Case study · Internal linking
Links where they count.
Using Bing position data to find pages stuck just off the first results, then rebuilding internal linking so thousands of orphaned pages joined the site.
Own productTravel discovery platformGlobal
The challenge
Nearly visible
is not visible.
Bing was sending the platform real traffic, but the data showed a pattern. Most impressions sat in positions 6–10, where very few people click. At the same time, thousands of pages had no internal links pointing to them at all.
Internal links are one of the few ranking signals a site fully controls. The task was to use them where the search data said they would matter most.
The approach
Find the near misses.
Connect the site.
Pages ranking just below the top results gain the most from stronger internal links.
Read the click curve.
Bing data showed most impressions at positions 6–10, where click-through was 1.8%, against 50.3% in positions 1–3.
Find what was cut off.
Identify orphaned pages, pages with no internal anchors and dead-end pages with no onward links.
Generate the links.
Build section indexes and sibling links automatically from the sitemap, so new pages are linked as soon as they exist.
Check the result.
Re-crawl and confirm no page is left without links, then track positions over time.
What changed
A connected site.
Every page can now be reached by crawlers and visitors through relevant links.
- More internal links across key templates
- 3.6×
- Orphaned pages linked
- 2,800+
- Dead-end pages given onward links
- 1,400+
No orphans
Pages that crawlers could not reach are now linked from relevant hubs.
Automatic upkeep
Links are generated from the sitemap, not maintained by hand.
Better paths for visitors
Related routes, airlines and destinations link to each other.
Ranking changes are being measured; no position uplift is claimed here.
Ross’s role
Own product
Ross analysed the search data and designed the linking system as founder of the platform.
Published October 2026 · By Ross Brannigan
A potential collaboration
Strengthen your internal linking.
For large content sites with pages search engines can’t find or don’t value.
- A search-data-led linking audit.
- An automated internal linking system.
- Position tracking for the pages that matter.
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