Link Analyzer

What the Link Analyzer checks and why it matters

Every page's links do two jobs for SEO: they distribute link equity around your site through internal links, and they signal topical relationships to Google through anchor text. This tool fetches a URL and categorizes every link — internal vs. external, followed vs. nofollowed, and the anchor text for each — so you can audit both in one pass.

Internal links are how Google discovers content and how authority flows through your site. Pages with no internal links pointing to them are "orphan pages" — crawled rarely, if at all. Pages that receive many internal links with descriptive anchor text tend to rank better for the keywords in those anchors. External links with rel="nofollow" tell Google not to pass authority; that's correct for paid or user-generated links, but applying it to all external links by habit is unnecessary.

For anything flagged here, the SEO Analyzer shows it alongside meta, heading, and performance issues in one score. If a linked URL redirects, verify the chain with the Redirect Checker.

How to use this tool

1. Enter the full URL of the page you want to audit.
2. The tool fetches the page and lists every link, grouped by internal and external.
3. Review anchor text: generic anchors like "click here" pass no topical signal — replace them with descriptive text.
4. Look for links with empty anchor text, common on image links where the alt attribute is also blank.
5. Check the rel column: verify nofollow is intentional, not default CMS behavior on all outbound links.

What to look for in the results

• Orphan indicators. If an important page has very few inbound internal links, link to it from a hub page or related content.
• Generic anchor text. "Learn more," "here," and "click" waste link equity — replace with the target page's topic.
• Unintentional nofollow. Some CMSs apply nofollow to all external links by default; review whether that's intended.
• Redirecting destinations. If a linked URL resolves through a chain, point the link at the final URL instead.

Frequently asked questions

What is anchor text and why does it affect SEO?

Anchor text is the clickable, visible text of a hyperlink. Google uses it to understand what the linked page is about. If many internal links to a page use the anchor 'keyword density tool', Google picks up that signal. Generic anchors like 'click here' pass no topical context and are a missed opportunity.

What does nofollow mean for a link?

A rel='nofollow' attribute tells Google not to pass PageRank through that link and not to treat it as an endorsement. It was designed for untrusted user-generated content. Google now treats nofollow as a hint rather than a directive, so it may still crawl the destination — but equity transfer is significantly reduced.

How many internal links should a page have?

There's no fixed limit, but each link should be genuinely useful. Pages with very few inbound internal links risk being crawled infrequently. Important pages (category hubs, high-value articles) should be linked from multiple related pages using descriptive anchor text.

Should I add nofollow to all external links?

No. Nofollow is appropriate for paid links, sponsored content, and untrusted user-generated links. Adding it editorially to every external link is unnecessary and looks unusual. Linking naturally to quality sources without nofollow is normal web behavior.

What's the difference between an internal and external link?

An internal link points to another page on the same domain; an external link points to a different domain. Internal links distribute authority within your site and aid crawling, while external links to authoritative sources can signal topical credibility.