Written by Ryan Jones. Updated on 22, August 2024
In today’s digital age, the importance of a well-structured website cannot be overstated. A vital aspect of this structure is internal linking.
This article explores the best internal linking tools available in 2024, addressing website owners’ common challenges in optimising their internal link structure.
By the end of this post, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of the top tools to streamline your internal linking process, which you can use to boost your website’s overall effectiveness in SEO.
Internal linking refers to linking one page on your website to another page on your site. These links are crucial for website navigation for users and search engines. Using internal linking throughout your website establishes an information hierarchy and spreads link equity across your site.
For an in-depth look at the topic, take a look at our guide on internal linking.
Internal linking is vital for good SEO, no matter the website’s size, as it helps distribute page authority throughout your site, improving crawlability for search engines and enhancing the user experience by providing relevant additional content.
Let’s use the example we just put in above.
We are writing an article on the best internal linking tools for 2024. Still, some people reading this article might want more information about internal linking. So, we have created an internal link to our guide on that topic in case any user is interested in reading that before looking into the possibility of using an internal linking tool for their site.
Using an internal linking tool offers numerous advantages over manual linking, such as:
It is worth noting, however, that if you only have a small website (think anywhere from 5 to 30 pages), then it might not be worth your time and money to invest in an internal linking tool as you will be able to do this manually, to a good standard also.
Once your site reaches a specific size, we believe that using an internal linking tool becomes a ‘must’ as it will enable you to ensure you are not missing any golden opportunities.
In this section, we’ll discuss some of the best specialist internal linking tools your business should consider using in 2024.
LinkStorm is an internal linking tool designed to analyse and optimise the internal link structure of websites.
It offers several benefits for businesses looking to enhance their SEO and site navigation. Firstly, LinkStorm crawls and analyses page content to help adjust a site’s internal linking, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the site’s link structure. It identifies new internal linking opportunities, suggests relevant links between pages, and helps fix issues such as:
The tool also assists in optimising internal link anchors and provides link opportunities between all the websites a particular business owns.
LinkStorm suggests link opportunities for custom target keywords, which is especially beneficial for new content. Moreover, it integrates with GSC to display traffic and internal link data, providing valuable insights for optimising essential site pages.
LinkStorm is platform-agnostic and does not require plugin installation, making it suitable for any website.
However, a potential drawback might be its dependence on automated analysis, which may not always align perfectly with specific SEO strategies or nuances of a website’s content. This could lead to a less personalised optimisation than manually doing the link analysis.
Regarding pricing, LinkStorm offers a simple structure based on the total number of URLs. It has three monthly plans:
Newly available on the market, InternalLinking is a specialist internal linking tool designed to give you internal link suggestions that you may need help finding yourself, especially if you have a large website.
The tool connects directly through Google Search Console, so you can use the tool no matter what CMS you are using, and as the tool is priced using a credit-based system, you can add multiple websites under one subscription. This potentially saves you money if you have a lot of websites you manage, for example, if you’re a marketing agency.
Generating internal link suggestions with InternalLinking is easy! Simply add the link to which you want to build internal links, and the tool will provide anchor text suggestions based on the content. You also have the option to input your anchor text. InternalLinking then has three different options for your reports:
Once here, specify whether you want the report to run once, weekly, or monthly, and InternalLinking will do the rest, grabbing any internal link opportunities it finds.
InternalLinking is priced via a credit-based system:
We will now dive into some SEO suites and specialist tools that can also be used to better work on your website’s internal linking.
These tools have some great internal linking uses, but remember that they are not ‘specialist’ internal linking tools, and they have broader uses, which could make your monthly or yearly cost higher than using a specialist internal linking tool.
Ahrefs, a well-known SEO tool, offers several features that can be leveraged for internal linking strategies.
Its ‘Site Explorer’ provides an in-depth look at any website’s organic search traffic and backlink profile, including your own. This will allow users to study their website structure and internal links. It offers extensive backlink research capabilities, boasting the industry’s fastest backlink crawler and a vast index of live backlinks. This feature includes the ability to see internal pages that link to other pages on your website, aiding in optimising internal linking structures.
Additionally, Ahrefs provides historical data browsing, letting users see how a website’s performance, including internal links, has evolved.
Ahrefs is undoubtedly more focused on broader SEO metrics and external backlink analysis rather than specifically on internal linking. It offers fewer dedicated features for this purpose than some other specialised tools.
Pricing for Ahrefs is based on a monthly subscription:
However, you can qualify for two months free if you pay for your subscription annually.
Semrush is a comprehensive digital marketing tool that offers features that are (directly or indirectly) beneficial for internal linking strategies.
Its backlink analytics tool helps users streamline their entire backlink analysis workflow, allowing them to analyse and track backlink growth, discover rich backlink portfolios in a niche, and inspect referring domains’ authority and locations. This feature aids in understanding a website’s backlink profile and can indirectly assist in internal linking by highlighting areas where external links are concentrated. Generally, if a particular page is getting a lot of external backlinks, adding internal links to this page on your website can aid it even further!
There is a drawback to using Semrush specifically for internal linking purposes, and it’s very similar to the drawback Ahrefs has. Its primary focus is on external backlinks rather than specifically on internal link analysis! While it provides insights that can be leveraged for internal linking, its tools are more geared towards overall SEO and backlink strategies.
Pricing for Semrush is based on a monthly subscription:
You can also pay annually and save up to 17% on your subscription cost.
ScreamingFrog’s SEO Spider is a versatile website crawler widely used in the SEO industry for onsite SEO auditing, including internal linking analysis.
