About internal-links
A guide for SEO practitioners planning internal links across a site. It covers page structure, orphan pages, anchor text, and link placement for audits and improvements.
Key features
- 01Assess site hierarchy and priority pages
- 02Identify orphan pages and link needs
- 03Plan contextual links and anchor text
- 04Review link placement and page depth
Use cases
- 01Plan links to priority pages
- 02Find and address orphan pages
- 03Improve topic-cluster link structure
Install
Copy the command and run it in a terminal.
npx skills add https:/After installing, type/internal-linksin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.
Details
From the project READMESEO On-Page: Internal Links
Guides internal linking strategy for SEO: crawlability, link equity distribution, and user navigation.
When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.
Scope (On-Page SEO)
- Internal links: Contextual links; descriptive anchor text; related posts; hub pages
- Breadcrumbs: Implement for large sites (e.g. ecommerce); see breadcrumb-generator
Initial Assessment
Project context: Read root contextus.md when present and load only the modules relevant to this task. Without Contextus, use available project material or user-provided facts and ask for missing information; do not create a parallel context system.
Identify:
- Site structure: Hub pages, pillar content, supporting pages
- Orphan pages: Pages with no or few internal links
- Priority pages: Pages that need more link equity
Best Practices
Link Structure
| Principle | Guideline |
|---|---|
| Depth | Important pages within 3 clicks from homepage |
| Orphan pages | Avoid; ensure every page has at least one internal link; see site-crawlability for technical detection and crawl issues |
| Hub-to-spoke | Link from hub/pillar pages to cluster articles; topic cluster structure |
| Contextual | Place links in relevant body content, not just footers |
Anchor Text
| Principle | Guideline |
|---|---|
| Descriptive | Use anchor text that describes the target page |
| Variation | Avoid over-optimization; use natural variation |
| Keyword | Include target keyword when natural |
Placement
| Location | Use |
|---|---|
| First paragraph | Primary link to related content |
| Body | Contextual links throughout |
| Related/Recommended | End-of-article links |
| Navigation | Key site sections |
Common Issues
| Issue | Fix |
|---|---|
| Orphan pages | Add internal links from hub pages or navigation; site-crawlability for technical audit |
| Too many links | Focus on most important; avoid link stuffing |
| Generic anchors | Use descriptive "learn more about X" instead of "click here" |
| Broken links | Audit and fix 404s; see site-crawlability for technical audit |
Output Format
- Internal link audit (if auditing)
- Link opportunities for key pages
- Anchor text recommendations
- Structure improvements
Related Skills
- article-page-generator: Related posts, contextual links, end-of-article recommendations
- website-structure: Plan page structure and hierarchy; informs internal linking
- site-crawlability: Internal links enable crawling
- url-structure: URL structure affects link patterns
- content-strategy: Topic clusters inform link structure; pillar <-> cluster; cluster <-> cluster
- breadcrumb-generator: Breadcrumbs are internal links; category hierarchy