How to Perform an Internal Linking Audit and Improve Your Website’s Performance

Internal linking is a vital aspect of both search engine optimization (SEO) and user experience (UX).

By creating a well-structured internal linking system, you can guide users through your website and make it easy for them to find the content they’re looking for.

Moreover, internal linking helps search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your website, enabling them to crawl and index your pages more effectively.

From an SEO perspective, internal linking can distribute link juice throughout your site, ensuring that your most important pages receive the attention they deserve. This can boost the visibility of your content in search engine results and drive more organic traffic to your website.

Overview 

An internal linking audit is a systematic process of evaluating your website’s internal linking structure to identify areas for improvement and potential issues. Performing regular audits ensures that your internal links remain effective, relevant, and aligned with your website’s goals.

This, in turn, can enhance the user experience and improve your website’s performance in search engine rankings.

The internal linking audit process typically involves the following steps:

1. Crawling your website to collect data on internal links
2. Identifying and fixing broken links
3. Analyzing anchor text usage
4. Evaluating link distribution and hierarchy
5. Optimizing link placement
6. Monitoring and maintaining your internal linking strategy

In the following sections of the resource, we’ll explore each of these steps in detail, providing actionable tips and guidance to help you optimize your internal linking strategy and improve your website’s overall performance.

Step 1: Crawl Your Website

Importance of crawling your site for a comprehensive view of internal links

Crawling your website involves using a web crawler tool to systematically scan your website and gather information about its pages and internal links. This information can then be analyzed to identify issues and areas for improvement in your internal linking strategy.

The data collected may include URLs, anchor texts, and status codes for each internal link. For instance, the screenshot below shows the all the existing links on a website, both internal or external links.

This data becomes the precedent enabling the site owner to analyze internal link issues, anchor text problems, or poor link placement, among others. They can then take corrective measures to rehabilitate those links, improving the effectiveness of their internal linking strategy.

Recommended Internal Link Audit Tools (e.g., Linkstorm)

While many tools exist in helping site owners crawl their domain effectively, arguably one of the best options is Linkstorm.

This all-in-one internal linking toolkit quickly and easily scans your website and gathers data on your internal links, allowing them to extract vital information that can improve your internal linking campaigns.

Key data points that an internal link auditing tool must collect

Here are some of the key data points LinkStorm collects:

• Identify internal linking suggestions
• Unearth internal linking issues
• Reveal all anchor texts used in a website
• List all of the pages, internal, and external links throughout a site
• Status codes: HTTP status codes indicating the status of each link (e.g., 200 for a successful connection, 404 for a broken link, 301 for a permanent redirect)

Step 2: Identify and Fix Broken Links

Impact of broken links on user experience and SEO

Broken links are one of the most persistent internal linking issues found on a website. These links lead to dead ends, portrayed by a 404 error page as shown below. They can occur for various reasons, such as changes to your website’s URL structure or removal of content.

This can lead to a poor user experience and discourage users from staying on your site or returning in the future. Moreover, broken links can make your site appear poorly maintained and unprofessional.

Worse, broken links also negatively impacts your search engine rankings. Google uses complex algorithms to determine the relevance and quality of your website’s content. 

Google may interpret broken links as signs of low-quality content, implying that your website is not up-to-date and well-maintained. Resulting in a dip in SERP ranking, decreasing your site’s visibility, organic traffic, and conversion rate.

To avoid these negative impacts, it is crucial to regularly check your website for broken links and take corrective measures to fix them. LinkStorm scans your website and analyzes your pages looking for any issues with your internal linking, including broken links, redirects, and nofollow links.

How to locate broken links (404 errors), redirects (301 or 302), and nofollow links

LinkStorm’s Issues tab reveals the pressing internal linking problems on a website. Users may filter the issues based on the classification.

Site owners must resolve nofollow links since they transfer no link juice between the source and target pages. This limits the SEO potential behind your link building efforts.

Redirects, on the other hand, take users to different pages than previously requested. Every link-to-link transfer introduces a link decay that decreases the SEO value received by the target page. Moreover, indiscriminate redirects may lead to redirect loops, which means users can never reach their desired destination.

By pinpointing these issues, you can take the necessary steps to fix them and improve your website’s user experience and SEO.

Tips for fixing internal linking issues

To fix broken links, consider the following approaches:

• Broken links: Update the target URL with the correct or updated page or replace the broken link with an alternative, relevant link from your site or a trusted external source
• Nofollow links: Qualify the link rel attributes properly of nofollow links
• Redirects: Determine the real destination of a link to avoid unnecessary redirects

Step 3: Analyze Anchor Text

Role of anchor text in providing context for users and search engines

Anchor text plays a crucial role in conveying the context of the linked content to both users and search engines. Descriptive and relevant anchor text can help users quickly understand what to expect when clicking a link, while also allowing search engines to better comprehend the connection between pages.

