John Mueller himself said that internal links are super important for SEO.
Internal linking is often overlooked, but it matters as much as other SEO strategies.
Many SEO tools are designed to help website owners improve their internal linking.
This resource lists the best tools to work on your interlinking campaigns.
Internal Links and Their Impact on SEO
Internal links point users from one web page on a website to another page on the same website.
You may describe internal links as the skeleton that adds structure to a website. A well-connected internal link structure helps users and search engine crawlers effectively navigate a domain. Contextual internal links support a user’s search journey by providing access to related content.
While primarily a mechanism for web navigation, internal links also positively impact a site’s SEO performance.
Like backlinks, internal links also transfer SEO value or link juice from the source to the target page. Maximizing relevant internal links allows the effective distribution of link equity across web pages.
Web crawlers also use internal links to crawl and index every page on your site. A comprehensive internal linking boosts web crawlers’ crawling and indexing, minimizing unindexed pages.
What Are Internal Linking Tools?
Internal linking tools are software solutions designed to optimize a website’s internal linking structure and effectively manage internal linking campaigns. These tools contribute to a more organized, accessible, and SEO-friendly website.
Benefits of Using Internal Linking Tools
While we’ve brushed over a few perks of using internal linking software, we list below the specific advantages of having an internal linking tool at your disposal:
Benefit #1: Suggest opportunities for internal linking
Internal linking tools contribute to a well-connected website by providing suggestions for linking opportunities. The tool automatically identifies and creates hyperlinks between related pages, enhancing the site’s navigability and supporting the user experience.
Benefit #2: Uncover internal link issues
Internal linking tools can also identify issues, such as broken links, high click depth, problematic redirects, and nofollow links. This ensures a smooth user experience on the website, minimizing incidence of bounce rates and boosting dwell time.
Benefit #3: Boost site-wide SEO performance
Internal linking tools can help websites maximize link juice distribution across web pages. This improves websites’ search engine optimization, resulting in a measurable increase in SERP positioning.
Benefit #4: Cost-effective in the long run
Internal linking tools come with an initial investment, and the cost may be high upfront, depending on the software and its features. However, investing in a dedicated tool is more cost-effective in the long term than pursuing manual internal link audits.
Site owners will have to spend more on outsourcing or hiring SEO specialists in-house than on using software from the start.
Benefit #5: Saves time versus manual internal link audits
Internal linking tools can quickly handle tasks normally taking individuals several days or weeks to finish. For instance, instead of going through every page to find link opportunities, you may simply add internal links straight from the tool’s interface.
This significant amount of time saved not only translates into monetary savings. It also means site owners can reach their internal linking goals faster.
The Big List of Internal Linking Tools for Improved SEO
1. LinkStorm
LinkStorm is a specialized AI-powered internal linking tool designed to help site owners manage their internal linking campaigns and achieve their SEO goals.
LinkStorm is equipped with its own proprietary web crawlers that index a website’s content into its database. This boosts the tool’s effectiveness and accuracy in identifying internal linking gaps across web pages.
Using AI and semantic analysis, LinkStorm extracts all possible relevant internal links. Users have full control over which link suggestions to accept or reject. Accepted suggestions are automatically added to the content.
The tool also uncovers common yet damaging internal link issues, such as broken links, redirects, and nofollows, ensuring websites offer unparalleled user satisfaction.
LinkStorm achieves these feats while maintaining a user-friendly interface for maximum simplicity.
Pros
- Suggests internal linking opportunities based on the selected algorithm
- Google Search Console integration for additional site metrics and traffic data
- Reveals internal linking issues (broken links, nofollows, redirects)
- Automatically add internal links straight from LinkStorm’s dashboard
- Dedicated tool, not a plugin; it works across all websites and CMS
Cons
- May need minor HTML knowledge to integrate LinkStorm into websites
- No WordPress plugin for non-tech-oriented site owners
Pricing
The price starts at $30 monthly for Small, $60 monthly for Medium, and $120 monthly for Large. All plans come with unlimited websites and projects; only the number of URLs and credits varies.
2. Google Search Console
Google Search Console is Google’s dedicated free software for helping site owners manage their websites. The tool’s Links report provides insights into a domain’s internal and external links. Users can view their list of top linked pages from both internal and external sources.
By arranging the list, users can uncover which pages have zero incoming links, a.k.a. orphan pages, which they can resolve accordingly.
