Building Related Reading That Actually Helps Guests on Your Own Site

Jacob Mishalanie
Aug 18
7 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Gray bedroom with tufted bed and city view, no people

Hosts who build their own website, whether it's a simple direct-booking page or a small blog attached to a single listing, eventually run into the same piece of advice: add related reading, add internal links, build out content that keeps visitors on the site longer. It's reasonable advice in general, and it's also easy to implement badly in a way that actively hurts trust rather than building it.

The bad version looks like a footer packed with links to dozens of towns, guides, and topics that have nothing to do with the page a visitor is actually on, added because someone read that internal linking helps search visibility and interpreted that to mean more links are automatically better. It isn't. A visitor who lands on a page about your specific property and finds a footer listing fifty unrelated towns learns nothing and trusts the site slightly less than they did before scrolling down.

A related reading section that actually works is much narrower and much more deliberate. It's one, or a small handful, of genuinely relevant next pages, linked from the specific content a visitor is currently reading, that gives them a reasonable next step if they want to know more. That's it. It's not a sitemap, and it's not a demonstration of how many pages your site has.

This matters more for independent hosts than it might seem, because a site that feels focused and genuinely useful builds more confidence in a potential guest than a site that feels like it's performing scale it doesn't actually have. This is not legal advice.

What Makes a Related Link Actually Useful

A related link earns its place when it answers a question a visitor is likely to have right after reading the page they're on. If someone just read your page about the property's amenities, a link to a page about the local area's activities is a reasonable next step. A link to an unrelated town three states away is not, no matter how well-written that other page happens to be.

The test is simple: would a real visitor, having just finished the page they're on, actually want to click this link next? If the honest answer is "probably not, but it's there anyway," the link isn't related reading, it's just a link, and it's diluting the ones that actually matter.

This means related reading sections should almost always be short. Two or three genuinely relevant links do more for a visitor than ten loosely connected ones, because a short list is easy to scan and each option feels considered rather than automatically generated.

Why the Fifty-Town Footer Doesn't Work

The instinct behind a large footer of linked towns usually comes from a reasonable place: a belief that more internal links help a site get discovered, and that naming more places signals more expertise or reach. In practice, a host with one property in one town who links to fifty other towns they don't operate in isn't demonstrating reach, they're demonstrating an unfocused site.

Visitors notice this even if they don't articulate it precisely. A footer packed with unrelated geography reads as generic template content rather than something a specific host wrote about a specific property, and it can quietly undercut the very personal, specific voice that makes an independent host's site distinctive in the first place.

If your site genuinely does cover multiple properties in multiple towns, related reading between those specific properties can make sense, guests comparing a house in one town to a similar house in another. The distinction is between links that serve an actual visitor decision and links that exist purely because the town name could theoretically be typed somewhere.

Placing Related Reading Where It Actually Gets Used

The most effective place for a related link is inline, near the end of the specific content it relates to, not buried in a global footer that appears identically on every page regardless of context. A footer link is background noise. An inline link at the natural end of a thought is a genuine next step.

For a single-property host site, this might mean linking from a page about the property's outdoor space to a page about nearby activities, or linking from a general about page to a more detailed house rules or FAQ page. Each link should feel like a natural continuation of what the visitor was just reading, not an unrelated detour.

Avoid repeating the exact same set of related links on every single page of the site. If every page ends with an identical block of five links regardless of content, visitors quickly learn to ignore that section entirely, which defeats the purpose of including it at all.

A Composite: The Empty Stay Page With a Busy Footer

Picture a host site with one strong page describing the property in real detail, and a footer, appearing on every page including that one, listing fifty different towns as if the site offered guidance across all of them. The stay page itself has no natural next step for a visitor who's just finished reading it.

A visitor reads the property page, is interested, and reaches the bottom looking for a reasonable next click, maybe a page about the local area, or a direct way to check availability. Instead they find a wall of town names that have nothing to do with what they just read. Most visitors simply leave at that point rather than parsing the footer for something useful.

The fix here is subtractive again: remove the sprawling town footer entirely, and replace it with one or two genuinely relevant next pages linked from the natural end of the stay description itself, a local area guide, a direct booking or contact page, or a house rules FAQ. The site immediately feels smaller but far more coherent, and visitors are far more likely to actually take the next step the host wants them to take.

A Simple Standard for Every Related Link You Add

Before adding any related link, name the specific visitor situation it's meant to serve: someone who just read X and might next want to know Y. If you can't state that connection in one clear sentence, the link probably doesn't belong.

Keep related reading sections short, two or three links is usually the right range for most single-property host sites, and place them inline near the content they relate to rather than in an identical global footer.

Periodically review every related link on the site and ask whether it still points somewhere accurate and current. A related link to a page that's since gone stale, an outdated local guide, a booking page with old pricing, does more harm than having no related link at all.

If you're ever tempted to add a link purely because it might help with search visibility rather than because a real visitor would want it, that's the moment to stop and reconsider. A site built around genuine visitor usefulness will generally serve both goals better than a site built purely around link volume.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a related reading section supposed to do on a host's website?

Give a visitor a genuine, relevant next page to read after finishing the content they're currently on, not demonstrate how many pages the site has. A good related reading section is short and specific to what the visitor just read.

Why is a footer with dozens of town links a bad idea?

It signals unfocused, generic content rather than the specific, personal expertise that makes an independent host's site distinctive. Visitors notice when links have no connection to the page they're on, and it quietly undermines trust in the rest of the site.

How many related links should a typical page include?

Two or three genuinely relevant links is usually the right range for a single-property host site. A short, considered list gets used far more than a long, loosely connected one.

Where should related links be placed for the best chance of being clicked?

Inline, near the natural end of the specific content they relate to, rather than in an identical global footer repeated on every page. Visitors treat footer links as background noise much more often than inline links.

Does more internal linking always help a site's search visibility?

Not automatically, and definitely not at the cost of relevance. Links that don't serve an actual visitor decision dilute the value of the links that do, and there's no benefit to volume for its own sake.

Should a host with one property link to other towns at all?

Only if there's a genuine reason a visitor would want that link, such as comparing multiple properties the host actually operates. Linking to towns purely because the name exists somewhere isn't related reading.

How often should related links be reviewed for accuracy?

Periodically, ideally alongside a broader site review. A related link pointing to outdated information, an old guide, stale pricing, does more harm to trust than simply not having a related link there at all.

What's the simplest test for whether a link belongs in related reading?

Ask whether a real visitor who just finished reading the current page would actually want to click that link next. If the honest answer is no, the link should come out, regardless of how good the destination page is on its own.

Can repeating the same related links on every page work?

It tends to backfire. If every page ends with an identical block of links regardless of content, visitors learn to ignore that section entirely, which removes any benefit it might have had.

Is a small, focused site with few pages a disadvantage compared to a large one?

Not inherently. A small, coherent site that clearly serves real visitor questions typically builds more trust than a large site padded with generic or loosely related content, since focus reads as expertise and padding reads as filler.

Work with Crest & Cove Creative

A footer listing fifty towns doesn't make a host site look bigger, it makes it look like nobody's actually reading it. A related reading section only earns its place when it's the one next page a real visitor would want.

We help independent hosts trim their own websites down to the links that actually get used, cutting generic footers in favor of a handful of genuinely relevant next pages. Send us your site and we'll show you what to keep.

Reach out at crestcove.co or (256) 998-7502.