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An internal link checker crawls your website to analyze anchor text patterns, link distribution, and site structure — identifying over-optimization, wasted generic anchors, and keyword stuffing across your internal linking profile. SEOShouts' free tool scans up to 500 URLs and generates a visual word cloud showing which anchor phrases dominate your link structure, a feature no other free tool offers.
"I built this internal link checker after auditing 500+ websites and finding the same pattern: site owners obsess over broken links but completely ignore what their anchor text tells Google. This tool doesn't just find links — it visualizes the words you're using and shows whether they're helping or hurting your rankings."
— Rohit Sharma, Founder of SEOShouts | Meet Our Experts
An internal link checker is an SEO tool that crawls your website to map how pages connect to each other through hyperlinks. It analyzes anchor text (the clickable words in each link), tracks link distribution across your site, identifies broken or redirected links, and flags pages that receive too few or too many incoming links.
Most internal link tools stop at finding broken links and counting totals. That misses the point entirely. The real value lies in anchor text analysis — understanding what words you're using to link pages together, because those words directly tell Google what each destination page is about.
Google's John Mueller confirmed this in a Search Central session: "Internal linking is super critical for SEO. It's one of the biggest things that you can do on a website to guide Google and guide visitors to the pages that you think are important."
According to Semrush's site audit data, 25% of all web pages have zero incoming internal links — effectively invisible to both search engines and users. Meanwhile, Zyppy's study of 23 million internal links found that pages with more anchor text variations receive significantly more clicks from Google, proving that diverse, descriptive anchor text directly impacts traffic.
The SEOShouts Internal Link Checker addresses both problems: it finds underlinked pages AND shows you exactly what anchor text you're using through a visual word cloud that no other free tool provides.
Instantly see which words and phrases dominate your internal linking profile. The word cloud sizes each term by frequency — if one keyword towers over everything else, you know your anchor profile is over-optimized. This feature is unique to SEOShouts — no other free tool offers it.
Identify aggressive over-use of specific anchor keywords before Google's algorithms flag it. Sites with anchor text diversity below 30% have experienced ranking drops of up to 15 positions in competitive niches (Authority Hacker, 2025). Catch the problem early.
Spot wasted opportunities where you're using "click here," "read more," "learn more," or "this article" as anchor text. These words carry zero semantic value and tell search engines nothing about the destination page. Our tool highlights every instance so you can rewrite them with descriptive anchors.
Scan up to 500 URLs to get a complete picture of your site's internal linking structure. The crawler reads actual HTML anchor elements, extracting text between <a> and </a> tags for accurate insights.
See which anchor texts point to which destination URLs, grouped by frequency. Identify pages receiving too many exact-match anchors and pages receiving none at all.
No login, no credit card, no account creation. Enter your URL and get results in minutes. Free for every analysis, every time.
Optimizing your internal linking structure is one of the fastest ways to improve rankings without building a single backlink. A study by Databox found that 42% of SEO experts spend equal time on internal links as external links — and for good reason. Here's how to run a complete audit:
Type your homepage URL into the input field above. Our crawler reads your website's HTML, specifically extracting the anchor text between <a> and </a> tags. It follows internal links across up to 500 pages to build a comprehensive map of your site's linking vocabulary.
Tip: For the most thorough analysis, enter your homepage URL rather than an inner page. This gives the crawler the broadest starting point to discover your internal link structure.
Once the crawl completes, study the visual word cloud. This is your immediate health check.
According to Zyppy's research, pages with more unique anchor text variations receive significantly more organic clicks. Diversity isn't just safe — it directly drives traffic.
Switch to the data view for granular insights:
Check your distribution against these benchmarks (covered in detail in the ratio section below). Flag any anchor that appears more than 15% of the time pointing to a single URL — that's a strong signal of over-optimization.
Use the data to take action:
After making changes, re-run the analysis to confirm your improvements. Monthly audits keep your anchor profile balanced as you publish new content.
Many site owners chase backlinks while completely ignoring the text within those links. Here's why your internal anchor text strategy matters more than most SEOs realize:
Google's crawlers rely on anchor text to understand what the linked page covers. When you link from Page A to Page B using the anchor "technical SEO audit checklist", you're explicitly signaling to Google that Page B is relevant for that topic.
Google's own documentation on link best practices states: "Good anchor text is descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to the page that it's on and to the page it links to." When you use vague text like "click here," Google has to guess what the target page is about — and guessing leads to weaker rankings.
Industry data backs this up: 8% of SEO professionals rank internal links as the single most important ranking factor, and 42% of marketers invest equal effort in internal and external link building (Sure Oak, 2024).
Internal links don't just connect pages — they create topic clusters that prove expertise to search engines. When you consistently use relevant, descriptive anchors to link related pages within a topic cluster, you signal to Google that your site has depth and authority on that subject.
