Internal Linking Optimizer

Analyze a site's internal link structure and provide actionable recommendations to improve SEO through strategic internal linking. Helps distribute authority, establish topical relevance, and improve crawlability.

When to use this skill

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

Prerequisites

Tiger Den (required)

Read REFERENCES.md from the plugin root and run the pre-flight check described there. Call list_marketing_references() to verify Tiger Den is reachable. If it fails or the tool is not found, STOP — do not continue. Follow the error handling in REFERENCES.md.

Instructions

1. Gather input

Ask the user to provide:

Key page URLs that need more internal links — specific pages to focus on
Content categories or topic clusters — how the site's content is organized (or should be)
Any existing link structure documentation — crawl exports, link maps, or notes on current architecture

The user may also provide a sitemap URL, a CSV of page URLs, or a manually curated list — but these are optional since Step 2 builds a verified URL inventory automatically.

2. Build verified URL inventory

Before analyzing link structure, build a complete inventory of real, verified URLs. This prevents suggesting broken links with incorrect path prefixes (e.g., missing /learn/ or /blog/).

Step 2a: Tiger Den content search

Use the key pages and topic clusters gathered in Step 1 as query terms. Search Tiger Den for all content related to the site's topics:

search_content(query: "{primary topic}")
search_content(query: "{topic variant 1}")
search_content(query: "{topic variant 2}")

Run 3-5 queries covering the site's core topic areas. Collect all returned URLs — these are verified marketing site links with correct path prefixes (/learn/, /blog/, /cloud/, etc.).

Step 2b: Sitemap fetch (secondary source)

Fetch and parse the site's sitemap to catch pages Tiger Den may not index:

fetch https://www.tigerdata.com/sitemap.xml

If the response is a <sitemapindex> (an index of child sitemaps rather than direct <url> entries), fetch each child <sitemap><loc> entry and collect all <loc> entries from those child sitemaps.

Parse all <loc> entries and merge with the Tiger Den results. The sitemap is the authoritative source for URL paths — if a slug appears in both sources, prefer the sitemap's URL format.

If the sitemap fetch fails or returns an error (404, timeout, malformed XML), proceed with Tiger Den results only and note the limitation in the output.

Step 2c: Merge and deduplicate

Combine Tiger Den results and sitemap entries into a single verified URL inventory. Deduplicate by slug (the path segment after the last /). Every URL in this inventory must:

Be a full URL starting with https:// (never http://)
Include the correct path prefix (/learn/, /blog/, /cloud/, /docs/, etc.)
Use the https://www.tigerdata.com/ domain

This inventory is the only source for link suggestions in all subsequent steps. Do not suggest any URL that is not in this inventory.

3. Analyze current internal link structure

Map the current internal linking patterns across the provided pages. Only reference URLs from the verified inventory (Step 2).

## 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

4. Identify orphan pages

Find pages with no internal links pointing to them.

## Orphan Page Analysis

### 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]

**Medium Priority Orphans** (potentially valuable):
1. [URL] - Add to category/tag page

**Low Priority Orphans** (consider removing):
1. [URL] - Redirect to [better page]

5. Analyze anchor text distribution

Review anchor text patterns and flag issues (generic anchors, over-optimization, same anchor to multiple pages).

## Anchor Text Analysis

### Current Anchor Text Patterns

| Anchor Text | Count | Target Pages | Assessment |
|-------------|-------|--------------|------------|
| "click here" | [X] | [X] pages | Not descriptive |
| "read more" | [X] | [X] pages | Not descriptive |
| "[exact keyword]" | [X] | [page] | May be over-optimized |
| "[descriptive phrase]" | [X] | [page] | Good |

### Anchor Text Recommendations

For each flagged page, suggest 3-4 anchor text variations:
- Exact match (10-20% of anchors)
- Partial match (30-40%)
- Branded (10-20%)
- Natural (20-30%)

**Anchor Score**: [X]/10

6. Create topic cluster link strategy

Map current pillar/cluster links, recommend link structure, and list specific links to add.

Reference: See the linking templates for the topic cluster link strategy template.

7. Find contextual link opportunities

Analyze each page for topic-relevant link opportunities and prioritize high-impact additions. Every suggested link must exist in the verified URL inventory from Step 2.

Reference: See the linking templates for the contextual link opportunities template.

8. Optimize navigation and footer links

Analyze main/footer/sidebar/breadcrumb navigation and recommend pages to add or remove.

Reference: See the linking templates for the navigation optimization template.

9. Generate link implementation plan

Produce an executive summary, current state metrics, phased priority actions (weeks 1-4+), implementation guide, and tracking plan.

Reference: See the linking templates for the full implementation plan template.

Validation checkpoints

Input validation

Tiger Den pre-flight check passed
Target pages or topic clusters clearly defined
If optimizing a specific page, page URL or content provided

URL verification (enforced across all steps)

Every suggested URL must exist in the verified inventory built in Step 2
All URLs must be full URLs starting with https:// — never http://, never relative paths
All URLs must include the correct path prefix (/learn/, /blog/, /cloud/, /docs/, etc.)
All internal URLs must use the https://www.tigerdata.com/ domain
If a URL cannot be verified against Tiger Den or the sitemap, do not suggest it

Output validation

Every recommendation cites specific data points (not generic advice)
All link suggestions include source page, target page, and recommended anchor text
Orphan page lists include URLs and recommended actions
Source of each data point clearly stated (Tiger Den, sitemap, crawl data, or user-provided)

Reference docs

Link Architecture Patterns — Architecture models (hub-and-spoke, silo, flat, pyramid, mesh), anchor text diversity framework, link equity flow model, and measurement frameworks
Linking Templates — Output templates for steps 6-9 (topic clusters, contextual opportunities, navigation, implementation plan)
Linking Example — Full worked example for internal linking opportunities

Tips for success

Quality over quantity — add relevant links, not random ones
User-first thinking — links should help users navigate
Vary anchor text — avoid over-optimization
Link to important pages — distribute authority strategically
Regular audits — internal links need maintenance as content grows

Related skills

seo-meta-optimizer — Optimize title tags and meta descriptions
brand-voice-writer — Write on-brand content that includes strategic internal links
content-reviewer — Review content quality including link structure

Attribution

Based on aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills internal-linking-optimizer, adapted for the TigerData marketing skills plugin.