Internal Linking
Optimize your site's internal link structure for better SEO, user experience, and content discovery. ProRank's Internal Linking module provides comprehensive tools to analyze, visualize, and improve your internal links.
Key Features
AI-Powered Suggestions
Leverage AI to find semantically related content for natural internal linking
GSC Keyword Data
Use actual search queries from Google Search Console to optimize anchor text
Orphan Detection
Instantly identify pages with no internal links pointing to them
Visual Link Mapping
See your entire site structure in an interactive, zoomable graph
Broken Link Scanner
Automated HTTP checks to find and fix broken links before they hurt SEO
Click Tracking
Monitor which internal links get clicked to optimize placement
Module Tabs
The Internal Linking module is organized into six comprehensive tabs, each focusing on a specific aspect of internal link management:
Dashboard
Real-time overview of your internal linking health and opportunities
- ✓Link coverage metrics
- ✓Orphaned content detection
- ✓Link quality scoring
- ✓External domain tracking
- ✓Click analytics integration
Links Report
Comprehensive analysis of all internal and external links across your site
- ✓Post-by-post link analysis
- ✓Inbound/outbound tracking
- ✓CSV export
- ✓Advanced filtering
- ✓Category grouping
Broken Links
Automated detection and fixing of broken internal and external links
- ✓Real-time HTTP validation
- ✓Batch scanning with progress
- ✓Confidence scoring
- ✓Bulk fix operations
- ✓Context extraction
Visual Link Map
Interactive visualization of your site's internal link structure
- ✓D3.js force-directed graph
- ✓Node clustering
- ✓Orphan highlighting
- ✓Export to SVG/PNG
- ✓Link depth analysis
Auto Linking
Automated internal link creation with keyword-based rules and AI suggestions
- ✓Keyword rule management
- ✓GSC integration
- ✓AI-powered matching
- ✓Preview mode
- ✓Priority system
Settings
Comprehensive configuration for all internal linking features
- ✓Algorithm selection
- ✓Content type filtering
- ✓Link attributes
- ✓Ignored words
- ✓AI/GSC toggles
Dashboard Metrics Explained
The Dashboard provides real-time insights into your internal linking health:
| Metric | Description | Example Value |
|---|---|---|
| Total Posts | Number of published posts and pages | 156 |
| Link Coverage | Percentage of posts with internal links | 78.5% |
| Orphan Count | Posts with no internal links pointing to them | 12 |
| Broken Links | Number of detected broken internal/external links | 3 |
| Average Links | Average internal links per post | 4.2 |
| Link Quality | Overall link structure health score | 85/100 |
Broken Links Scanner
The Broken Links Scanner performs real-time HTTP validation to detect broken internal and external links:
How It Works
- Scans all published posts and pages for links
- Performs HTTP HEAD requests to validate link status
- Falls back to GET requests for servers that don't support HEAD
- Assigns confidence scores based on error type
- Stores results in database for quick access
Status Codes Detected
- 404 - Page not found (High confidence)
- 403 - Access forbidden (Medium confidence)
- 500 - Server error (Medium confidence)
- Timeout - Connection timeout (Low confidence)
Visual Link Map
The Visual Link Map creates an interactive, force-directed graph of your site's internal link structure using D3.js:
Visualization Controls
- Drag: Move nodes around
- Scroll: Zoom in/out
- Click: View node details
- Hover: Highlight connections
Color Coding
- Posts
- Pages
- Orphan pages
- External links
Auto-Linking Tool
Create automated internal links based on keywords, AI suggestions, and Google Search Console data:
Auto-Link Rule Configuration
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword | Text | The word or phrase to match in content |
| Target URL | URL | The page to link to when keyword is found |
| Case Sensitive | Toggle | Match exact case of the keyword |
| Whole Word | Toggle | Only match complete words, not partial matches |
| Max Links/Post | Number | Maximum times to link this keyword per post |
| Priority | Number | Higher priority rules are processed first |
| Exclude Posts | List | Post IDs to skip for this rule |
GSC Integration
Generate auto-link rules from your actual Google Search Console keywords:
- Enable GSC integration in Settings
- Click "Generate Rules from GSC"
- Review generated rules (they start disabled)
- Enable rules you want to use
- Run auto-linking in preview mode first
AI-Powered Matching
When AI suggestions are enabled, the tool also:
- • Analyzes content semantically for related topics
- • Suggests contextually relevant anchor text
- • Prioritizes orphaned content for linking
- • Avoids over-optimization penalties
Settings Configuration
The Settings tab provides comprehensive control over all internal linking features:
General Settings
- •Enable/disable internal linking features
- •Auto-linking toggle
- •Maximum suggestions per post
- •Minimum word count for linking
Link Attributes
- •Open internal links in new tab
- •Open external links in new tab
- •Add nofollow attribute
- •Add title attribute with destination post title
- •Enable click tracking
Content Types & Processing
- •Select post types to process (posts, pages, custom)
- •Post status filtering (published, private, draft)
- •Number of sentences to skip at beginning
- •Maximum age of posts to link to
- •Maximum outbound/inbound links per post
Keyword Sources
- •AI Generated Keywords
- •Google Search Console Keywords
- •Focus Keywords (ProRank SEO)
- •Page Title Keywords
- •URL Slug Keywords
- •Category and Tag Names
Advanced Features
- •AI-Powered Suggestions (requires API key)
- •Google Search Console Integration
- •Suggestion algorithm (keyword/semantic/balanced)
- •Ignored words list (stop words)
- •Language selection for analysis
Best Practices
- • Link from high-authority pages to important but lesser-known content
- • Use descriptive anchor text that includes target keywords
- • Maintain 3-5 internal links per 1000 words of content
- • Create topic clusters by interlinking related content
- • Regularly scan for and fix broken links
- • Over-optimizing anchor text with exact-match keywords
- • Creating too many links in a single piece of content
- • Linking to irrelevant pages just to reduce orphans
- • Ignoring broken external links
- • Not updating links when URLs change
REST API Endpoints
ProRank Internal Linking provides REST API endpoints for integration with external tools:
# Get dashboard metrics
GET /wp-json/prorank-seo/v1/linking/dashboard
# Get full links report
GET /wp-json/prorank-seo/v1/linking/full-report
# Scan for broken links
POST /wp-json/prorank-seo/v1/linking/scan-broken-links
# Get link map data
GET /wp-json/prorank-seo/v1/linkmap/data?post_types=post,page&max_nodes=100
# Run auto-linking (dry run)
POST /wp-json/prorank-seo/v1/linking/run-auto-linking
{
"dry_run": true,
"post_types": ["post", "page"],
"max_links": 3
}
# Generate GSC-based rules
POST /wp-json/prorank-seo/v1/linking/generate-gsc-rules
{
"min_impressions": 100,
"limit": 20,
"save": false
}Troubleshooting
Visual Link Map shows no data
Ensure you have published posts/pages with content. The map only displays published content with actual links.
Broken link scanner gets stuck
This usually happens with very large sites. Try scanning in smaller batches by limiting post types in settings.
Auto-linking not creating links
Check that: 1) Rules are enabled, 2) Keywords exist in content, 3) Max links limits aren't exceeded, 4) Posts aren't in exclude list.
GSC integration not working
Verify GSC is properly connected in Analytics settings and that you have data for the selected property.