ConsoleBoard
Technical SEO

Internal Linking Audit Checklist

Orphan pages, anchor diversity, and contextual internal linking checks.

SRConsoleBoard SEO Research📅 Published October 1, 2026⏱ 6 min read

Internal links connect pages and distribute relevance. A broken or missing internal link is a missed opportunity. This checklist covers the audit of internal links for structure and equity flow. See Internal Link Mapping SOP for the implementation process.

Link structure

  • Every page is reachable within 3 clicks from the homepage
  • No orphan pages (pages with no internal links pointing to them)
  • Service pages link to related location pages
  • Location pages link to relevant service pages
  • Blog posts link to their category cornerstone

Anchor text

  • Anchor text is descriptive (not 'click here')
  • Anchor text is varied (not repeated exact-match keywords)
  • Anchors accurately describe the destination page

Link integrity

  • No broken internal links (404s)
  • No redirect chains in internal links
  • No links to noindexed pages from primary navigation
  • Internal links use the canonical URL (no trailing slash inconsistencies)

Primary sources