Summary
The Internal Link Analyzer reads a page, separates the links placed in the content from those of the menus and footer, then checks each internal link: its anchor text, its rel attribute, its parameters and its HTTP status. It flags empty, generic or ambiguous anchors, internal nofollow, tracking parameters, broken links and redirects, and gives the page a score out of 100.
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Internal linking tells Google which pages matter and how they relate. Links inside the text count the most: they pass relevance through their anchor text. Menu links repeat on every page and say little about the topic.
What the analyzer checks
- Links in the content: 3 to 10 contextual links per article is a good range.
- Anchors: empty, generic ("click here", "learn more") or the same anchor for different pages.
- Attributes and addresses: internal nofollow, utm_ parameters, http links on an https site.
- Status: up to 60 internal links tested, broken links and redirects listed with their target.
How to improve your linking
- Link each article to the pages that go deeper into its topic, and to the page that converts.
- Write anchors that say what the target page is about, in a few words.
- Point links straight to the final address, without redirects or parameters.
- Give every important page links from several related articles, not only from the menu.
To test every link of a page, internal and external, use the broken link checker. To organize your pages into groups that link to each other, see topic clusters and the keyword clustering tool.