Unlike other SEO tools on the list, GSC may seem feature-limited without automatic link placement functions. But it offers a good starting point for managing internal links. Plus, its free price tag more than makes up for it, especially for site owners pressed for budget
Pros
- Free to use
- Accurate metrics straight from Google’s database
- Useful for finding orphan pages (if XML sitemap is uploaded)
- Shows top linked pages both from internal and external sources
Cons
- Basic compared to other software
- Do not identify internal link opportunities or issues
- Require users to build internal links manually
Pricing
Free
3. Link Whisper
Link Whisper is arguably the most popular internal linking plugin for WordPress. Like LinkStorm, it is powered by artificial intelligence, where the tool provides internal link suggestions as you write on the WordPress editor. The tool also gets Google Search Console integration, giving access to essential site metrics and traffic data straight from the WordPress dashboard.
One of Link Whisper’s best features is its auto-linking function, where users can configure keywords to link to a specific URL. When using this, any past or future mention of those seed keywords will automatically create an internal link to the intended destination.
Link Whisper can also suggest links from other websites you own. If you want a no-nonsense WordPress plugin, this is a good option.
Pros
- Configurable to automatically add internal links for a specific anchor text
- Get internal link suggestions as you write content
- Find and fix broken internal links
- Google Search Console integration
- Available plugin for WordPress and Shopify
Cons
- Does not work for websites built on different CMS
- Limited support for Shopify-based websites (according to reviews)
Pricing
The price is $67 for 1 website, $107 for 3 websites, and $157 for 10 websites. All plans come with all the features and are billed annually until canceled.
4. Internal Link Juicer
Internal Link Juicer is a WordPress plugin that takes internal link automation seriously.
To activate its automatic linking function, users must first configure the seed keyword defining a particular content. For example, for an article about PageRank, you may set the keywords as “PageRank,” “SEO value,” “link juice,” and “link equity.”
After saving, all content mentioning those defined keywords will automatically build internal links to the intended destination, in this case, the PageRank content.
The tool also provides a dedicated dashboard to configure settings or tweak the implementation of internal links. This includes the frequency of how often a URL gets linked or which sections to exclude from interlinking.
Internal Link Juicer is pretty straightforward and ideal for WordPress users who want links done quickly.
Pros
- Easy-to-use tool
- Customizable settings for better interlinking
- Premium version enables internal linking between defined categories
- Dashboard gives insights on top anchors, outgoing and incoming links
Cons
- Limited control over internal link placement
- No option to limit internal links per sentence
- Pay to unlock the tool’s best features
Pricing
The price is $69.99 for one site, $149.99 for five sites, $189.99 for ten sites, and $1299.00 for unlimited websites. All plans are billed annually. They also offer a free version with limited features.
5. All-in-One SEO (AIOSEO)
AIOSEO is a WordPress plugin that stays true to its name—an all-in-one SEO tool. Aside from regular functions like on-page SEO analysis or rich snippets schema, AIOSEO also has a Link Assistant feature that suggests relevant internal links.
The Link Assistant dashboard provides a good breakdown of your internal linking and other essential link-building stats, like the distribution of internal, external, and affiliate links.
AIOSEO’s Links Report option lists all the website’s content and the internal link suggestions for each individual content. Adding internal links is as easy as pressing the (+)Add Link button. Users may also modify the phrase of the link placement straight from the tool.
Pros
- Comprehensive SEO plugin for WordPress
- Can locate orphan content on the website
- Users can modify the phrase for better prose before interlinking
- Detailed report on the tool’s main dashboard
Cons
- The tool is limited to WordPress websites
- Link Assistant is only available for the Pro and Elite plans
Pricing
The price is $49.60 for Basic, $99.60 for Plus, $199.50 for Pro, and $299.60 for Elite. All plans are billed annually. Only the features and inclusions vary per plan.
6. Yoast Premium SEO
Yoast SEO is the newbie site owner or beginner SEO’s trusty WordPress plugin for everything search engine optimization. Its internal linking tool is handy to support your internal link-building campaigns.
Before Yoast can suggest relevant links, it must complete SEO data optimization. After that, users will find the internal linking tool in the WP text editor. Internal link suggestions can easily be added to the content via drag-and-drop.
It also shows the number of links in a post and the number of internal links pointing to it. This prevents the incidence of orphan pages on a website.
Pros
- Drag-and-drop allows users to find the ideal placement for links
- Prevents orphan pages before they happen
- Internal link suggestions straight from the text editor
- WordPress plugin for less tech-savvy users
- Includes other SEO features
Cons
- Internal Link Tool is only available for premium users
- A limited number of internal link suggestions per content
- Link suggestions do not come with anchor texts
Pricing
The price is $99 per year. The free version offers some SEO functions but without an internal linking feature.
7. RankMath
Like Yoast and AIOSEO, RankMath is a jack-of-all-trades plugin with many useful features for boosting a site’s search performance.
