Internal linking template
Orphan pages, isolated clusters, and missed contextual links — returned as specific source, target, and anchor pairs.
- Google Search Console
- Sanity / CMS
- Google Sheets
- Slack
Audit internal linking on metaflow.life. Prioritize pages with impressions but weak internal links.
- Crawled 1,302 internal linksBuilt reachability graph and click depth per page
- Found orphans and near-orphans9 orphans, 27 pages with a single inbound link
- Weighted targets by impressions14 under-linked pages hold 8,200 monthly impressions
- Generated link suggestions61 contextual links with anchors, capped at 4 per source page
Sixty-one links fix the 14 highest-value under-linked pages plus all 9 orphans. Nineteen existing anchors read "learn more" and have rewrites proposed. Average click depth on money pages drops from 4.1 to 2.8.
An internal linking template should end with links you can paste in, not a diagram of your site. This one maps the real link graph, finds the pages nothing points to, and proposes each new link as a source URL, a target URL, and the anchor text to use.
What is an internal linking template?
A repeatable process for auditing and improving how your pages link to each other: which pages are unreachable, which clusters are cut off, where relevant links are missing, and which anchors are too vague to communicate anything.
Map the real link graph
- Crawl internal links and build the reachability graph
- Identify orphan pages and near-orphans with one weak inbound link
- Detect clusters isolated from the rest of the site
- Measure click depth from the homepage per page
Propose specific links
- Return source URL, target URL, and anchor text per suggestion
- Prefer contextual body links over navigation additions
- Cap suggestions per page so nothing reads over-linked
Clean up anchors
- Rewrite generic anchors like "click here" and "learn more"
- Flag over-optimized repetition of one exact phrase
- Fix links pointing at redirects or dead URLs
How do you find orphan pages?
Compare the pages in your sitemap against the pages a crawl can reach by following links. Anything in the first set and not the second is orphaned — commonly a page published without navigation placement or one stranded by a migration.
What makes good internal anchor text?
Descriptive phrasing that tells a reader what they will get, using the target page’s topic naturally. "Learn more" communicates nothing, and repeating the exact same anchor across dozens of links looks manipulative — the audit rewrites both cases.
How does the internal link audit template prioritize fixes?
By the value of what the link unlocks. Links pointing at pages with existing impressions and commercial intent come first, links that connect an isolated cluster to the rest of the site come next, and cosmetic anchor cleanups come last.
How the internal linking template works across your stack
The agent crawls your site to build the link graph, reads Search Console to weight targets by existing impressions, and consults your CMS so suggested links point at real, live URLs. Suggestions export as a source-target-anchor table you can work through, or apply directly through a connected CMS.
- Google Search Console
- Sanity / CMS
- Google Sheets
- Slack
Who uses this internal linking template
- SEO managers
- Convert the vague advice to "improve internal links" into a finite task list.
- Content teams
- Link new posts into the existing library instead of publishing them into isolation.
- Teams post-migration
- Recover the pages a migration quietly orphaned.
How to run this internal linking template in Metaflow
Point the agent at your domain
Optionally scope to a section, and connect Search Console so targets get weighted by impressions.
Let it build the link graph
The crawl produces reachability, click depth, and inbound link counts per page.
Review suggested links
Each suggestion names source, target, and anchor — approve, edit, or reject individually.
Apply and re-check depth
After applying, re-run to confirm orphans resolved and click depth improved.
What you provide
- Domain or section to audit
- Search Console access
- Optional: pages you most want to strengthen
What you get back
- Orphan and near-orphan page list
- Source-target-anchor suggestions
- Anchor text rewrites
- Click depth report
Why use this internal linking template?
Every suggestion is a concrete source, target, and anchor
Targets are weighted by existing impressions and commercial value
Suggestions are capped per page to avoid over-linking
Finds near-orphans, not just fully unreachable pages
Internal linking template FAQs
What is an internal link?
A link from one page on your site to another. Internal links do two jobs: they route readers to the next relevant page, and they tell search engines which of your pages matter and what they are about.
How many internal links should a page have?
Enough to serve the reader — typically three to ten contextual links in a long article. There is no magic number, but a page whose links exist for SEO rather than for readers is visible as such.
Can you give an example of internal linking done well?
A cluster page linking up to its pillar with anchor text that names the pillar’s topic, while the pillar links down to that page in the section where it goes deeper. Both links help a reader who is mid-task, which is the test.
Do internal links fix orphan pages permanently?
Only if the link lives in a template or a page you maintain. Links added to a one-off post can disappear in a rewrite, so the audit prefers durable placements and flags fragile ones.
Similar SEO templates
Key takeaways
- Ship source-target-anchor pairs; diagrams do not get implemented
- Weight link targets by impressions and commercial intent
- Re-run after applying to confirm orphans actually cleared