By Shad Super —

Link Grades Explained: What They Are and How to Improve Your Score

Link grades score the quality of your internal linking — here's what they measure, why they matter for SEO, and how to improve yours.

What Are Link Grades And Why Do They Matter

A link grade is a score that evaluates the quality and effectiveness of the links on your website — measuring how well your pages are connected to each other and how much SEO value those connections carry.

Think of it like a report card for your internal linking: it shows you where your link structure is strong, where it's weak, and what to fix first to improve crawlability and rankings.

This guide explains what link grades measure, what factors affect your score, and how to systematically improve it — starting with a free baseline from Linkbot's internal link grader.

Internal links improve crawlability and SEO rankings
A strong internal link structure helps Google discover, prioritize, and rank your pages.

Search engines use links to discover, crawl, and evaluate pages. External backlinks from authoritative sites are well-known as a ranking signal — but internal links are just as important, and they're entirely within your control.

When your internal link grade is high:

  • Googlebot reaches every important page efficiently (no orphaned pages are left behind).
  • Authority flows from your strongest pages to content that needs a ranking boost.
  • Descriptive anchor text signals to Google what each destination page is about.
  • Users navigate naturally, reducing bounce rate and increasing session depth.

When your internal linking is poor, even high-quality content can stall — crawled but not indexed, or indexed but ranked too low to earn traffic.

Related: Internal Linking Strategy: A Step-by-Step Guide

A link grade reflects several dimensions of your internal link structure. Here's what matters most:

Factor What it measures Why it matters
Anchor text quality Are anchor texts descriptive and keyword-relevant? Helps Google understand the topic of the destination page
Link distribution Are links spread across the site, or concentrated on a few pages? Distributes authority broadly; reduces orphan pages
Contextual relevance Are links placed inside topically related content? Google weighs surrounding text when evaluating link value
Link depth How many clicks from the homepage to reach each page? Shallow pages receive higher crawl priority and more authority
Inbound coverage Does each important page receive at least 2–3 internal links? Pages with zero inbound links are effectively orphaned

The goal is not just volume — it's having the right links, in the right context, with descriptive anchor text pointing to pages that deserve to rank.

Checking your link grade using Linkbot's free tool
Linkbot's free internal link grader gives you a score and actionable recommendations in minutes.

The fastest way to get your link grade is to run a free scan with Linkbot's internal link grader. It audits your site's internal linking structure and returns a score alongside specific recommendations: which pages are under-linked, which anchor texts are weak, and where to focus first.

You can also spot weak areas manually:

  • Google Search Console → Pages → "Crawled - currently not indexed": these URLs are often orphaned pages that Googlebot deprioritizes because no internal links point to them.
  • GSC Performance → filter by low-impression pages: pages with no impressions despite being published are often invisible due to poor internal link support.
  • site:yoursite.com in Google: a quick manual check to see whether important pages even appear in Google's results.

For a systematic view of all under-linked and orphaned pages, run a dedicated internal link audit.

1. Start with an audit

Before adding links, understand your current structure. An audit tells you which pages have zero inbound links (orphans), which anchor texts are generic, and which high-authority pages could be passing more equity. Fix the worst problems first for the fastest gains.

2. Upgrade anchor text across the site

Replace "click here," "read more," and "this article" with descriptive phrases that include target keywords. Anchor text is one of the fastest on-page signals to improve — it costs no links or budget, just editing. See: Anchor Text Optimization Guide.

Your top-performing pages — the ones that already rank and earn backlinks — are your "crawl highways." Adding contextual internal links from these pages to under-linked content boosts both crawl priority and ranking signals for the destination page.

This is especially effective for pages stuck at "Crawled - currently not indexed": a few links from high-authority pages can tip Google toward indexing and ranking them.

If your best product pages or cornerstone content is buried 4–5 clicks from the homepage, they receive little crawl attention and almost no internal authority. Flatten the architecture by linking to important pages from your homepage, navigation, or top-level category pages.

5. Automate for scale

On large sites, manually managing internal links quickly becomes impractical. Linkbot automates internal linking at scale — identifying link opportunities across your entire content library, suggesting contextual anchor text, and building the connections your site needs without requiring manual edits on every page.

There's no single universal benchmark — it depends on site size and structure. The goal is steady improvement over time: fewer orphan pages, better-distributed links, and stronger anchor text. Consistent upward movement in your grade correlates with better crawlability and rankings.

Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR) are third-party metrics that estimate the strength of a site's backlink profile — they measure external authority. A link grade evaluates internal link quality: how well your own pages connect to each other. Both matter for SEO, but a link grade is the one you can improve entirely on your own.

Yes. Internal links pointing to a ranking page with relevant anchor text continue to reinforce its topical authority — especially helpful if the page is sitting at position 8–15 and a small boost could move it to the top 5. This is sometimes called "internal link sculpting" for existing rankings.

For large sites, yes. A poor internal link structure can waste crawl budget on low-value pages while leaving important pages undiscovered. Strong internal linking helps Googlebot prioritize the pages that matter, which is critical for sites with thousands of URLs.

Can I improve my link grade without publishing new content?

Absolutely. Most internal link improvements are made by editing existing pages — adding contextual links, upgrading anchor text, and removing broken or low-value links. New content isn't required. An audit of your existing structure is usually enough to find dozens of quick-win opportunities.

Improve your link grade with Linkbot
Linkbot's internal link grader identifies weak links, orphan pages, and anchor text issues — all in one free report.

Your internal link structure is one of the highest-leverage improvements in SEO — and unlike link building, it doesn't require anyone else's help.

Start by running Linkbot's free internal link grader to get your current score and a prioritized list of what to fix. If you have pages stuck in "crawled but not indexed," the Priority Indexer handles that specifically — boosting unindexed pages with targeted internal links automatically.