nourishing your entire store.
They Keep Shoppers Browsing Longer
A customer who lands on a blog post about skincare routines and sees a link to your best-selling moisturiser is far more likely to visit that product page than someone who has to navigate back to your shop and search manually. More pages viewed per visit signals to Google that your site is useful, and it directly increases your chances of making a sale.
One WooCommerce store selling handmade candles had 45 product pages with an average of 1.2 internal links each. After implementing the strategy below, they increased that average to 6.8 internal links per product page. Within three months, organic traffic to product pages increased by 38%, and the average session duration jumped from 1:42 to 3:15. The products themselves didn't change — just the connections between pages.
Map Your Site's Linking Hierarchy
Every WooCommerce store has a natural hierarchy, whether you've thought about it consciously or not. Your job is to make that hierarchy crystal clear through internal links.
Understand the Pyramid Structure
Think of your store as a pyramid with three to four levels:
- Homepage — the top of the pyramid, your most authoritative page
- Category pages — the second tier (e.g., "Women's Shoes," "Kitchen Gadgets," "Organic Teas")
- Subcategory pages — optional third tier (e.g., "Running Shoes" under "Women's Shoes")
- Product pages — the base of the pyramid, your most numerous pages
Authority should flow downward from the homepage to categories, and from categories to products. But you also want it flowing sideways — between related products and between related categories.
Audit Your Current Internal Links
Before adding new links, you need to know where you stand. Here's how:
- Run your store through our free site audit tool — it will show you orphan pages (pages with zero internal links pointing to them) and pages with thin linking
- Open a spreadsheet and list every category, subcategory, and your top 20 product pages
- For each page, note how many internal links currently point to it
- Flag any page with fewer than three internal links — these are your priority targets
Most WooCommerce store owners who do this exercise for the first time discover that 30–50% of their product pages are effectively orphaned.
30–50% of product pages in a typical WooCommerce store have no internal links
Six Types of Internal Links Every WooCommerce Store Needs
Not all internal links are created equal. Here are the six types you should systematically build into your store, listed from easiest to most impactful.
1. Navigation and Menu Links
Your main navigation menu is the most powerful set of internal links on your entire site because it appears on every page. Make sure your top-level categories are in your main menu. If you have more than seven or eight categories, use a mega menu (a large dropdown that displays subcategories in columns) instead of cramming everything into a single row.
Action step: Review your main menu right now. Does it link to every major category? Remove any links to pages that don't drive sales or SEO value (like "About Us" — move that to the footer).
2. Breadcrumb Links
Breadcrumbs are the small text trail at the top of a page that shows where you are in the site hierarchy, like: Home > Women's Shoes > Running Shoes > CloudStep Pro. Each segment is a clickable link.
WooCommerce doesn't always enable breadcrumbs by default, so you may need to:
- Check your theme's settings — many WooCommerce themes include a breadcrumb toggle
- If your theme doesn't support them, install a SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math, which both add breadcrumb functionality
- Make sure breadcrumbs use your product category hierarchy, not just "Home > Product Name"
3. Related Product Links
WooCommerce automatically shows "Related Products" at the bottom of product pages based on shared categories and tags. But the default selection is often random and unhelpful.
Upgrade this by:
- Manually setting "Upsells" and "Cross-sells" in each product's settings (found in the Product Data > Linked Products tab)
- Upsells are higher-value alternatives ("Like this jacket? Check out our premium version")
- Cross-sells are complementary products ("Customers also bought these socks with this shoe")
- Aim for three to four upsells and two to three cross-sells per product
This creates a dense web of contextual links between your most valuable pages.
4. Category Description Links
Most WooCommerce store owners leave their category descriptions blank or write a single throwaway sentence. This is a massive missed opportunity.
Write 150–300 words of useful content at the top of each category page and include two to four internal links within that text — linking to subcategories, featured products, or relevant blog posts.
Example for a "Running Shoes" category:
Find running shoes built for every terrain and pace. Whether you need lightweight trail runners for off-road adventures or cushioned road shoes for daily training, our collection is designed for comfort over any distance. New to running? Start with our Beginner's Running Guide for help choosing your first pair. Looking for our most popular option? The CloudStep Pro has been our best seller three seasons running.
Notice how both links are natural, helpful, and connect different types of content on the store.
