CONCEPT

Internal Linking (Nav vs Editorial)

Properties1
tagsinternal-linking, editorial-links, navigation, core-30, technical-seo

3 min read

Internal Linking (Nav vs Editorial)

Two kinds of on-site links with two jobs: site-wide navigation (wayfinding) and in-content editorial links (topical relationship + ranking). Mixing the jobs is the usual local-SEO mistake.

Definition

Caleb Ulku’s cleanest statement is the Skool post Where your links actually do the work: a site has two kinds of links. Navigation is structural, identical on every page, and exists so people and Google can move around. It does not describe any single page, so stuffing “keyword plus city” into menu labels reads as manipulative — and, he claims, does not pass any real SEO authority. In-content editorial links — a body link to a related page with descriptive anchor text — are how Google understands which pages belong together. That is “where the actual SEO work happens.”

“Service plus city” therefore lives on the page (title tag, H1, first paragraph), not in chrome. The Core 30 hierarchy (homepage → category → service, with reciprocal editorial links) is this rule applied at site scale. Official SEO Starter Guide: The Basics agrees on the discovery role of links and on writing good, descriptive anchor text; it does not say nav links pass zero authority. Treat the two-job split as useful practitioner framing (emerging); treat “nav passes nothing” as creator-opinion.

Key Properties

  • Nav = wayfinding. Keep it clean. No city+service stuffing.
  • Body links = ranking work. Descriptive, natural, not the same phrase on every link.
  • On-page targeting (title / H1 / first paragraph) carries the keyword+city, not the menu.
  • Core 30 is an editorial-link graph, not a URL-folder scheme. Caleb: “URL structure is not important. Google works on internal links.” Official Google: URL keywords have “hardly any effect” beyond breadcrumbs — the two claims rhyme.
  • Aligns with official “write good link text”; goes further than official on nav equity.

Examples from Sources

ExampleSource
”Water heater repair in Houston” in title + H1 + first line; not in the menuWhere your links actually do the work
Homepage → category → service editorial links mirroring the GBPWhat the Core 30 Framework Is
Official: good anchor text tells users and Google what the destination containsSEO Starter Guide: The Basics

In the Sources

SourceContext
Where your links actually do the workStandalone two-job rule.
The BEST SEO Tutorial for Businesses 2026 (Full Guide) (saved as 'The BEST Local SEO Tutorial for Beginners 2026')Editorial vs nav/footer in the Core 30 spec.
What the Core 30 Framework IsHierarchy + “URL structure is not important.”
SEO Starter Guide: The BasicsLinks as discovery; good anchors; keyword stuffing is spam.

Concepts: Core 30, GBP–Website Alignment (Consistency Signals), Technical SEO from Architecture, Local Link Building & Authority, Schema Markup (Structured Data) Entities: Caleb Ulku, Google