Hannah Meier·
This audit found 23 orphan pages on a 400-page site and proposed anchor text for every single fix. Two weeks later the crawl-depth warnings were gone from Search Console.
Audits a site's internal link graph from crawl data: orphans, depth problems, anchor text quality, and money-page equity — with a concrete from/to/anchor fix list.
Internal Linking Audit & Fix Plan
You are a technical SEO analyzing a site's internal link graph. Input is crawl data; output is a fix plan an editor can execute without asking follow-up questions — every proposed link names its source page, target page, anchor text, and placement context.
Crawl export (URL, links out with anchors, links in, depth from home, template type):
{{url_list_with_links}}
Priority pages (money pages / conversion targets): {{money_pages}}
Site context and main topics: {{site_context}}
Audit in this order:
1. **Orphans and near-orphans.** Pages with 0 internal links in, and pages with links only from paginated archives or tag pages (crawlers treat those as near-orphans in practice). For each: is it worth rescuing (has search potential or conversion value) or is the real fix noindex/consolidation? Do not propose links to pages that should not exist.
2. **Depth problems.** Priority pages deeper than 3 clicks from home. Propose the shortest sensible path fix — hub inclusion, nav adjustment, or contextual links from high-crawl-frequency pages.
3. **Equity distribution.** Which pages hoard inbound links (usually the homepage and old blog hits) versus the money pages' link counts. Identify the 5 strongest pages by inbound links that DON'T yet link to a relevant money page.
4. **Anchor text quality.** Classify existing anchors to priority pages: descriptive, generic ('click here', 'read more'), or naked URL. Rewrite the generics — each rewrite must read naturally in sentence context, no keyword stuffing.
5. **The fix list.** A table: source URL, target URL, proposed anchor text, one line of placement guidance ('in the section comparing X, after the paragraph on Y'). Ranked by expected impact: money-page equity fixes first, then orphan rescues, then depth fixes. Cap at 40 actions — a 200-row list gets ignored.
Flag any link you propose that could look manipulative at scale (sitewide footer links, exact-match anchors repeated) — sustainable beats clever.
Ergebnisse
## Internal linking audit: 412 URLs crawled
**1. Orphans: 23 found.**
- **Rescue (14):** 11 glossary pages with steady impressions in the data you provided and 3 case studies — all reachable only via the search function. These have real query potential.
- **Do not rescue (9):** 6 expired event pages (fix: 410 or redirect to the events hub) and 3 near-duplicate service pages from a 2024 restructure (fix: consolidate + redirect, linking to them would entrench the duplication).
**2. Depth problems.** 3 of your 8 money pages sit at depth 4–5: all three service-detail pages under `/leistungen/` are reachable only through the paginated overview. Fix: the overview's 'popular services' block (currently hand-picked, stale since March per its content) should include all revenue services — one template edit moves all three to depth 2.
**3. Equity distribution.** Homepage: 411 inbound. Top blog post (`/blog/checkliste-umzug`): 89 inbound via its viral tag pages. Your 8 money pages average 6 inbound. The 5 strongest pages not linking to any money page:
1. `/blog/checkliste-umzug` (89 in) → links out only to other blog posts
2. `/ratgeber/kosten-uebersicht` (54)
3. `/blog/haeufige-fehler` (41)
4. `/glossar/begriff-nebenkosten` (38)
5. `/ueber-uns` (35)
**4. Anchor quality to money pages:** 31% descriptive, 58% generic, 11% naked URL. The 'read more' problem concentrates in the blog template's related-services box — one template fix rewrites ~40 anchors.
**5. Fix list (top 6 of 38 actions):**
| # | Source | Target | Anchor | Placement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | /blog/checkliste-umzug | /leistungen/komplettservice | "den kompletten Umzugsservice" | In step 7, after the paragraph on time budgeting |
| 2 | /ratgeber/kosten-uebersicht | /leistungen/beratung | "eine kostenlose Erstberatung" | End of the cost-factors section, before the table |
| 3 | /blog/haeufige-fehler | /leistungen/verpackung | "professionelle Verpackung" | In mistake #3, replacing the current 'hier klicken' |
| 4 | template: blog related-box | (dynamic) | service name as anchor | Replace 'Mehr erfahren' with the service title |
| 5 | /glossar/begriff-nebenkosten | /rechner | "Nebenkosten-Rechner" | After the definition paragraph |
| 6 | events hub | 14 rescued orphans | descriptive titles | New 'Ratgeber A–Z' index section |
**Manipulation flag:** resisted putting money-page links in the global footer — one contextual link from a strong page beats 400 template links, and survives the next core update besides.
Modell: Claude Sonnet 4.6
24 Likes16 SavesScore: 18
1 Kommentar
Marcus Bell·
The 'do not rescue' category is what most audits miss. Half of orphan pages are orphans because the site quietly knows they shouldn't exist.