Internal Linking Optimizer

SEO & GEO Skills Library · 20 skills for SEO + GEO · ClawHub · skills.sh System Mode: This optimization skill follows the shared Skill Contract and State Model.

This skill analyzes your site's internal link structure and provides recommendations to improve SEO through strategic internal linking. It helps distribute authority, establish topical relevance, and improve crawlability.

System role: Optimization layer skill. It turns weak pages, structures, and technical issues into prioritized repair work.

When This Must Trigger

Use this when the conversation involves any of these situations — even if the user does not use SEO terminology:

Use this whenever the task needs a diagnosis or repair plan that should feed directly into remediation work, not just a one-time opinion.

• Improving site architecture for SEO
• Distributing authority to important pages
• Fixing orphan pages with no internal links
• Creating topic cluster internal link strategies
• Optimizing anchor text for SEO
• Recovering pages that have lost rankings
• Planning internal links for new content

What This Skill Does

1. Link Structure Analysis: Maps current internal linking patterns
2. Authority Flow Mapping: Shows how PageRank flows through site
3. Orphan Page Detection: Finds pages with no internal links
4. Anchor Text Optimization: Improves anchor text diversity
5. Topic Cluster Linking: Creates pillar-cluster link strategies
6. Link Opportunity Finding: Identifies where to add links
7. Navigation Optimization: Improves site-wide link elements

Quick Start

Start with one of these prompts. Finish with a short handoff summary using the repository format in Skill Contract.

Analyze Current Structure

Analyze internal linking structure for [domain/sitemap]

Find internal linking opportunities for [URL]

Create Linking Strategy

Create internal linking plan for topic cluster about [topic]

Suggest internal links for this new article: [content/URL]

Fix Issues

Find orphan pages on [domain]

Optimize anchor text across the site

Skill Contract

Expected output: a scored diagnosis, prioritized repair plan, and a short handoff summary ready for memory/audits/.

• Reads: the current page or site state, symptoms, prior audits, and current priorities from CLAUDE.md and the shared State Model when available.
• Writes: a user-facing audit or optimization plan plus a reusable summary that can be stored under memory/audits/.
• Promotes: blocking defects, repeated weaknesses, and fix priorities to memory/open-loops.md and memory/decisions.md.
• Next handoff: use the Next Best Skill below when the repair path is clear.

Data Sources

Note: All integrations are optional. This skill works without any API keys — users provide data manually when no tools are connected.

See CONNECTORS.md for tool category placeholders.

With ~~web crawler + ~~analytics connected: Claude can automatically perform a full site crawl via ~~web crawler to map the complete link graph, fetch page performance metrics from ~~analytics to identify high-value pages, and analyze link flow throughout the site. This enables data-driven internal linking strategies.

With manual data only: Ask the user to provide:

1. Sitemap URL or list of important pages
2. Key page URLs that need more internal links
3. Content categories or topic clusters
4. Any existing link structure documentation

Proceed with the analysis using provided data. Note in the output which findings are from automated crawl vs. manual review.

Instructions

When a user requests internal linking optimization:

1. Analyze Current Internal Link Structure

   ## Internal Link Structure Analysis
   
   ### Overview
   
   **Domain**: [domain]
   **Total Pages Analyzed**: [X]
   **Total Internal Links**: [X]
   **Average Links per Page**: [X]
   
   ### Link Distribution
   
   | Links per Page | Page Count | Percentage |
   |----------------|------------|------------|
   | 0 (Orphan) | [X] | [X]% |
   | 1-5 | [X] | [X]% |
   | 6-10 | [X] | [X]% |
   | 11-20 | [X] | [X]% |
   | 20+ | [X] | [X]% |
   
   ### Top Linked Pages
   
   | Page | Internal Links | Authority | Notes |
   |------|----------------|-----------|-------|
   | [URL 1] | [X] | High | [notes] |
   | [URL 2] | [X] | High | [notes] |
   | [URL 3] | [X] | Medium | [notes] |
   
   ### Under-Linked Important Pages
   
   | Page | Current Links | Traffic | Recommended Links |
   |------|---------------|---------|-------------------|
   | [URL 1] | [X] | [X]/mo | [X]+ |
   | [URL 2] | [X] | [X]/mo | [X]+ |
   
   **Structure Score**: [X]/10
   

2. Identify Orphan Pages

   ## Orphan Page Analysis
   
   ### Definition
   Orphan pages have no internal links pointing to them, making them 
   hard for users and search engines to discover.
   
   ### Orphan Pages Found: [X]
   
   | Page | Traffic | Priority | Recommended Action |
   |------|---------|----------|-------------------|
   | [URL 1] | [X]/mo | High | Link from [pages] |
   | [URL 2] | [X]/mo | Medium | Add to navigation |
   | [URL 3] | 0 | Low | Consider deleting/redirecting |
   
   ### Fix Strategy
   
   **High Priority Orphans** (have traffic/rankings):
   1. [URL] - Add links from: [relevant pages]
   2. [URL] - Add links from: [relevant pages]
   
   **Medium Priority Orphans** (potentially valuable):
   1. [URL] - Add to category/tag page
   2. [URL] - Link from related content
   
   **Low Priority Orphans** (consider removing):
   1. [URL] - Redirect to [better page]
   2. [URL] - Delete or noindex
   

3. Analyze Anchor Text Distribution

   CORE-EEAT alignment: Internal linking quality maps to R08 (Internal Link Graph) in the CORE-EEAT benchmark -- use descriptive anchors, ensure links support topical authority. See content-quality-auditor for full audit.

   ## Anchor Text Analysis
   
   ### Current Anchor Text Patterns
   
   **Most Used Anchors**:
   
   | Anchor Text | Count | Target Pages | Assessment |
   |-------------|-------|--------------|------------|
   | "click here"