How to Audit Internal Links

Internal links help you in forming the structure of your website, interconnecting your pages and linking your audience back to the pages they’re most interested in. These links are crucial to your audience navigating and understanding your website! It’s important to audit them to ensure they’re all in working order, but there are also a variety of other aspects to check them for. Let us explain a few aspects to keep in mind when you’re auditing your internal links:

– Site Structure – Links are a critical part of your site’s structure, directing viewers between pages and enabling you to set up how your site flows. It’s important to map out and check how your website and its pages are set up to flow together, with these links connecting pages in a way that’s simple and will make sense to your viewers. Try to tailor the flow between pages to be as seamless as possible!

– Click Depth – Click depth is how long the shortest path is from your home page to any other specific page of your website. The optimal click path for many sites is considered to be 3, in order to keep your website structure simple and all of your content easily within reach. Try to ensure that your pages are all easy to navigate to, with paths that will make sense to the average person.

– Link Alt Text – Link alt text is what appears when you hover over a link on your website, which is used by both users and Google to understand link direction. Make sure that your alt text isn’t generic– include a short description about what page the link will take you too, with keywords if possible! Checking that all of your site’s links have short and relevant alt text is a great point to consider in your audit.

There are so many aspects of your website that can use continual review and updating, and internal links are one of these crucial factors that influence how users interact with your website. Being sure to check these aspects of your links will assist you in making sure your site is in good, user-friendly condition, enabling you to focus on continuing to audit the rest of your website. To learn more or for help reviewing your own website, contact i3 today!