For example, if your site has a pillar guide on internal linking strategy, and 10 supporting articles all link back to it using varied but topically relevant anchors, Google recognizes that cluster as authoritative content worth ranking.
Yoast's 2025 internal linking guide puts it clearly: "In the age of AI-driven search and generative optimization, internal links are no longer mere SEO signals — they're context signals that shape how AI models understand your topics, your expertise, and your brand."
Google's Penguin algorithm specifically targets manipulative anchor text patterns — and it applies to internal links, not just backlinks.
The Risk: If 100 pages on your site all link to your money page using the exact same keyword anchor, Google may interpret that as manipulation. Research shows sites with anchor text diversity below 30% have experienced ranking drops averaging 15 positions.
The Solution: Use our word cloud to instantly spot keyword spikes, then diversify with synonyms, partial matches, and natural language variations. Your anchor profile should look like natural human writing, not a spreadsheet of repeated keywords.
Every internal link passes a portion of the linking page's authority to the destination page. Pages with strong backlink profiles can "share" that authority with newer or weaker pages through strategic internal linking.
This is why 51% of digital marketers believe every blog post should include at least 2-3 internal links (Databox). Those links aren't just for navigation — they're distributing ranking power across your site.
The key insight: link from your strongest pages to the pages you most want to rank. Our internal link checker helps you identify which pages are over-linked (wasting equity on already-strong pages) and which are underlinked (missing out on authority they need).
There's no single "perfect" formula, but analyzing top-ranking sites reveals a consistent healthy pattern. When reviewing your word cloud and data table, aim for this distribution:
| Anchor Type | Example | Target % | Risk Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Descriptive / Partial Match | "check out our internal link audit guide" | 50-60% | ✅ Safest & Most Useful |
| Branded | "according to SEOShouts' analysis" | 20-30% | ✅ Builds Brand Entity |
| Exact Match | "internal link checker" | 10-15% | ⚠️ High Power, High Risk |
| Generic | "click here," "read more" | < 5% | ❌ Zero SEO Value |
| Naked URL | "seoshouts.com/tools/" | < 5% | ❌ Wasted Opportunity |
Critical rule: Never use the same anchor text twice for the same target URL. If 10 different pages link to your pricing page, each one should use a different anchor variation. Repetition is the fastest path to over-optimization.
Zyppy's study of 23 million internal links confirmed that anchor text variety correlates directly with organic traffic — the more unique anchors pointing to a page, the more clicks it receives from Google.
Pro Tip: Use our word cloud to check if your percentages are skewed too heavily toward "Exact Match" or "Generic." A healthy cloud shows many terms at similar sizes, not one keyword dominating everything else.
Run the SEOShouts Internal Link Checker to find these specific problems in your site structure:
What it looks like: Anchors like "Click here," "Read more," "Learn more," "This article," or "This post" scattered throughout your content.
Why it hurts: These words carry zero semantic value. They tell Google absolutely nothing about the destination page. Every generic anchor is a missed opportunity to send a topical relevance signal.
How to fix it: Search your report for generic terms. Locate the source pages and rewrite each link.
What it looks like: The same high-value keyword used as anchor text on dozens of internal links, all pointing to the same page.
Why it hurts: It looks unnatural and robotic. Google's algorithms detect this pattern and may flag it as manipulative — even for internal links. The Penguin algorithm doesn't distinguish between internal and external anchor spam.
How to fix it: Check the word cloud. If your main keyword is the largest word by far, you need to diversify immediately. Use synonyms, LSI variations, and longer natural phrases:
Instead of repeating "SEO audit" 20 times, use: "website audit checklist," "analyze your site's SEO health," "run a comprehensive site review," "check your on-page factors," etc.
What it looks like: Linking to a page about "local SEO services" using anchor text about "website development" or some other unrelated topic.
Why it hurts: It creates a relevancy conflict. Google expects the anchor text to accurately describe the destination. Mismatches confuse both algorithms and users who click expecting one thing but land on something else.
How to fix it: Review your data table. For each anchor text, verify it aligns with the actual content of the target URL. If it doesn't match, rewrite the anchor to accurately reflect the destination.
What it looks like: Using raw URLs as the visible link text: "Check out https://seoshouts.com/tools/on-page-seo-analyzer/ for more."
Why it hurts: While not harmful, it's a significant wasted opportunity. A naked URL passes no topical signal to Google about what the destination page covers.
How to fix it: Replace every raw URL anchor with a descriptive phrase:
Check out our on-page SEO analyzer with 100+ ranking factors for a deeper audit.
What it looks like: Important pages on your site that receive no internal links from any other page.
Why it hurts: Search engines struggle to discover orphan pages. According to Semrush, 25% of all web pages have zero incoming internal links. These pages receive virtually no organic traffic regardless of their content quality.
