Internal linking is the backbone of site architecture and topical authority. A well-optimized internal link structure helps search engines understand your content relationships, distributes PageRank effectively, and guides users through logical content journeys. This workflow will help you identify orphaned pages, optimize anchor text distribution, and create strategic linking opportunities that boost your site's overall SEO performance.
Many sites have internal linking structures that evolved organically without strategic planning, resulting in missed opportunities for distributing link equity and establishing topical authority. This systematic approach will transform your random internal links into a strategic asset that improves both crawlability and rankings.
What You'll Need
Before starting, ensure you have access to Screaming Frog SEO Spider (premium version recommended for large sites), Link Whisper or InLinks for link optimization, and SurferSEO for topical analysis. You'll also need full access to your website's content management system and a spreadsheet application for organizing your findings.
Step 1: Crawl and Map Current Internal Link Structure
Time: 30 minutes | Tool: Screaming Frog SEO Spider Launch Screaming Frog and enter your domain in the URL field. Before crawling, go to Configuration > Spider > Extraction and enable "Extract URLs from HTML/JavaScript" to capture all internal links. Set the crawl depth to unlimited unless you're working with a massive site (10,000+ pages), in which case limit to 5-6 levels deep. Start the crawl and let it complete. Once finished, navigate to the Internal tab to view all internal links. Export this data using Export > All Internal Links > Export All. This gives you a comprehensive dataset showing which pages link to what, how many internal links each page has, and the anchor text distribution across your site. Pay special attention to pages with zero inbound internal links (orphaned pages) and pages with unusually high or low internal link counts. Create a separate export of your page titles and URLs from the Internal HTML tab by going to Bulk Export > All URLs. This will help you cross-reference content topics with linking patterns in later steps.
Step 2: Identify Orphaned Pages and Link Equity Gaps
Time: 45 minutes | Tool: Screaming Frog SEO Spider In Screaming Frog, navigate to the Internal tab and sort by "Inlinks" in ascending order. Pages with 0 inlinks are completely orphaned and need immediate attention. Export these orphaned pages to a separate spreadsheet and categorize them by content type (blog posts, product pages, service pages, etc.). Next, examine pages with only 1-2 internal links, as these are functionally orphaned despite having minimal link equity. Focus on identifying high-quality content that deserves more internal link support. Use the Page Titles column to quickly assess content value - look for comprehensive guides, cornerstone content, or commercially important pages that are under-linked. Create a priority matrix in your spreadsheet with columns for URL, current inlink count, content quality (high/medium/low), and commercial value (high/medium/low). Pages with high content quality and high commercial value but low inlink counts become your top priority for optimization. This analysis typically reveals 20-40% of valuable content receiving insufficient internal link support.
Step 3: Analyze Anchor Text Distribution and Opportunities
Time: 40 minutes | Tool: SurferSEO Content Editor Take your top 10-20 most important pages (highest traffic, conversions, or strategic value) and run each through SurferSEO's Content Editor. Input the primary keyword for each page to generate the optimization report. In the "Links" section, SurferSEO will show you recommended internal linking opportunities and suggest optimal anchor text variations. Document the recommended internal links and anchor text suggestions in a master spreadsheet. Pay attention to SurferSEO's "Semantic Keywords" section, as these terms make excellent anchor text for internal links pointing to each page. Look for patterns in the suggested keywords that can inform your broader anchor text strategy. Cross-reference SurferSEO's recommendations with your Screaming Frog internal links export. Identify pages that should be linking to your priority pages but currently aren't. Create a linking opportunity matrix showing which high-authority pages (those with many inbound links) should link to which target pages using which anchor text variations.
Step 4: Implement Strategic Internal Links
Time: 50 minutes | Tool: Link Whisper or InLinks Install Link Whisper plugin if using WordPress, or set up InLinks if working with other CMS platforms. Link Whisper's Auto-Linking feature can quickly identify contextual linking opportunities across your content. Go to Link Whisper > Auto Link and run a site-wide scan focusing on your priority pages from Step 3. Review Link Whisper's suggestions carefully before implementing. The tool will show potential anchor text and target pages, along with relevance scores. Accept suggestions that align with your strategic linking plan from Step 3, and manually add high-priority links that the tool might have missed. Focus on adding 2-4 strategic internal links per page, avoiding over-optimization. For each implemented link, use varied anchor text that includes semantic variations from your SurferSEO analysis. Mix exact-match anchors (10-20% of links) with partial-match and semantic variations. Document each added link in your tracking spreadsheet, including source page, target page, anchor text, and implementation date.
Step 5: Create Topic Cluster Linking Structure
Time: 35 minutes | Tool: InLinks Entity Analysis Upload your site to InLinks for entity-based analysis (use their free trial if needed). InLinks will identify topical entities across your content and suggest semantic linking opportunities that align with search engine understanding of topic relationships. Navigate to the Topic Explorer to visualize your content's entity relationships. Identify your main topic clusters from InLinks' analysis and create hub-and-spoke linking patterns. For each topic cluster, designate one comprehensive piece as the pillar page and ensure all related content links to it. Then, create cross-links between related subtopic pages within each cluster. InLinks' suggestions will help you identify semantic relationships you might miss manually. Implement these cluster-based links following the same anchor text variation strategy from Step 4. This creates topical authority signals that search engines use to understand your expertise in specific subject areas. Update your tracking spreadsheet with these cluster-based links, noting which topic clusters they support.
Common Pitfalls
- Over-optimizing anchor text with too many exact-match keywords, which can trigger spam filters
- Creating artificial linking patterns that don't serve user experience or logical content flow
- Ignoring the linking needs of deeper pages in favor of just optimizing homepage and category pages
- Implementing too many links at once without monitoring performance impacts
Expected Results
Within 4-6 weeks, you should see improved crawl efficiency in Google Search Console, with previously orphaned pages appearing in search results. Internal pages should begin ranking for more keyword variations as link equity flows more effectively through your site. Track organic traffic increases to previously under-linked pages and monitor overall site authority improvements through tools like Ahrefs Domain Rating or Moz Domain Authority over 2-3 months.