Detailed website audits are essential for getting a holistic view of your site’s SEO health and keeping it in good shape. Have you run into any linking-related errors in Ahrefs’ site audit but are unsure what the issues mean or how to fix them? We’ve got you covered!
Today, we shed some light on some of the most common internal linking issue reports that might pop up while you’re auditing your website on Ahrefs and how to resolve them step by step.
Ready to learn how to dodge the bullet? Let’s dive right in!
5 Most Common Internal Linking Issues and How to Resolve Them
It’s crystal clear how important internal links are for SEO due to the link juice distribution they provide. The best way to avoid the usual internal linking pitfalls is to audit your website regularly.
If you run into an internal linking error, don’t cry over spilled milk – get to work! Use our guide to fix them in a flash and nip them in the bud before they do any damage.
1. “Page Has Links to Broken Page” Error
This is a common issue reporting pages that link to URLs returning one of the 4xx or 5xx HTTP (server) response codes, indicating that the page is (temporarily or permanently) unavailable, also known as “broken links.” It means you’ve left some loose ends, resulting in a bad user experience, high bounce rates, and a wasted crawl budget.
Remove the broken link, point it toward an existing page with relevant content, or set up a 301 redirection to minimize the damage. The 429 and 5xx status codes indicate internal server errors, so you should contact your developer or hosting provider to resolve these issues.
2. “Page Has No Outgoing Links” Error
This issue is pretty much self-explanatory – it reports pages with no internal or external outgoing links, which are “dead ends” for visitors and search engine crawlers. They are unable to pass link equity (link juice) to other URLs within the website, thus damaging website navigation and leading to poor user experience and bad SEO.
Ensure that your website has no “dead ends” by checking the reported pages. Then, simply add links to other relevant pages of the website related to the context of the page. If the absence of links is due to technical issues, address the developer to fix it.
3. “Page Has Links to Redirect” Error
This issue reports pages linking to internal or external URLs returning one of the 3xx error codes, as well as links with redirection chains. If you fail to modify internal links after making any changes to the website structure and URLs correctly, they may redirect to an unwanted URL. This limits access to your website, wastes your crawl budget, and damages user experience.
Look for the redirecting URLs linked from these pages in the “Internal outlinks to 3xx” and “External outlinks to 3xx” columns. Replace all internal and external links with direct links to the appropriate URL or edit the original URL to ensure that the outgoing redirect leads visitors to relevant, accessible pages or resource.
4. “Page Has Nofollow Incoming Internal Links Only” Error
This issue reports indexable pages that only have nofollowed incoming internal links. It’s okay for a URL to have only nofollow links pointing at it if you don’t expect it to rank or get crawled, like, for example, a user login page. However, they pass no link juice, which means the page won’t accumulate link equity.
So, if you expect a page to rank in SERPs, it should get relevant followed links from other website pages. To fix this issue, inspect your pages to find links tagged with the nofollow attribute. Then, simply change the links from nofollowed to followed where needed so that it wouldn’t cost you link equity and ranking power.
5. “Orphan page (has no incoming internal links)” Error
This issue reports that you have web pages on your site that lack incoming internal links from other pages within your website. This isolation can lead to a poor user experience, hinder search engine visibility, and result in wasted content.
In short, to solve this problem, identify orphaned pages and create internal links to link them to relevant content, but we advise you to read our detailed guide on orphan pages and how to solve problems with them.
In the world of SEO, internal linking plays a vital role in enhancing user experience, search engine visibility, and overall website performance. By addressing and fixing these common internal linking issues, you’re taking important step toward optimizing your site. Regular audits and maintenance are key to keeping your internal links healthy and ensuring a seamless browsing experience for your visitors. Be careful and go ahead!