Internal Link Audit
Use Screpy's internal link inventory to evaluate crawlable architecture, source-page context, and support for important URLs.
The Internal filter shows destinations on the crawled site's own scope. This inventory explains the architecture Screpy discovered; it differs from Quick Wins, which suggests new opportunities using search and topical evidence.
Read internal links as a graph
Every internal link has a source, destination, anchor, attributes, and placement context. Usage count reveals repetition, while Source Pages show whether a destination is supported by navigation, a hub, related content, or isolated mentions.
Google can generally crawl <a> elements with resolvable href values. Script-only controls may work for visitors but fail to provide a reliable discovery path.
<a href="/guides/technical-seo">Technical SEO guides</a>Analyze the architecture
- Identify business-critical and indexable destination groups.
- Confirm each important page has at least one crawlable internal source.
- Review anchors and surrounding text on representative links.
- Compare navigation-wide links with contextual editorial links.
- Find repeated redirects, errors, nofollow attributes, and parameter variants.
- Compare link paths with crawl depth and canonical URLs.
There is no universal ideal number of internal links. A site-wide link can be justified for core navigation but creates noise when added only to manipulate counts. Relevant links should help visitors predict and reach the next useful page.
Improve the structure
Add contextual links between genuinely related pages, strengthen useful hubs, use breadcrumbs where they reflect hierarchy, and update links to preferred final URLs. Avoid orphan-like important pages, excessive boilerplate links, forced exact-match anchors, and internal nofollow used as a substitute for crawl or indexing controls.
Example decision
A conversion page is reachable only through pagination at depth five. Add it to the relevant service hub and two supporting articles. Do not place it in every footer solely to increase its link count.
Verify the change
Inspect rendered source pages and run a comparable crawl. Confirm the destination is discovered through the intended path, its depth and source context improved, and new links resolve directly. Use search performance later to judge outcomes rather than link count alone.
Crawl Depth
Use discovery depth to find important pages buried in the architecture.
Anchor Text
Write clear labels for internal destinations.
Internal Link Opportunities
Prioritize new links with query and page evidence.
Analyze internal links by page role
Not every page needs the same number of internal links. A navigation hub should distribute users to deeper topics. A detailed article should point to prerequisites, related evidence, and a logical next step. A checkout or account page may intentionally have fewer exits.
Classify pages by role before comparing counts. Then look for:
- important pages with few or no contextual incoming links;
- high-link pages whose links are mostly boilerplate;
- clusters that link internally but rarely connect to the rest of the site;
- outdated links that compete with the preferred destination;
- valuable pages buried behind many clicks.
This avoids the common mistake of chasing an arbitrary link count.
What movement in the data means
An increase in internal links is positive only when it creates useful paths. If the increase comes from a new sitewide footer block, the raw count may rise without materially improving topical discovery. Conversely, deleting repetitive links can lower the count while improving clarity.
After a planned architecture change, expect source-page distribution and crawl depth to change together. Important pages should become reachable from relevant hubs, and orphan-like pages should gain meaningful incoming links. Validate the new paths manually and with a fresh crawl.
Practical linking example
A guide about fixing title tags can naturally link to a broader Pages audit, a related meta-description guide, and the feature screen where the issue is reviewed. Anchor text such as “audit duplicate title tags” communicates more than “read more,” provided it still reads naturally.
Google explains that links help users and search engines understand connected pages in its crawlable-links guidance. Use Screpy to locate opportunities, then apply editorial judgment: relevance and usefulness matter more than maximum link volume.
Related guidance
Return to the Links overview to compare internal paths across the full link graph. Google's SEO Starter Guide provides broader guidance on descriptive anchors and useful link placement.