Guidelines for effective anchor text (descriptive, relevant, concise)

When optimizing your anchor text, follow these guidelines:

• Make it descriptive: Clearly communicate the topic or purpose of the linked page
• Ensure relevance: Use anchor text and keywords that is directly related to the content of the target page
• Keep it concise: Use short, clear phrases that accurately represent the linked content without being overly lengthy

Examples of good and bad anchor text usage

Good anchor text example: “Learn more about our content marketing services” (descriptive, relevant, and concise)

Bad anchor text example: “Click here” (generic, lacks context, and doesn’t convey the linked content’s purpose)

With Linkstorm’s analytics and insights, you can monitor the effectiveness of your anchor text, helping you refine your internal linking strategy and improve your website’s performance.

Step 4: Evaluate Link Distribution and Hierarchy

Importance of link distribution for website hierarchy and SEO

Proper link distribution is essential for establishing a clear website hierarchy, which helps search engines understand the relationship between your pages and their overall importance within your site’s structure.

A well-defined hierarchy can improve your SEO by directing link equity to your most important pages.

Tips for ensuring important pages receive sufficient internal links

Here are some of the tips to ensure important pages receive sufficient internal links and link juice from source pages:

• Create a logical site structure with clear categories and subcategories
• Reduce the click depth of important pages by linking them from the homepage or main navigation menu
• Regularly review your internal linking structure to identify underlinked pages and adjust accordingly
• Find all the possible internal linking opportunities throughout a website so no pages are left behind

Linkstorm can support you in evaluating and optimizing your link distribution and hierarchy, ensuring that your website’s structure is both user-friendly and search-engine-friendly.

We created a dedicated article about the best practices for internal linking in 2024. Please click the link if you’re interested to learn more.

Step 5: Optimize Link Placement

Role of link placement in user experience and SEO

The placement of internal links within your website can impact both user experience and SEO. Strategically positioned links can help guide users through your site, encouraging them to explore further and increasing engagement. Additionally, search engines may assign greater weight to links placed in prominent locations.

Tips for effective link placement

Position links within high-visibility areas: Place important internal links in areas where users are likely to notice them, such as the main content, navigation menus, or sidebars.

For instance, our resource on the “Complete Guide to Internal Linking” gives a run through on everything users need to understand about internal linking. Hyperlinks to specialized topics are included throughout the body to guide users to dive deeper into internal links.

Balance links in the content to avoid excessive linking: While it’s important to provide relevant internal links, avoid overloading your content with links as it can make the content appear spammy to search engines and difficult to read for users.

For instance, take a look at the screenshot below:

Spamming content with links may cause visual fatigue or infromation overload on users. In some cases, users may bounce off the page immediately since the internal links feel like they are shoved down users’ throats.

Use contextual links to add value and relevance: Whenever possible, include contextual internal links within your content to give users a viable option for more niched-down site exploration that feels natural and relevant to the topic at hand.

Example: In a blog post about “Healthy Meal Planning,” you could link the phrase “nutrient-dense breakfast options” to a related article about smoothie recipes.

Linkstorm can help you optimize link placement by providing insights from the metrics pulled through the Google search console, giving you a better look at user engagement and link performance, and enabling you to make data-driven decisions.

Step 6: Monitor and Maintain Your Internal Linking Strategy

Importance of regular audits to ensure ongoing effectiveness

As your website grows and evolves, it’s crucial to perform regular internal linking audits to maintain the effectiveness of your internal linking strategy.

Regular audits can help you identify new opportunities for improvement, detect potential issues, and ensure your website remains aligned with your objectives.

Tools and techniques for monitoring link performance

Several tools can help you monitor your internal link performance, such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These tools can provide valuable data on user behavior, traffic patterns, and the overall performance of your internal links, enabling you to make informed decisions when optimizing your strategy.

Tips for updating and refining your internal linking strategy based on performance data

• Analyze user engagement metrics, such as bounce rate, time on page, and click-through rate, to identify underperforming pages
• Monitor search engine rankings to understand the impact of your internal linking efforts on your website’s visibility
• Test different link placements, anchor texts, and various types of links to determine the most effective combinations for your audience

Linkstorm’s comprehensive suite of tools and features can support you in monitoring and maintaining your internal linking strategy, making it easier to identify areas for improvement and address potential issues.

By leveraging Linkstorm’s analytics, insights, and link management capabilities, you can streamline the process of optimizing your internal links and ensure the ongoing success of your website’s performance.

Conclusion

Performing an internal linking audit is a crucial ongoing process involving several key steps such as crawling your website, fixing broken links, analyzing anchor text, evaluating link distribution and hierarchy, and optimizing link placement. Regular audits ensure a positive user experience and search engine optimization. 

By following the guidance in this blog post and utilizing powerful tools like Linkstorm, you can enhance your internal linking strategy, resulting in improved website performance, increased organic traffic, higher search engine rankings, and a better overall user experience.