SEO

Internal Link Checker

Name: Suparank Link Audit
Author: Suparank

Run a comprehensive internal link checker directly in your AI coding assistant. Find broken links (404 errors), analyze anchor text distribution for over-optimization, detect orphan pages with no incoming links, check redirect chains (301/302), and audit external links for nofollow/sponsored attributes.

Install and use:

curl -fsSL https://suparank.io/install | bash

/suparank-links

Claude Code Cursor OpenCode Codex

What It Checks

Broken Link Detection

Find internal and external links that return 404 or other errors

Redirect Chain Analysis

Identify redirect chains and loops that waste crawl budget

Anchor Text Audit

Check anchor text diversity and over-optimization issues

Orphan Page Detection

Find pages with no internal links pointing to them

External Link Quality

Audit outbound links for spam, broken, or low-quality sites

Link Depth Analysis

Ensure important pages are reachable within 3 clicks

Nofollow/Sponsored Check

Verify proper rel attributes on affiliate and sponsored links

Internal Link Distribution

Analyze how link equity flows through your site

Example Output

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
SUPARANK LINK AUDIT
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
File: src/pages/blog/index.astro
Date: 2026-01-16
Total Links: 47 (32 internal, 15 external)

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
BROKEN LINKS (2)
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

[ERROR] Internal link returns 404
  Location: Line 89
  Link: <a href="/blog/old-post">Read more</a>
  Fix: Update to valid URL or remove link

[ERROR] External link returns 404
  Location: Line 156
  Link: <a href="https://example.com/deleted-page">Source</a>
  Fix: Find alternative source or remove reference

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
REDIRECT CHAINS (1)
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

[WARNING] 3-hop redirect chain
  Location: Line 45
  Chain: /old-url → /newer-url → /current-url
  Impact: Extra latency, potential PageRank loss
  Fix: Update link to point directly to /current-url

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
ANCHOR TEXT ANALYSIS
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Distribution:
  ├── Exact match: 8% (healthy)
  ├── Partial match: 22% (healthy)
  ├── Branded: 15% (healthy)
  ├── Generic ("click here", "read more"): 45% ⚠
  └── URL anchors: 10% (ok)

[WARNING] High generic anchor text usage
  Issue: 45% of anchors are non-descriptive
  Impact: Missed SEO opportunity, poor accessibility
  Examples:
    - Line 34: "click here" → "view pricing plans"
    - Line 67: "read more" → "read the SEO guide"
    - Line 89: "learn more" → "learn about Core Web Vitals"

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
EXTERNAL LINKS (15)
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

✓ 12 links to quality domains
⚠ 2 links missing rel="nofollow sponsored" (affiliate)
  - Line 112: Amazon affiliate link
  - Line 145: Partner tool link

✓ 1 link with proper ugc attribute

───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
SUMMARY
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Broken Links: 2 (fix immediately)
Redirect Chains: 1 (fix for performance)
Anchor Text: Needs improvement (reduce generic anchors)
External Links: 2 missing proper attributes

Link Health Score: 72/100

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find broken links on my website?

Use an internal link checker tool like Suparank to scan your pages for 404 errors, DNS failures, and timeout errors. The tool crawls your HTML/Astro/JSX files to find broken internal links and external links that return errors. You can also check individual pages or your entire site to detect broken links before they impact user experience and SEO.

What is anchor text over-optimization?

Anchor text over-optimization happens when you use too many exact-match keywords in your internal links. For example, if every link to your "SEO tools" page uses the exact phrase "SEO tools", it can look unnatural to search engines. A healthy distribution includes exact match (under 10%), partial match, branded anchors, and natural phrases. Over-optimization can trigger Google penalties.

How do I find orphan pages?

Orphan pages are pages with no internal links pointing to them. Use an internal link checker to crawl your site and identify pages that aren't linked from any other page. These pages are hard for search engines to discover and won't receive internal link equity. To fix orphan pages, add contextual links from related content or include them in your navigation, sitemap, or footer.

What is a redirect chain in SEO?

A redirect chain occurs when URL A redirects to B, which redirects to C. For example: /old-page → /newer-page → /current-page. Each redirect adds latency (slower load times) and can dilute PageRank. Search engines may also stop following chains after 3-5 hops. Fix redirect chains by updating all links to point directly to the final destination URL.

Audit Your Links Now

Install Suparank tools and find broken links in seconds.