Contextual Internal Linking for Affiliate Review Sites

Internal links do two jobs. They help readers move to the page that answers their next question, and they show search engines how your pages relate. On affiliate sites the second job is often treated as the only one, which produces footers full of keyword links and "related" boxes that point anywhere. This guide sets out a method that serves the reader first.

Step 1: list the reader's next questions

Step 2: write anchors that describe

• Name the destination: "how we test withdrawals", "Ontario advertising rules".
• Vary wording naturally; the same exact-match phrase on hundreds of links reads as manipulation to people and adds nothing.
• Put the link where the question arises in the text, not in a block at the end.

Step 3: respect market boundaries

A reader on a page for Great Britain should not be sent to an offer page for a US state, and the reverse. Market boundaries matter legally as well as editorially: in Ontario, the regulator says operators are accountable for advertising standards and that public advertising of inducements is prohibited, so a link from an Ontario-facing page to another market's welcome offer can create problems for the operator you write about. Keep cross-market links to neutral pages such as methodology, glossary or standards.

Step 4: decide what not to link

• Footer link blocks with dozens of keyword anchors.
• "Related" widgets that pick pages by tag without checking market or relevance.
• Links to pages you would not want a reader to land on, such as expired offers.
• Links to your other sites placed only to pass authority. Google's spam policies describe affiliate content spread across a network "without providing additional value" as thin; a link network built on such sites compounds the problem.

Step 5: audit and maintain

1. Crawl the site and export every internal link with its anchor and source page.
2. Find orphan pages (no inbound links) and pages linked only from navigation.
3. Check that every review links to its market's support pages and is linked from its hub.
4. Remove or update links to retired products and expired offers when the editorial log records the change.

Worked example (synthetic)

A site has a review of Operator K, a bonus explainer and a comparison page. The old review linked "best casino" to the home page and "click here" to the bonus page. The editor rewrites the links by reader need. A reader who finishes the bonus section wants the full terms, so the review links "how Operator K's wagering works" to the explainer. A reader who reaches the verdict may want options, so the review links "compare licensed Ontario casinos" to the comparison page. The bonus explainer links back to the review for the test evidence. Every anchor now says where it leads.

Questions

How many internal links should a review have?

There is no useful number. Link wherever a reader's next question is answered elsewhere on your site, usually the hub, support pages for terms and payments, comparisons that include the product, and methodology.

Should affiliate links get rel attributes?

Google asks sites to mark links that are advertisements or paid placements with rel="sponsored" (rel="nofollow" is also acceptable). Commission-paying links to operators fall into that category. Internal links need no special attribute.

Is linking between my own sites a problem?

Linking where it helps a reader is fine. Building a network of sites that mainly link to each other and repeat the same affiliate content is the pattern Google's spam policies describe as thin affiliation.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, Spam policies for Google web search, last updated August 28, 2026.
2. Google Search Central, Qualify your outbound links to Google, last updated December 10, 2025.
3. Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, last updated October 5, 2026.
4. AGCO, Important information for advertising and marketing in Ontario's new igaming market, March 16, 2022 (Standard 2.05 text updated April 8, 2022).