5. Blog-to-Product Links
If you're not blogging, you're leaving one of the most powerful internal linking tools on the table. Blog posts let you target informational keywords ("how to choose running shoes") and link directly to your products within helpful, relevant context.
For each blog post, follow this process:
- Identify one to three products that are relevant to the topic
- Mention them naturally within the body — not in a forced "check out our product!" way
- Use descriptive anchor text (the clickable words) instead of "click here." Write "our cushioned running shoes for beginners" instead of "click here for our shoes"
- Link to the relevant category page at least once per post as well
Aim to publish at least two blog posts per month, each linking to two to four product or category pages. Over time, this builds an incredibly strong internal linking web.
6. Product Description Cross-Links
Within the product description itself, link to related products, relevant categories, or helpful blog content. This is the most underused internal linking opportunity in WooCommerce.
Action step: Pick your ten best-selling products and add two to three contextual internal links to each product description this week. Link to complementary products, the parent category, or a buying guide blog post.
Fix Your Anchor Text Strategy
Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. Google uses it as a strong signal to understand what the linked page is about. Getting this right is simple but critical.
What to Do
- Use descriptive, keyword-relevant anchor text: If you're linking to your "organic green tea" product page, the anchor text should be something like "our organic green tea" or "loose-leaf organic green tea"
- Vary your anchor text slightly: Don't use the identical phrase every time you link to the same page. Use natural variations like "organic green tea blend," "our most popular green tea," and "this organic green tea"
- Make links contextually natural: The surrounding sentence should make the link feel like a helpful suggestion, not an advertisement
Use descriptive anchor text every time
What to Avoid
- Generic anchor text: "Click here," "learn more," "read this" — these tell Google nothing about the target page
- Over-optimised anchor text: Don't stuff your exact target keyword into every single link. If every link to a page says "best organic green tea for weight loss," it looks manipulative
- Linking the same page ten times from one post: One or two links to the same target page from a single source page is plenty
Create a Repeatable Internal Linking Workflow
The biggest mistake store owners make is treating internal linking as a one-time project. It needs to be an ongoing habit built into your content workflow.
For Every New Product You Add
- Set upsells and cross-sells in the Linked Products tab
- Write a product description that includes at least one link to the parent category and one link to a complementary product
- Check if any existing blog posts mention this type of product — go back and add a link to the new product page
- Ensure the product is assigned to the correct category (so it appears in category pages and breadcrumbs)
For Every New Blog Post You Write
- Include two to four links to relevant product or category pages
- Include one to two links to other related blog posts on your site
- After publishing, go back to two or three older blog posts on similar topics and add a link to the new post
Monthly Maintenance
- Review your site audit for orphan pages or pages with thin internal linking
- Check your top ten landing pages (the pages people enter your site on) and make sure they link deeper into your store
- Look at products with declining traffic and ask: "Could more internal links help Google find and value this page?"
This workflow takes about 30 minutes per week once you're in the habit. That's a tiny investment for the SEO gains it delivers.
Common Internal Linking Mistakes in WooCommerce
Let's quickly cover the pitfalls so you can avoid them:
- Relying only on automated "Related Products": The default algorithm doesn't understand your business strategy. Manually curate your linked products
- Ignoring tag pages: WooCommerce tag pages often create thin, duplicate-ish content. If you're using product tags, make sure each tag page has unique descriptive content — or set them to noindex (a directive telling Google not to list them in search results) so they don't dilute your SEO
- Burying important pages deep in your site: If a customer needs to click five times from your homepage to reach a product, Google considers that product less important. Keep your most valuable products within three clicks of the homepage
- Forgetting about your footer: Your footer appears on every page, making it prime real estate for internal links. Include links to your top categories, your most important landing pages, and your core services
- Having broken internal links: When you delete or unpublish a product, every internal link pointing to it becomes a 404 error. Use redirects (forwarding the old URL to a relevant new page) whenever you remove a product
Set redirects every time you remove a product
Your Next Step
Open your WooCommerce dashboard, go to your ten best-selling products, and check how many internal links point to each one. If any of them have fewer than five, start there. Add contextual links from related products, category descriptions, and blog posts. This single action — connecting your best products to more pages on your site — is the highest-leverage internal linking move you can make.
Key takeaway
Thirty minutes of linking work today can start moving the needle on rankings within weeks. Your products are already great. Now make sure Google — and your customers — can find them.
