Links are the roads search engines use to crawl your site, and internal links are the ones you fully control. The Internal Link Checker parses pasted HTML and counts every link on the page: internal, external, mail and phone links, plus the number of links with no usable anchor text. Paste a page source and you will see your link profile at a glance — where authority flows, which links are wasted, and how to strengthen your internal linking.
What Is an Internal Link?
An internal link is any link on your site that points to another page on the same site. Internal links help search engines discover pages, distribute authority across your site, and understand how your content relates. External links point to other websites, and while they add context and credibility, they also send authority away. A healthy page mixes both — with the emphasis on well-placed internal links carrying descriptive anchor text.
This checker classifies every anchor tag in your pasted HTML. It separates internal links (relative paths, root-relative links, or your own domain) from external links (other domains) and utility links such as mailto and tel. It also flags any link whose anchor text is empty, because a link with no text — often an image without alt or an empty anchor — contributes little to SEO.
Why Internal Links Matter
Internal links are the backbone of site architecture. Without them, crawlers can miss entire pages, and newer or deeper content stays undiscovered. Every internal link passes authority from the linking page to the target, so linking from high-authority pages to your important posts lifts them in rankings. Descriptive anchor text tells search engines what the target page is about, and good internal links improve the user experience by guiding visitors to related content.
How to Use the Internal Link Checker
- Open a page in your browser, right-click and choose “View Page Source”.
- Copy the HTML and paste it into the checker.
- Click Check Links to count internal, external and other links.
- Look for the “no anchor text” count and review the link breakdown.
- Fix empty-anchor links and add strategic internal links to important pages.
Key Features
- Link classification: Splits internal, external and utility links.
- Anchor-text audit: Flags links with empty or missing anchor text.
- Link health score: A 0-100 score for your link profile.
- Full breakdown list: Every link with its type and anchor text.
- AI-assisted insights: Actionable advice on improving internal linking.
Best Practices for Internal Linking
Link naturally from relevant sentences using descriptive anchor text — “SEO checklist” rather than “click here”. Prioritize links from your strongest pages to your money pages and cornerstone content. Add 2-5 internal links per article as a rule of thumb, and never bury the important links at the bottom of the page. Keep external links few and authoritative, and ensure every image link has meaningful alt or anchor text.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many internal links should a page have?
There is no hard limit, but 2-5 relevant internal links per article is a solid target that helps crawlability without cluttering the page.
What is an anchor text?
Anchor text is the clickable text of a link. Descriptive anchor text helps search engines understand the target page’s topic and improves accessibility.
Are external links harmful?
No. A few quality external links add credibility and context. The risk is heavy outbound linking to low-quality sites, which can dilute your authority.
Does this tool check my whole site?
It analyzes one pasted page at a time. Run it on your key pages to build a picture of your internal linking patterns.
Conclusion
Internal links quietly shape how search engines discover, understand and rank your site. Run your pages through the Internal Link Checker, fix empty anchors, and build a thoughtful internal linking structure that pushes authority to the pages that matter most.