Internal Linking for UK Schools
The Power of Internal Linking for UK Schools: Hubs, Paths, PageRank & Governance
Published by SEO for Schools • Author: Paul Delaney
Internal linking is the most under-used SEO lever on school websites. It tells search engines which pages matter, moves authority to where parents need it, reduces “orphan” pages, and guides families to complete tasks faster. This guide translates advanced concepts into simple actions your team can run without extra budget: build parent-first hubs, fix weak paths, measure with Search Console, and govern links across a multi-academy trust (MAT). Everything here respects UK accessibility and public-sector tone.
Executive summary
What internal links do: help Google discover, understand and prioritise your pages; help parents navigate and complete tasks; concentrate authority (PageRank) on key hubs like Term Dates, Admissions, Absence and Safeguarding.
What to fix first: missing links to task hubs, deep pages with no path back, bloated footers, duplicated hubs and calendar entries trapped in PDFs.
Orphan task pages
Clicks to any task from homepage (max)
Canonical hub per task
High-quality links per hub (min)
Why internal links matter
Search engines use internal links to discover and evaluate pages. Google’s documentation explicitly states that good internal linking helps it find content and understand context and priority. For schools, the impact is immediate:
- Discoverability: Pages buried in menus or uploaded as PDFs often lack links; they’re hard for Google to crawl and hard for parents to find.
- Relevance signals: Links from related pages tell Google what the target page is about, especially when link text is descriptive.
- Authority flow: Popular pages (homepage, news) can pass value to task hubs so those hubs rank for terms like “term dates [town]”.
- Task completion: Clear paths reduce phone calls to the office and improve satisfaction for parents and carers.
References: Google Search Central — Make your links crawlable • Crawling & indexing overview • SEO Starter Guide.
Principles for parent-first linking
- One canonical hub per task. Term Dates, Admissions, Absence, Safeguarding, Uniform, Contact. No duplicates.
- Three-click rule of thumb. Any task reachable in ≤3 clicks from the homepage and from other relevant hubs.
- Descriptive anchor text. Use the task itself: “Report a pupil absence”, not “Read more”.
- Context over clutter. Links near relevant text outperform long, generic link lists.
- Bidirectional links. Spokes link back to the hub; hubs link to current spokes. News/events always link to the evergreen hub.
- Accessibility & clarity. Link meaning should be clear from the text alone. Avoid multiple “click here”.
References: MDN — Link accessibility concerns • GOV. UK — Content design: links.
Hub-and-spoke architecture for schools
Think of your site as a set of evergreen hubs (long-lived pages) with spokes (supporting pages) and news/events (short-lived). This structure helps everyone:
Evergreen hubs (examples)
- Term Dates [YEAR/YEAR+1] & INSET Days
- Admissions: How to Apply for [YEAR]
- Report a Pupil Absence
- Safeguarding at [School]
- Uniform & PE Kit
- Contact [School]
Spokes (examples)
- Admissions timetable, in-year admissions, appeals
- Breakfast/After-school clubs
- Sixth Form entry requirements
- Attendance expectations & support
- Second-hand uniform shop
Rules: hubs sit one level up in navigation; spokes link back to the hub in the first paragraph; news/events include a link to the relevant hub and get a link from the hub while they’re current.
How authority flows (PageRank without maths)
PageRank is Google’s way of estimating importance by following links. You don’t need equations—just the idea that links are votes, and some votes carry more weight (homepage, popular pages). To concentrate authority on task hubs:
- Link from high-traffic pages: homepage, “Latest news”, “Parents” hub. A single prominent link can outperform dozens of footer links.
- Reduce waste: remove duplicated links and deep faceted filters that create thousands of low-value pages; link to the canonical hub.
- Create relevant clusters: related spokes should link to each other (Admissions ↔ Sixth Form ↔ Open Evening) to signal a topic area.
If you have a great press article or a PTA page with external links, add a visible link to a relevant hub—this recycles authority you already earned.
Critical user paths (task completion)
Internal linking is not just for robots. Model three high-value parent journeys and ensure each step is supported by clear links:
| Journey | Typical entry | Essential links | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Find term dates | Homepage or Google: “term dates [town]” | Homepage → Term Dates hub; News/Event → Term Dates hub; Calendar component → Term Dates hub | Sees dates incl. INSET; can download/subscribe without hunting PDFs |
| Report a pupil absence | Google: “report absence [school]” or mobile menu | Homepage & Parents hub → Absence; Attendance policy → Absence; Contact page → Absence | Submits via form or phone; understands expectations |
| Apply for admissions / sixth form | Google: “admissions [school]” or trust site | Homepage → Admissions hub; Open Evening news → Admissions; Sixth Form pages ↔ Admissions | Understands deadlines/criteria; takes next step |
Quick wins & common mistakes
Quick wins
- Add a “Parents” hub that links to Term Dates, Absence, Uniform, Payments, Clubs, Safeguarding.
- Put a text link to Term Dates in your footer and in the homepage intro—not just a calendar icon.
- From every Admissions subpage, link back to the Admissions hub in the first paragraph.
- On the Contact page, add links to Absence and How to find us.
- Update historic news articles to link to current evergreen hubs.
Common mistakes
- Two “Term Dates” pages (one in News, one in Parents). Consolidate into a single hub; 301-redirect the duplicate.
- Icon-only links with no text. Screen-readers and Google may miss the meaning—add descriptive anchor text.
- PDF-only calendars. Provide an HTML page and link to it from the homepage; keep the PDF as an optional download.
