Internal Linking Strategy Map with Auditite

Overview

Internal links distribute authority across your site, help search engines discover content, and guide users to important pages. This worksheet helps you map your current internal link structure, identify gaps, and build a strategic linking plan.

Step 1: Identify Priority Pages

List the top 20-30 pages that matter most to your business. These are the pages that should receive the most internal link equity.

Priority	URL	Target Keyword	Current Internal Links Received	Goal Links	Gap
1
2
3

Priority Criteria:

• Pages targeting high-value commercial keywords
• Pages with the highest conversion potential
• Cornerstone content / pillar pages
• Pages close to ranking on page 1 (positions 5-15)

Step 2: Link Distribution Analysis

Audit the current distribution of internal links across your site.

Metric	Current Value	Benchmark	Status
Average internal links per page		5-10
Pages with 0 internal links (orphans)		0
Pages with 1 internal link		<5% of pages
Maximum internal links on a single page		<100
Average click depth from homepage		≤3 clicks
Pages at depth 4+		<10%

Step 3: Content Hub Mapping

Organize your content into topical hubs. Each hub has a pillar page that links to supporting content, and all supporting content links back to the pillar.

Hub Topic	Pillar Page URL	Supporting Pages	Links Pillar → Support	Links Support → Pillar
Technical SEO	/technical-seo-guide	/crawl-budget, /xml-sitemaps, /robots-txt
Content Strategy	/content-strategy	/keyword-research, /content-calendar

Step 4: Anchor Text Planning

Plan anchor text variations for your priority pages. Avoid over-optimization by mixing anchor types.

Target Page	Exact Match (20%)	Partial Match (30%)	Branded (20%)	Generic (15%)	URL (15%)
/features/audit	SEO audit tool	automated site auditing	Auditite audit	learn more	auditite.com/features/audit

Anchor Text Distribution Formula:

Exact match anchors: ≤ 20% of total
Partial match anchors: 25-35% of total
Branded anchors: 15-25% of total
Generic anchors: 10-20% of total
Naked URL anchors: 5-15% of total

Step 5: Link Opportunity Matrix

Cross-reference your pages to find natural linking opportunities.

Source Page	Target Page	Anchor Text	Context	Implemented?
/blog/core-web-vitals	/features/performance	Core Web Vitals monitoring	”Use a tool for [anchor]”	☐
/blog/seo-checklist	/templates/audit-scorecard	SEO audit scorecard	”Download our [anchor]“	☐

Step 6: Link Placement Best Practices

Placement	SEO Value	User Value	Recommendation
Within body content (first 2 paragraphs)	High	High	Best for priority pages
Within body content (middle/end)	Medium	Medium	Good for supporting pages
Sidebar / related posts	Low-Medium	Medium	Supplement body links
Footer links	Low	Low	Use sparingly for key pages
Navigation menu	Medium	High	Reserve for top-level pages
Breadcrumbs	Medium	High	Always implement for hierarchy

Scoring Your Internal Linking Health

Factor	Score (0-5)	Weight	Weighted Score
No orphan pages		20%
Priority pages have 10+ internal links		20%
Average click depth ≤ 3		15%
Hub/spoke structure implemented		15%
Anchor text is varied and natural		15%
Links placed in body content		15%

Total Score = Sum of weighted scores (out of 5)

Score	Rating	Action
4.0-5.0	Excellent	Maintain and refine
3.0-3.9	Good	Address remaining gaps
2.0-2.9	Needs work	Build hub structures, fix orphans
0-1.9	Critical	Major restructuring needed

Implementation Process

1. Export your full crawl data showing internal link counts per page
2. Identify orphan pages and pages with fewer than 3 internal links
3. Map your content into topical hubs
4. Plan anchor text for each priority page
5. Add links to existing content first (quickest wins)
6. Create new content to fill hub gaps where needed
7. Re-crawl monthly to monitor link distribution changes

Auditite automatically maps your internal link structure and identifies orphan pages, thin link pages, and broken internal links across your entire site.