internal-linking-audit

name

internal-linking-audit

description

Audit internal linking on a page, weighted by where each link sits. A link in the body of a page carries far more weight than the same link in the footer or the main nav. Surfaces targets linked only from footer/nav, generic anchors, and internal nofollow. Use when asked about internal links, anchor text, link placement, or orphan pages. Aussi déclenché en français par "maillage interne", "mes liens internes", "liens en footer", "texte d'ancre", "où placer mes liens", "pages orphelines", "est-ce que mes liens sont bien placés", "audit du maillage".

Internal Linking Audit

A link in the body of a page carries materially more weight than the same link in the footer or the main nav. This audit measures that placement instead of assuming it.

Input

A page URL. If the user gave a site rather than a page, ask which page, or run the audit on the pages that matter most from get_search_analytics.

Steps

1. Call internal_links_audit on the target URL. No auth needed, no quota consumed.
2. Read footer_only_targets first. These are internal pages linked from nav, footer or aside and from the body of no page. This is the highest-value finding.
3. Check body_links against demoted_links. A page whose internal links are almost all structural has no editorial linking at all.
4. Read generic_anchors and empty_anchors. The anchor is a ranking signal for the target page, so "en savoir plus" wastes it.
5. Read nofollow_internal. An internal link marked nofollow throws away the weight it would otherwise pass, and it is almost always unintentional.

Cross-reference before recommending

Do not recommend adding links blind. Pull seo_striking_distance for the site first. A page sitting at position 11 to 20 with no body link pointing at it is where an internal link pays off fastest. A page already at position 3 does not need one.

Same rule in reverse: before calling a page orphaned, confirm with get_search_analytics that it actually has impressions worth rescuing.

Output format

Verdict: healthy or issues_found, with the counts behind it.

Placement: body links vs nav/footer/aside links, and what that ratio says.

Targets linked only from footer or nav: Path | Zones | Current anchor

For each one, say where a body link should go instead, naming the source page.

Anchor problems: URL | Current anchor | Suggested anchor

Priority list:

1. Critical: a page with search impressions and no body link anywhere
2. High: an important target that lives only in the footer
3. Medium: generic or empty anchors on pages that matter
4. Low: internal nofollow, self-links

Every recommendation names a source page, a target page, and the anchor to use. "Improve internal linking" is not a recommendation.