Do “Popular Tools” sections actually help SEO?

Source: Dev.to

Background

While building AllInOneTools, I added a “Most Popular Tools” section on the homepage.
At first, the goal was simple: help users start quickly.
Later I realized something interesting: that section also creates a lot of internal links. Each popular tool links directly to its tool page, so the homepage now connects to:

• Image Compressor
• PDF Merge
• Text Converter
• SEO Analyzer
• And other frequently used tools

SEO Perspective

From a search engine perspective, this seems useful because internal links help search engines:

• Discover pages faster
• Understand which pages are important
• Crawl deeper into the website
• Pass authority from the homepage

In other words, the Popular Tools section may act like a strong internal linking hub—not just for users, but for search engines too.

Question for the Community

Do you think a “Popular Tools” section helps SEO…

• because of internal linking?
• because it highlights important pages?
• or is it mainly useful only for users?

Would love to hear how others approach this.