Link wheels are one of many strategies used in internet marketing and search engine optimization as a way to drive visitors to websites. The fundamental idea for this strategy is to create a circular pattern of links that easily flows through a number of websites. The ultimate goal is to end the circle at a website where in the case of a business website; visitors are encouraged to purchase information, services, or products relevant to the topic. This circular pattern resembles a wheel and how link wheels got their name.
With the growing number of websites in competition for visitors, the link wheel took on another look but still resembled a wheel. In this newer model, the target website resembles a hub of a wheel while the other websites form the wheel around it. Each of the outer websites was linked to one another in a circular pattern and each website offered a link to the target website resembling spokes in a wheel. This method increased the number of links leading to the target website and resulted in more exposure in search engines.