- Overloaded mega-menus with dozens of links. Fewer, meaningful links pass more value to the right pages.
References: Google — When sitemaps help (links still essential) • GOV. UK — Links guidance.
Governance across a MAT
Internal linking succeeds when everyone follows light, consistent rules. Provide a short policy and pattern library:
| Area | Policy | Owner | Cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Task hubs | One canonical hub per task per school; trust-level hubs only where appropriate (e.g., policies) | Comms/SEO | Annual review |
| Link placement | Hubs linked from homepage, Parents hub and footer; spokes link back to the hub in first paragraph | Editors | Pre-publish |
| News/events | Every news/event links to its hub; hubs spotlight current items | Editors | Ongoing |
| Accessibility | Descriptive anchors; avoid “click here”; no icon-only links | Editors/QA | Pre-publish |
| Monitoring | Quarterly crawl to find orphans and deep pages; Search Console trend checks | SEO/Web | Quarterly |
Measure impact with Search Console
- Pick a hub (e.g., Term Dates). In Search Console → Performance, filter by the page or by URL prefix.
- Record baseline: impressions, clicks, CTR, top queries.
- Add links: homepage text link, Parents hub link, footer link, links from 3–5 relevant spokes/news pages.
- Compare matched periods (e.g., Sept this year vs Sept last year). Look for uplift in CTR and impressions for the hub and its spokes.
- Crawl the site after changes to verify there are no orphans and that link paths are short.
References: Google Search Console — Performance report • Google — Get started with Search Console.
Advanced tactics (for larger sites)
Section hubs & breadcrumb schema
- Use BreadcrumbList structured data and on-page breadcrumbs so Google understands hierarchy.
- For MATs, add a trust-level hub for policies and link school policy pages to it where relevant.
Seasonal link swaps
- During admissions season, place a temporary homepage module that links to the Admissions hub and key spokes.
- After the window closes, switch the module to Term Dates or Exams.
Cross-site signals (MAT)
- Where appropriate, link between schools for shared sixth forms or federated events—but keep each school’s hub canonical.
- Use consistent anchor phrasing across schools to reinforce topic authority.
Log & score links
- Create a simple spreadsheet: Source URL → Target hub → Anchor text → Placement (hero/body/footer) → Date.
- Score 3/2/1 for prominence (hero/body/footer). Prioritise adding 3s and removing low-value duplicates.
Print-screen checklists & templates
Internal Linking QA — 15 Checks
Screenshot or print this card- One canonical hub per task.
- Hub linked from homepage, Parents hub and footer.
- Spokes link back to the hub in the first paragraph.
- News/events link to the relevant hub.
- No orphan pages (every indexable page has ≥1 internal link).
- Descriptive anchor text; no “click here” chains.
- Links appear near relevant copy (not only in mega-menus).
- Icons accompanied by text; links accessible by keyboard.
- PDFs supplemented with HTML summaries and linked from hubs.
- Max three clicks from homepage to any key task.
- Breadcrumbs present and correct on deeper pages.
- Duplicate hubs consolidated with 301s.
- Key hubs receive at least five quality internal links.
- Trust cross-links used where they add value.
- Changes logged; re-checked in Search Console after 4–8 weeks.
Link Pattern Library (Copy & Adapt)
Screenshot or print this card| Source area | Anchor → Target |
|---|---|
| Homepage intro | Term Dates 2025/26 → /term-dates/ |
| Parents hub | Report a pupil absence → /absence/ |
| Admissions spokes | How to apply → /admissions/ |
| News: Open Evening | Admissions → /admissions/ |
| Attendance policy | Report a pupil absence → /absence/ |
| Contact page | Office hours & how to find us → /contact/ |
Internal Link Change Log
Screenshot or print this card| Date | Source URL | Anchor | Target | Placement | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | — | Hero / Body / Footer | — |
Key terms
- Internal link
- A hyperlink from one page on your site to another page on the same site.
- Hub-and-spoke
- Architecture where a central hub page links to related subpages and those spokes link back to the hub.
- PageRank
- Google’s system for evaluating importance via links. You can influence it by where you link from/to.
- Orphan page
- An indexable page with no internal links to it.
- Anchor text
- The clickable words of a link. Use descriptive task-led phrasing.
FAQs
Should we add every link to the footer?
No. Footers are useful but low-context. Add contextual links near relevant text and ensure hubs are linked from the homepage and Parents hub.
Is there a maximum number of links per page?
Google can crawl many links, but more links dilute attention and authority. Focus on the links that help users and support your core hubs.
Do we need to “nofollow” internal links?
No. Use normal followed links for navigation and contextual linking. Reserve nofollow for untrusted external links or user-generated content.
Does anchor text have to match the page title exactly?
No. It should be descriptive and natural. “Report a pupil absence” and “Report absence” both help. Avoid keyword stuffing.
Need practical SEO support?
Speak With Paul Delaney
Paul Delaney helps schools turn complex SEO into simple, effective actions. As a guest writer for SEO for Schools, Paul shares step-by-step playbooks and evidence-based guidance that busy teams can apply immediately. With three decades’ experience working with UK and international institutions, he understands the challenges school teams face and is well positioned to offer support and guidance.
For our readers, Paul offers free 30-minute sessions for institutions exploring how to raise visibility, strengthen brand trust and streamline admissions. Sessions are practical, jargon-free and free from sales pressure. You can contact him using the buttons below—please mention SEOforSchools.co.uk.
