Page Connections signal · 15% of your score
What your internal links say about depth
A topic covered by a cluster of linked pages reads as genuine depth, not a one-off post. A page nothing else on your site points at is harder for anyone, human or machine, to arrive at.
Why it matters
A web of interlinked related pages, plus links out to recognized sources, reads as a real participant in a subject rather than an island. This is the weakest of the six in our own testing, and the one we're least confident about: we have not been able to show that adding internal links moves whether an engine cites you. It stays on the list because orphaned pages are a real problem for readers and because it's the cheapest thing here to fix, but if you're choosing where to spend an hour, spend it on the page itself first.
What the Tracker checks
- How many related internal pages each page links to, and the anchor text used
- Whether a hub-and-spoke structure is visible from the homepage
- Outbound links to genuine authorities used as supporting citations
- Whether pages reference named peers and sources, or stand alone
How it's scored
Every site gets a 0 to 10 on this signal. Here's what each band looks like.
Strong
8–10Dense internal linking with descriptive anchors, a visible hub-and-spoke structure, and outbound citations to real authorities.
Mixed
5–7Some internal links but mostly nav-driven, with few or generic outbound citations.
Weak
0–4Pages stand alone, internal links only via the nav menu, and outbound links only to affiliate offers.
How to improve it
- 1Link each page to five or more related internal pages with descriptive anchors
- 2Build a hub page that connects every spoke on a topic
- 3Cite recognized outside sources, not just your own posts
- 4Reference named peers and authorities as part of the conversation
The Tracker doesn't just score this, it drafts the exact pages to close the gap, built in the structure engines reward. Run your site through all six signals and get the one highest-impact fix to start with.
Questions, answered
How many internal links should a page have?
As a rule of thumb, link to five or more genuinely related internal pages with descriptive anchor text. The goal is a connected web around a topic, not links for their own sake.
Do outbound links to other sites hurt me?
No, the opposite. Citing recognized authorities signals you're grounded in the real discourse. Linking only to affiliate offers or never linking out is the weaker pattern.
The other five signals
See where you stand on all six.
One scan scores your site on every signal, shows the pages an engine reads and skips, and hands you the fix worth making first.
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