How to improve a client's internal links

The client's SEO → Links tab has two views: Internal links (links between the client's own pages) and Backlinks. Use Internal links after you build or import a client's site, and whenever you add service or area pages, so every page gets the links it needs to rank.

Internal links need a Mount Olympus site. Without one the Internal links button is grayed out and only Backlinks is available.

How to check and fix a site's internal links

1. Open the client and go to SEO → Links, then click Internal links.
2. Pick the site if the client has several.
3. Read the summary: Contextual links, Opportunities, Orphaned pages, Over the guideline and Broken links (links that point to no page).
4. Work through Opportunities first: click Add link for me on each one you agree with.
5. Check Orphaned Pages and either add a link to each, or click Ignore if it should stay that way.
6. Publish the site when you're happy. Links go in as drafts.

Each item in the Services and Service Areas collections counts as its own page (for example /services/roof-cleaning), with the collection's type. Its links come from the collection row's text and from the dynamic page's own sections.

The four sections

• Opportunities: links worth adding, each with a suggested anchor. Target is orphaned marks links that would rescue a page nothing links to.
• Orphaned Pages: pages nothing links to: not another page's content, the menu, the header, the footer or the phone menu. A page shown in the site's navigation isn't an orphan. Click Ignore for pages that should stay that way.
• Contextual Links: every link that sits inside page content.
• Pages: each page with Links in, Links out / cap and Menu (whether it's in the menu). A page over its cap lists its links with the ones to remove first at the top (generic anchors, then non-service pages, then area pages). Zeus works out each page's type from the site itself: the homepage, Services and Service Areas collection items, blog posts, the About and Contact pages, and everything else. Click Edit to set a different type if he got it wrong (it then shows Set by hand), or choose Detect automatically again. Collection items take their collection's type.

Add a link

On an opportunity, choose one:

• Add link for me: Zeus links the first mention of the topic already on the page. If there's none, he adds a short sentence with the link (for example "We also serve Tulsa."). Click Undo to take it back.
• Open page in editor: opens the page with the right spot selected, so you can add it yourself.

Links go in as draft changes and go live at the site's next publish. If the page is open in the editor, the editor picks up the change.

The rules Zeus follows

• Caps are guidelines. Links out per page: service pages 8, service area pages 6, about pages 4, contact pages none, blog posts about one per 250 words (at least 2, at most 8, so a 1,300-word post gets about 5). Suggestions only use the room left under the cap. Google has no small link limit, so Zeus only warns when a page goes over: an omen for 1–2 over, a decree when it's well over (3 or more over and at least 1.5 times the cap), and an edict only when the extra links also use generic ("click here") or keyword-stuffed anchors.
• Service pages link to related services, then areas, then blog posts. Area pages link to the services offered in that town, then the homepage. They never link to other area pages: town-to-town links look like a network of doorway pages, and the menu and footer already link every town. Zeus gives a gentle warning when an area page links to other area pages in its copy. Blog posts link to the services they mention.
• Homepage: buttons, images and sections can link every service. Its text can carry a few links too: Zeus writes at most 3, to the main services. He warns when the homepage text has more than about 5 links, or links to pages that aren't services (one About link and a contact link are fine).
• About page: the menu and footer link it, so page text rarely should. Zeus never adds About links to copy (except one natural mention on the homepage) and warns when a page links to About more than once, or when lots of pages do.
• Contact page: Zeus never adds copy links to or from it (the contact buttons do that job). He doesn't flag a contact page's links or a "request a free estimate" link on an existing page.
• Links that go nowhere: a link to a page that doesn't exist is an edict. A link to a redirected address (from redirects or a URL migration), an unpublished page or post, a hidden collection item, or a page hidden from search is a decree. For a redirect, Zeus names the final address to link instead.
• New pages: a new service or area page should get a link from a related page within a week (a service page for an area, another service or the homepage for a service). Zeus gives an omen after 7 days and a decree after 30. Being in the menu doesn't count here.
• Never a duplicate link, never two links in one paragraph, and never links to utility, draft or no-index pages.
• Anchor text is mixed: about 30% exact keyword, 40% partial and 25% brand name or a natural phrase (like "how we clean roofs"). Never "learn more" or "click here".

Zeus uses the same rules for internal link findings on Zeus, and the content generator follows them when it writes pages.

Examples

• A roofer's new "Gutter Cleaning" page: it shows under Orphaned Pages and as a few Opportunities marked Target is orphaned (from Roof Cleaning and the homepage). Click Add link for me on two of them; Zeus links "gutter cleaning" where those pages already mention it.
• A plumber with 25 town pages: the area pages don't link each other (that's on purpose). Each one links to the services offered in that town, and Zeus suggests those links if they're missing.
• A blog post linking "click here" five times: the post is over its cap with generic anchors, so Zeus raises an edict. Open it in the editor and rewrite the anchors, or remove the extra links.

Limits and what it can't do

• Only Mount Olympus sites. It can't read or change a site hosted somewhere else.
• Add link for me only adds links inside text. It won't change buttons, images, menus or the footer.
• It won't add links to or from the Contact page, or extra About links in copy, and the homepage text only links to services (at most 3 links written by Zeus).
• A collection item (such as one service in the Services collection) is edited in its collection row, not on the page.
• Links are draft changes until the site is published.

Credits

Free. Analyzing the site, Add link for me and Undo cost nothing.

Who can use it

Agency team members with the Clients tool can see the analysis. Adding or undoing a link also needs the Mount Olympus tool, because it edits the site. Members limited to some clients only see those clients. Client portal people can't use this tab.

Troubleshooting

• The Internal links button is grayed out: the client has no Mount Olympus site yet ("This client has no Mount Olympus site yet. Internal links are analyzed from the client's Mount Olympus site."). Build or import one first.
• "“Roof Cleaning” already has 8 links (limit 8)": the source page is at its cap. Remove a weaker link first, or pick a different page.
• "This page already links there" or "This text already links there": nothing to add. Refresh the tab.
• "This page has no text to add a link to — open it in the editor instead": the page has no text block. Open it in the editor and add a sentence or a button.
• "The homepage copy doesn't mention “…” — link it from a button or the services section instead": Zeus only adds homepage copy links where the service is already mentioned.
• "The homepage copy already has 3 links (limit 3) — use a button or section link instead", "Homepage copy links go to service pages only": link from a button or the services section instead.
• "Contact pages take no copy links — the page's contact buttons handle it" or "The About page is linked from the menu and footer — no copy link needed": this is on purpose. No link is needed.
• "This is a collection item — add the link in its collection row instead": open the collection in the editor and add the link in that row's text.
• "The text changed — refresh and try again" or "The page was just edited — refresh and try again": someone edited the page. Refresh the tab and try again.
• "The text has changed since — undo it in the editor instead": the page changed after the link went in. Remove the link in the editor.
• "Could not analyze the site's links": refresh the tab. If it keeps happening, contact support.
• "Tool access required": you need the Clients tool to see the tab, or the Mount Olympus tool to add links. Ask an Owner or Admin.