The tool provides link suggestions via the WordPress text editor. The link opportunities do not have specific anchor texts and are based on the content and the link’s contextual relevance. While this might be ideal for flexibility, it might not be best for users who want to get over their internal link-building process quickly.
On the website, RankMath says it plans to add a Link Builder feature to its toolkit. Like LinkWhisper, users only have to specify anchor texts and their corresponding target links. RankMath will embed the links into past and future mentions of those chosen keywords.
Pros
- Comes with a plethora of SEO features
- Provides link suggestions via the WP text editor
- WordPress plugin for non-tech-oriented users
- Link Builder feature is coming soon; perfect if you’re already a RankMath subscriber
- Lightweight WordPress plugin
Cons
- Internal linking features seem derivative
- Plugin only works for WordPress-based websites
- Link suggestions do not have dedicated anchor texts
Pricing
The price starts at $6.99/month for Pro, $20.99/month for business, and $49.99/month for agency. All plans come with varying features. Pricing for license renewal will change after the first month.
8. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP)
YARPP is a bit unorthodox when we consider all of the internal linking tools for SEO listed here. While it is also a WordPress plugin, it isn’t designed to add internal links throughout content. Instead, it auto-suggests related content at the end of each post.
The role of YARPP on a website replicates the intention of internal links—to encourage readers to explore more of the website. Plus, since YARPP’s suggestions come in link format, link juice is transferred from the source to the target page all the same, just like regular internal links.
Users can choose from a pool of custom templates to match their site’s aesthetic. They can also customize YARPP’s algorithm, controlling which related pages, relevant posts, media, or even calls-to-action to show readers.
Pros
- Intuitive internal linking approach
- Hands-free, auto-suggestion of related content to readers
- Large collection of custom designs to choose from
- Configurable algorithm
- Most aesthetic among all internal linking methods
Cons
- Only works on WordPress sites
- Do not suggest internal links via the content
Pricing
Free
9. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is a complete package for SEOs and site owners alike. The tool is a handy ally for every aspect of your SEO campaign, from keyword research to content optimization and beyond. It also comes with a Link Opportunities report where users can build internal links throughout their content.
Users can consciously build internal links to a selected target page by modifying the tool’s Advanced filters. This report shows essential information like the source and target pages, anchor text, and keyword context.
While intuitive, inserting the internal links to the content isn’t as seamless. Unlike LinkStorm and other WordPress plugins, accepting links is not as easy as clicking a button. Users must manually visit the page and embed those links into their content.
Pros
- Comprehensive SEO tool with tons of features
- High-quality internal link suggestions
- Not a plugin, so it works with all websites and CMS
- Helpful in all stages of an SEO campaign
Cons
- Premium features come with a hefty price tag
- Embedding internal links is manual and not seamless
Pricing
The price starts at $129/month for Lite, $249/month for Standard, $449/month for Advanced, and $14,990/yr for Enterprise. The internal links feature is available on the most affordable plan.
10. Semrush
In many ways, Semrush shares a lot of similarities with Ahrefs. Both are independent and extensive SEO tools that support every aspect of a website’s SEO campaign, including internal linking.
However, Semrush is less concerned with building internal links and more focused on ensuring you have a strong, error-free internal linking architecture. The tool’s site audit report comprehensively overviews your site’s internal linking campaign. This includes crawl depth, link distribution, errors and warnings, and the approximate amount of link equity passed, called Internal LinkRank (ILR).
The report allows users to manage their internal links properly, ensuring their websites are free from errors, such as broken links, nofollows, and orphan pages.
Pros
- Extensive internal links report
- Assigns Internal LinkRank (ILR) to describe the amount of SEO value per page
- Shows internal linking errors like broken links, nofollows, and orphan pages
- Good starting point for managing internal linking efforts
- Not a plugin; the tool works with all websites or CMS
Cons
- No feature for suggesting internal links
- Quite expensive for many users
Pricing
The price starts at $139.95/month for Pro, $249.95/month for Guru, and $449.95/month for Business. You get a 16% discount on your monthly bill if you pay annually.
Which Internal Linking Tool is Best?
Internal links are critical components in the entire link-building repertoire. They help establish sensible connections among related content, distribute link equity throughout a website, and assist users and web crawlers with navigation. However, internal link building takes time.
That’s where internal linking plugins and tools come in.
Armed with software, you can boost your SEO by automatically finding internal link opportunities and uncovering issues found on a website. Each tool offers additional features and functionalities to serve your internal linking campaigns and overall SEO strategy.
The question is: which tool best serves your company’s goals?
I hope this resource helped you make your decision.
Happy linking!
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