Critical benefits for internal linking include its ability to instantly crawl a website and identify broken links, analyse redirects, review robot directives, and visualise site architecture. It can audit hreflang attributes, discover duplicate content, and extract data with XPath, significantly informing and improving internal linking strategies.
The tool also integrates with Google Analytics, GSC, and PageSpeed insights, offering enhanced SEO insights if needed.
However, some users may find the tool’s complexity and the learning curve associated with its numerous features a drawback. It might suit users with a technical background or prior SEO experience. Although, with time, it will become easier to use. Much like any tool!
ScreamingFrog offers a free version, limited to crawling up to 500 URLs simultaneously. The paid version, priced at £199 per year, removes the crawl limit and unlocks advanced features.
In the final section of this article, we will cater directly to people and companies who have created their websites with WordPress. We’ll cover some of the best internal link plugins and tools designed specifically for WordPress and sites created with the software.
LinkWhisper is a sophisticated internal linking plugin for WordPress. It uses artificial intelligence to suggest relevant internal links whilst you write your articles. Its features include:
Additionally, it integrates with other SEO plugins for keyword targeting and can pull traffic data from Google Search Console.
This tool is particularly beneficial for enhancing SEO, simplifying internal linking, and optimising your website structure.
However, potential drawbacks might include the reliance on AI suggestions that may not always perfectly align with your content strategy or SEO goals and the possibility of over-reliance on automated tools for your site’s internal linking, which could lead to less hands-on optimisation.
Pricing for LinkWhisper is structured based on the number of websites you need. A single-site license costs $77, a three-site permit is $117, and a ten-site license is available for $167. All billed annually.
All in One SEO (AIOSEO) offers a comprehensive suite of features, making it a powerful SEO tool for WordPress users.
Among its key features relevant to internal linking are the Link Assistant, which provides relevant suggestions for adding internal links to older content and identifies orphaned posts lacking internal links, and the Rich Snippets Schema, which enhances site visibility in search results.
AIOSEO also includes a ‘TruSEO’ on-page analysis for optimising page titles, meta descriptions, and other on-page elements, and Smart XML Sitemaps for automatic sitemap generation and updates. Social Media Integration, Video SEO Sitemaps, and Local SEO tools further extend its capabilities. This shows it’s not ‘just’ an internal linking tool.
However, being a WordPress-exclusive tool, it limits its usage to websites built on the platform. This could be a drawback for businesses or individuals using other CMS platforms. Additionally, while beginner-friendly, the sheer number of features might be overwhelming for new users, requiring time to fully utilise its capabilities effectively.
AIOSEO offers several pricing tiers to accommodate different needs and scales.
The basic plan is priced at $49.60 annually and is suitable for single-site projects. The plus plan, at $99.60 per year, is aimed at small businesses and supports up to three sites.
For larger-scale needs, the pro plan, at $174.65 per year, allows usage on up to ten sites, and the elite plan, priced at $224.70 per year, is designed for agencies and large business owners, supporting up to 100 sites. Each higher tier includes additional features and capabilities.
Keep in mind that the prices listed above are their introductory prices. All plans renew at their total price:
Internal Link Juicer is an SEO ‘auto-linker’ plugin for WordPress designed to enhance website performance through effective internal linking. The tool offers several benefits, including improved usability and indexability, increased traffic and user interactions, and the potential for higher sales and goal achievement. All providing the tool is used correctly. It simplifies linking relevant pages, enhances site navigation for users and search engines and assists in achieving better rankings through defined anchor text.
Internal Link Juicer automates linking after adding keywords, ensuring high performance without slowing down WordPress sites. It offers diverse features like:
The plugin provides complete control over linked content, allowing users to exclude specific content areas from linking if necessary.
The tool offers automated internal linking but requires initial manual keyword setup, which can be time-consuming. While helpful in automating linking processes, its complexity may pose challenges for beginners. Additionally, there’s a risk of over-optimising links if not adequately managed, and the free version offers limited customisation compared to the Pro version.
As for pricing, Internal Link Juicer offers a free basic version available on WordPress.org. The Pro version is priced at $69.99 for one site, which includes additional features like full dashboard access with detailed link views, a more extensive set of HTML tags for exclusion, shortcode support for manual protection, and the ability to import keywords via an internal file.
Interlinks Manager, a WordPress plugin, offers significant benefits for internal linking. It enables detailed analysis of your site’s internal link structure and equity, aiding in SEO optimisation. The tool provides interior link suggestions while editing articles automates link generation from specific keywords, and tracks clicks on internal links for in-depth analysis. Additionally, it exports data in CSV format for further analysis and assists in identifying and fixing broken links and redirects, ensuring a healthy site structure.
However, as with most of the tools in this section, its focus on WordPress only restricts its usage to websites on this platform. The automated features also lead to an over-reliance on the tool, potentially missing unique linking opportunities that require a more manual, context-specific approach that only a personal touch from an SEO specialist would do.
In terms of pricing, Interlinks Manager offers different licenses:
The Regular license is $39, the Regular+ license is $52, and the Extended license is $195. Each license comes with varying levels of support and updates, providing options for different user needs and preferences. These are all one-off costs.
In summary, the article presents a comprehensive guide to the top internal linking tools of 2024, which are essential for enhancing website SEO and user navigation. Tools like LinkStorm, InternalLinking, Ahrefs, and Semrush each offer unique capabilities to improve a website’s internal link structure. For small or large websites, these tools can significantly boost search engine rankings and overall site health. Staying informed about these tools is crucial for effective online presence management in the evolving digital landscape.
Looking for a great tool to optimise your site’s internal linking? Give InternalLinking a try! We’ve just completed our free open beta and are now offering subscriptions to everyone. We’re currently offering a 14-day free trial with no credit card required to sign up. So sign up today!