How to fix it: After running our tool, check which destination URLs appear least frequently. Cross-reference with your sitemap to find pages not appearing in the report at all. Add at least 3 internal links from relevant content pages to each orphan page, using varied descriptive anchors.
This is one of the most debated questions in SEO, and Zyppy answered it with data.
Their analysis of 23 million internal links found clear patterns:
Click depth matters too. The same study found that pages buried 4 or more clicks deep from the homepage receive 9x less traffic than pages within 3 clicks. Internal linking isn't just about anchor text — where you place links in your site hierarchy determines whether pages get found at all.
This is why a holistic internal link audit — anchor text quality AND link placement — delivers the biggest ranking improvements. Our tool handles the anchor text analysis; pair it with a full on-page SEO analysis to evaluate overall page structure and depth.
AI search is fundamentally changing how internal links function. Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini don't just follow links — they use them to build semantic maps of your site's knowledge structure.
Traditional search engines follow links to crawl and index pages. AI models go further — they use internal link patterns to understand topical relationships between your content.
When your blog post about "anchor text optimization" links to your tool page using the anchor "analyze your anchor text distribution," the AI model learns that these two pieces of content are semantically related and that your site has depth on this topic.
seoClarity's 2025 research confirmed: "A strong internal linking structure gives AI engines clearer semantic signals, making it easier for AI search engines to surface your most authoritative and relevant pages in generative results."
AI models process language as vectors — mathematical representations of meaning. Short, robotic keyword anchors provide weak semantic signals. Longer, natural language anchors provide rich context.
| ❌ Old SEO Anchors | ✅ AI-Optimized Anchors |
|---|---|
| "internal link checker" | "use our free internal link checker to audit your anchor text" |
| "best pizza NYC" | "the top-rated pizza places across New York City" |
| "SEO audit" | "run a comprehensive technical SEO audit of your website" |
| "link building" | "proven strategies for building high-quality backlinks" |
The shift is clear: write anchors as if you're explaining the destination to a human, not stuffing keywords for a crawler.
We recommend testing your site's AI visibility weekly across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and Copilot. Ask each platform questions about your topic area and track whether your brand appears, what content gets cited, and which competitors show up instead.
The sites getting cited most in AI responses share three characteristics: descriptive internal anchor text, deep topical clusters, and clear expertise signals. Our internal link checker directly addresses the first requirement — use it alongside proper schema markup and robots.txt configuration for AI crawlers to cover all three.
| Feature | SEOShouts | Screaming Frog | Ahrefs | SEOptimer | Sitechecker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visual Word Cloud | ✅ Unique | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Free Crawl Limit | 500 pages | 500 pages | Paid only ($99+/mo) | Single page | 14-day trial only |
| Anchor Text Grouping | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| No Login Required | ✅ | ❌ (Desktop install) | ❌ (Account required) | ✅ | ❌ (Trial signup) |
| Browser-Based | ✅ | ❌ (Desktop only) | ✅ (Cloud) | ✅ | ✅ |
| Keyword Stuffing Alert | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Generic Anchor Detection | ✅ | Manual only | Manual only | ❌ | ❌ |
| Destination URL Mapping | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Cost | Free forever | Free (limited) / £199/yr | $99-$999/mo | Free (limited) | $49+/mo |
Use our tool when you need a fast, visual health check of your anchor text profile without installing software or paying for subscriptions. The word cloud gives you an insight in 2 seconds that would take 20 minutes to extract from a Screaming Frog data table.
For enterprise sites with 10,000+ pages, full JavaScript rendering, or integration with backlink data, desktop crawlers like Screaming Frog or paid platforms like Ahrefs offer deeper capabilities. For most blogs, small businesses, and service websites under 500 pages, SEOShouts provides everything you need at zero cost.
Use this checklist after running your SEOShouts analysis. Bookmark it and revisit monthly.
Everything you need to know about internal link auditing
Audit any page for 100+ ranking factors with real Google PageSpeed API data. Covers technical SEO, content quality, and competitive benchmarks.
Analyze your on-page SEO factors →Generate JSON-LD structured data for 39+ schema types. Add the markup search engines need to understand your content.
Generate schema markup for your pages →Create and validate robots.txt files — including directives for AI crawlers like GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and PerplexityBot.
Configure your robots.txt for AI crawlers →Check keyword frequency and semantic density across any page. Ensure your content hits target keywords without over-optimization.
Check keyword density in your content →Craft perfect title tags and meta descriptions optimized for click-through rate and search relevance.
Optimize your meta tags for better CTR →Create XML sitemaps that help search engines discover and index every important page on your site.
Create an XML sitemap for your site →All tools are 100% free · No signup required · Instant results
Poor anchor text hides your best content from Google and AI search engines. Run your analysis in under 5 minutes, identify the problems, and fix them today.