There's no magic number, but 3–8 internal links per blog post is the practical range for most content between 800–1,500 words. The actual count depends on post length, topic complexity, and how much related content you have to link to. A 500-word news update might only warrant 2–3 links, while a 3,000-word pillar page could easily justify 12–15 without feeling spammy. What matters more than raw count is relevance and user intent. Each internal link should either support a claim you're making, offer deeper explanation on a subtopic, or guide readers to a logical next step. If you're forcing links just to hit a quota, you're doing it wrong. Google's algorithms are smart enough to recognize when links add value versus when they're just keyword-stuffed anchors scattered throughout. Practical guidelines we follow at Ottawa SEO: - Link early (first 200 words) to high-priority pages you want to rank - Spread links throughout the post rather than dumping 10 in the final paragraph - Use descriptive anchor text that previews the destination content - Prioritize linking to underperforming pages that need authority boost - Avoid linking to the same page multiple times unless there's a strong contextual reason The technical ceiling is much higher than most people use. We've seen 20+ internal links work fine on long-form content when each link serves a purpose, but past 15 you risk diluting link equity and overwhelming readers. The floor is more rigid: posts with zero internal links are missed opportunities, both for SEO (crawlability, PageRank distribution) and user experience (keeping visitors on site). For a 500-domain portfolio like ours, internal linking is how we distribute authority strategically. We'll often write new content specifically to create bridge links between high-authority pages and target pages we want to rank. That's advanced, but the basic rule holds: link when it helps the reader, stop when it doesn't.